Judaism

Excerpted from Tingis. Historically, and even theologically, Jews have always been closer to Muslims than they were to Christians. It was in Muslim lands, the late eminent historian Bernard Lewis told us, that Arabic “became the language of science and philosophy, of government and commerce, even the language of Jewish theology when such a discipline […]

Israel/ Palestine

Does Compromise show Weakness or Strength? – A Surprising finding in the Talmud

Shamai Leibowitz

Growing up in Israel, the prevailing mentality surrounding me everywhere I went was that compromise shows weakness. The message was clear: compromise is a “Diaspora thing,” but for us Israelis – we stand strong, we take “what is ours,” and we don’t back down. But my father Elhanan Leibowitz OBM (of blessed memory), whose yahrtzeit, […]

Antisemitism

Confessions of an Ex-Zionist: My Judaism will not stand for the Mass Slaughter in Gaza

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – I grieve for the people of Israel and Palestine, both of whom are being abused and terrorized by their own governments and leadership. Hamas is not a legitimate government, and is not Islam. Zionism is not Judaism. Hamas and the Israeli government have used their own people’s […]

Israel/ Palestine

Why so Many Jews Denounce Israel’s War on Gaza

Yakov M. Rabkin

By Yakov M. Rabkin ( Pressenza ) – A profound division exists between Zionist advocates of Israel on the one hand, and both secular and religious Jews, on the other, who reject Zionism and thus the very idea of a separate state for the Jews. Most Jews must be somewhere in between. For years, they […]

Israel/ Palestine

How Jewish Nonviolence can help guide the Path forward on Israel-Palestine

Waging Nonviolence

Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb ( Waging Nonviolence ) – In an article entitled “What does Jewish law say about the war between Israel and Hamas,” Jay Michaelson explores biblical, talmudic and medieval sources to answer that question, noting the long arc of rabbinic tradition bends toward nonviolence. In Jewish life, the normative perception of Torah is […]

Antisemitism

In Historic Announcement, Biden Bans Anti-Muslim, Anti-Jewish Discrimination under Title VI for Federal Agencies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is a truism that there are some ethnic groups in the United States toward whom it is still permitted to show bigotry. Whereas public figures can be cancelled for racism against African Americans, Hispanics, and other groups, ragging on Muslim Americans is a blood sport in American politics. Trump […]

Christianity

Extremist Minister Ben-Gvir opposes Jailing Ultra-Orthodox who spit on Christians in Jerusalem, as Pope Francis Fumes

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli journalist Nir Hasson at Haaretz put a spotlight on the disturbing practice of some Ultra-Orthodox Israelis of eastern European heritage of spitting on Christians in Jerusalem. The incident concerned what appeared to be Filipino pilgrims carrying a cross, but the people who suffer most from such forms of aggression […]

Featured

Taliban in Tel Aviv: Israel Joins Middle East in Clashing over Gender Segregation, Women’s rights in Public Sphere

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Haaretz reports that at public prayers for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, Ultra-Orthodox activists attempted to put up banners as separators to allow for the segregation of male and female worshipers. This action was seen as a provocation by liberal […]

Antisemitism

How individual, ordinary Jews fought Nazi Persecution – A New View of History

The Conversation

By Wolf Grune, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences | – In Nazi Germany, Hertha Reis, a 36-year-old Jewish woman, performed forced labor for a private company in Berlin during World War II. In 1941, she was evicted by a judge from the two sublet rooms where she lived with her son and […]