The following question was published in today’s New York Times. (here) Q. I recently overheard a conversation about food in which someone mentioned “Jewish Champagne.” What is that? A. We’re going to assume the speaker was not referring to the French region, centered on Troyes, whose rabbinical scholars led an intellectual flowering in the 12th [...]
Lawrence Schiffman has published a new book, Qumran and Jerusalem: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism. Major changes are occurring in our understanding of the fascinating texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their significance for the study of the history of Judaism and Christianity. One of the most significant [...]
At Oneg Shabbat, David Assaf has a post (Hebrew) about the relationships between the Yiddish writer Chaim Grade and Gedolei Yisrael, especially the Hazon Ish.
Last week we visited the National Museum of American Jewish History. I highly recommend this relatively new museum. For July 4th, I thought that the follow object from the collection was very appropriate. It is a Hebrew prayer for the United State government that includes the word “Washington” in an acrostic format. It was composed [...]
Rebecca Lesses has posted some nice pictures of her recent trip to the Galilee on her blog Mystical Politics. They include good ones of Beit Shearim and Sepphoris (Tzippori).
The article Persecution Perpetuated: The Medieval Origins of Anti-Semitic Violence in Nazi Germany has been posted at SSRN. (hat tip) Here is the abstract: How persistent are cultural traits? This paper uses data on anti-Semitism in Germany and finds continuity at the local level over more than half a millennium. When the Black Death hit [...]
The actions of the Yishuv in Palestine during the Shoah has been a controversial subject. Some have blamed the Yishuv leaders for not doing enough to help the Jews of Europe, others have criticized the the way in which the survivors were treated when the arrived in Israel. See here for a review of some [...]
Last week’s Musaf Shabbat of Makor Rishon had two articles that will no doubt be discussed for quite some time. Both articles are in Hebrew, and in about a month when I have more time I will translate them if no one will have already done so. The first article was by Ariel Picard, On [...]
Jewish Ideas Daily published an article by Alex Joffe, Jewish Studies in Decline? I think that the state of Jewish Studies is affected by a number of factors, some of them being: 1. The decline of the humanities versus the sciences and applied professions in some quarters; 2. The nature of the research itself; 3. [...]
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