Category Archives: uncategorized

(Orthodox Religion) Bellicose and Narrow (Michael Wyschogrod)

Posted on May 21, 2023 by zjb

Modern Orthodox Judaism has wrestled with the tension between halakhic norms and human-moral conscience since the late 196os. I have posted already about Aharon Lichtenstein and Gerald Blidstein. Apropos to this year’s ugly national-religious flag march last week in the … Continue reading →

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(S1) Sassoon Codex (Sephardic Jewish Cultural Memory)

Posted on May 17, 2023 by zjb

S1 is one of the names of the Sassoon Codex, one of the oldest biblical codex. This precious object made of sheepskin and ink was just bought at Soetheby’s for some $38,000,000 by a purchaser acting on behalf of the … Continue reading →

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Nakba & Democracy

Posted on May 15, 2023 by zjb

For general interest I am posting here the translation of a historical document from an Israeli security officer regarding the Palestinian Nakba and a 2019 article here by Hagar Shezaf relating to it and other documents being hidden/removed from Israeli … Continue reading →

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(Poland) Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Photographs)

Posted on April 17, 2023 by zjb

These are 80 year-old photographic film prints being released by the Warsaw-based POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, as per this article here by Ofer Aderet at Ha’aretz. As per Aderet, whose language I am cribbing below, the … Continue reading →

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Spinoza Passover Hebrew Republic

Posted on April 5, 2023 by zjb

This Passover at a time of global and religious reaction, let’s be done with political theology. And let’s remember Spinoza, the exodus from tyranny, and the blueprint of a Hebrew commonwealth, based on the Bible, in which religion and state … Continue reading →

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Religion and Violence (Horror)

Posted on March 29, 2023 by zjb

It should be obvious that there is, of course, no single or linear-causal relation between religion and violence. As argued by Religious Studies scholars, this is a modern secular myth. Attentive to difference, one could note that there is civil … Continue reading →

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(Religious Dictatorship) Tikvah Funds Anti-Democratic Coup (Israel)

Posted on March 24, 2023 by zjb

I’m including below a notification sent to my email from the Tikvah Fund and this link here to an op-ed written by Elliot Abrams and Eric Cohen in the Jerusalem Post in support of the judicial coup in Israel. Long … Continue reading →

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(Secular Icons) Poster Protest Art (Liberal Israel)

Posted on March 23, 2023 by zjb

An article here at Ha’aretz about a group of graphic art and design people creating posters against the regime coup in Israel. The activists formed a group whose work is offer at this Hebrew language FB page: Democracy Will Win” … Continue reading →

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(Bnei Brak) Haredi Religion & Secular Protest (Israel)

Posted on March 21, 2023 by zjb

This thread in Hebrew by Alon-Lee-Green from Omdim b’Yahad contains a lot of negative pushback. But Green explains why going to demonstrate this coming Thursday in Bnei Brak and doing so under the banner “No Democracy, No Torah” might be … Continue reading →

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(Democracy) Red Line (Jerusalem)

Posted on March 16, 2023 by zjb

Artist-activists draw a red line in Jerusalem connecting the Russian Compoun and the Supreme Court The organizer released this startement in Hebrew which I google-translated: A red and pink stripe will be painted along the way, marking the inseparable connection … Continue reading →

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