Monthly Archives: December 2018

Yom Sylvester Sameach (Happy Sylvester)

Posted on December 31, 2018 by zjb
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Color Saturation With A Brief Comment About Objects of Religion

Posted on December 31, 2018 by zjb

Went to see Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color at the Cooper Hewitt and learned a lot, in particular how to conceptualize a bit about color and color qualities. Writing in the NYT, Roberta Smith comments that about exhibitions at the … Continue reading →

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(Relic) Amos Oz (Hand)

Posted on December 30, 2018 by zjb

This photograph posted on Twitter by his daughter, Fania Oz-Salzberger, of Amos Oz’s  hand before, at, or just after the moment of his passing is both deeply touching and very odd. A frozen photographic image, it is not unlike a … Continue reading →

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Is Modern Jewish Thought German Jewish Thought?

Posted on December 29, 2018 by zjb

Truth be told, I’ve got another German Jewish thought project up my sleeve, but I am wondering nonetheless. Is Modern Jewish Philosophy Thought stuck in and condemned to the German Jewish past? Can we do without it? Do the concepts … Continue reading →

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The Sad Place of Jewish Philosophy & Modern Thought at the AJS at 50

Posted on December 27, 2018 by zjb

Themed around “New Vistas in Jewish Studies,” the 50th Anniversary Issue of AJS Perspectives is a delight to behold, both to see and to read. Billed as “the magazine of the Association for Jewish Studies,” its most recent issue was devoted … Continue reading →

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Night of the Cabbalist (Tim Gidal) (1935)

Posted on December 26, 2018 by zjb

Yes, you can stage photograph the spiritual in art. Found the image on Twitter and then tracked the reference to the Jewish Museum where i found these details. About Tim Gidal, you can find this here from his Wikipage: Bio: … Continue reading →

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Anti-Lachrymose Jewish History = A Lachrymose Theological & Reactionary Object (Salo Baron)

Posted on December 26, 2018 by zjb

Jewish Studies and the study of Jewish History in America begin to show their age. The older they get the weirder they look in retrospect.  Told as an origin story, one of the great founding moments of the discipline in … Continue reading →

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Christmastime in Israel

Posted on December 25, 2018 by zjb

Is this a trend? You can read here an article about Israeli Jews wanting to learn more about Christmas and Christianity. The article has everything to do with pleasure, holiday tourism, and the opening of minds to religious difference in … Continue reading →

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Stealing Baby Jesus & The Life of Christian Images (Spirit of Christmas)

Posted on December 23, 2018 by zjb

Is this a trend? About this utterly bizarre story, this article in the New York Times which you can read here about the images of baby Jesus stolen from holiday crèches across small town America reminded me of The Lives … Continue reading →

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Psychotropic Jewish Studies & The Contemporary Study of Jewish Religion

Posted on December 19, 2018 by zjb

Polling my colleagues, asking for a friend, asking for a student, because I’m kind of curious, and of course purely for the sake of research, about the contemporary shape of the field, let’s say, after 1967. I’m genuinely wondering about … Continue reading →

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