Jewish Political Thought

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: The Appeal of the Wall  Chapter 2: The Phases of Jewish Thought on Church-State Relations Chapter 3: The Seminal Statement of Reaction Chapter 4: Education—Parochial and Public Chapter 5: Religion and Politics Today It was Thomas Jefferson, in a now-famous […]

From the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom to Donald Trump’s presidential victory, it appears nationalism is once again resurgent in the English-speaking world. This has sparked a predictable backlash among critics on the Left, but many conservatives have also been critical of what they see as a dangerous turn away from Anglo-American classical liberalism. […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: God or Pharaoh? Chapter 2: God’s Commandments and Self-Command Chapter 3: Shabbat and the Family Chapter 4: The People of the Book The revelation at Sinai was central to the transformation of the people of Israel into a nation. Fresh from their […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. How should Israelis think about the security and defense of the Jewish State when confronted with Palestinian claims to national sovereignty? What effect will Israel’s material prosperity have on the prospects for peace?  What role does honor and dignity, hadar, […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: A Minor Semi-Festival Chapter 2: The Politicization of Tu B’Shvat Chapter 3: Atavistic Environmentalism Chapter 4: Judaism and Nature Until recently, Tu B’Shvat—the Jewish “new year” for trees—was a minor observance on the Jewish calendar. It isn’t mentioned […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: A History of the Jewish Vote Chapter 2: The New Orthodox Vote Chapter 3: The Pro-Israel Vote Chapter 4: Disrupting the Jewish Vote American Jews have long been one of the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting blocs. Since […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: The Left and Right on Liberty Chapter 2: Theory and Practice in America Chapter 3: Stations on the Long Road Chapter 4: The Jew in Society Chapter 5: Challenges, Pitfalls, and the Journey to Freedom Lamenting the ideological […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: Politics Unmasked Chapter 2: Orthodoxy vs. Gnosticism Chapter 3: Two Cheers for Capitalism Chapter 4: What Irving Kristol Means Today Chapter 5: Judaism, Utopianism, and Ideology Irving Kristol was truly one-of-a-kind. He had a capacious mind and a […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: A King in Israel? Chapter 2: Theology, Monarchy, and Republicanism Chapter 3: King David and His Legacy Chapter 4: The Return of the King In 2010, the theologian Michael Wyschograd published “A King in Israel,” a provocative essay […]

Ours is an age in which the notion that men and women are created with distinct and complementary purposes is seen as little more than thinly veiled bigotry. But one of the great Jewish contributions to civilization is the idea that the sexes are not identical to, but are instead in need of, one another. […]