Tag Archives: liberalism

New York City & New York Jews (Mamdani)

Zohran Mamdani and New York Jews are in a bind with each other. This is the core of the knot: [1] NYC is home to a major, even singular Jewish community, and Israel is a fulcrum of Jewish identity. There … Continue reading

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

(Liberal Community) 2025 Jewish National Book Awards (Comfort)

What is the value of a Jewish book and Jewish books? The 2025 Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards are a liberal balm in the midst of a miserable year+ of hostage crisis and war and two+ miserable years of Kahanist government … Continue reading

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

2 Camps At War/Being Born in Israel

  Society is an organism that builds upon the coming together, pulling apart, and coming together of group life. At moments of political crisis, the shifts are vital and volatile. In this light, Israel today would represent a case-study of … Continue reading

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Israel (Democracy-Autocracy) Flow Chart

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

(Torah Trumps Life) Haredi Response to Covid and Uncivil Religion

I wrote this essay, “Torah Trumps Life,” trying to get a handle on the catastrophic Haredi response to Covid during year-one of the pandemic. It is my contrubution to this special issue on Jewish Thiought in Times of Crisis, edited … Continue reading

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

(Zionism) Secularism Democracy Religion (Israel)

In real-time, Israel has become a huge laboratory-experiment for the study of religion, politics, law, and society; a small and ugly petri-dish for the study of contemporary Judaism and Jewishness. Elected in November 2022 and with passage of the first … Continue reading

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Spinoza Passover Hebrew Republic

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

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Religion and Violence (Horror)

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

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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

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

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

(Secular Icons) Poster Protest Art (Liberal Israel)

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

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment