Foundations of a Jewish Economic Theory
July 8, 2016 | By: Yosef Yitzhak Lifshitz
What is the Jewish understanding of economic justice? Many Jews assume it is one in which property rights are limited for the purpose of redistributing wealth and lessening the economic gap between rich and poor. Indeed, Jewish thinkers have been some of the chief proponents of socialism since its inception, and socialist economic policy was […]
Read MoreSoul of Fire: A Theory of Biblical Man
July 5, 2016 | By: Ethan Dor-Shav
Understanding the human condition, the essential qualities that make us who we are, shapes how we think about our purpose as men and women created in the image of God. Searching for distinctive characteristics that separate the human animal from all others, philosophers have proposed that man is an acquisitive animal, a social animal, a […]
Read MoreA Nation under God: Jews, Christians, and the American Public Square
July 1, 2016 | By: Meir Soloveichik
Many Jewish Americans oppose religion in the American public square. Because of their minority status, and memories of persecution, many Jews believe the safer course is to encourage a radically secular public. But such a belief is misguided, argues Rabbi Meir Soloveichik in this 2007 article. Citing both his great uncle Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik […]
Read MorePodcast: Norman Podhoretz on Jerusalem and Jewish Particularity
June 29, 2016 | By: Norman Podhoretz
Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. In this podcast, Eric Cohen sits down with the legendary editor of Commentary, Norman Podhoretz, to discuss his 2007 essay, “Jerusalem: The Scandal of Particularity.” The ancient capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem, has been the essential center of […]
Read MoreEducating Father Abraham: The Meaning of Fatherhood
June 28, 2016 | By: Leon Kass
In this essay, the second of a two-part series on Abraham, Leon Kass reads the stories of God’s promise to Abraham, the birth and banishment of Ishmael, Sodom and Gomorrah, Isaac’s circumcision, and the sacrifice of Isaac in a wisdom-seeking spirit. Kass explores how Abraham learns the arts of fatherhood and founding, elevating the household above […]
Read MoreContemporary Problems in Ethics from a Jewish Perspective
June 27, 2016 | By: Hans Jonas
The Tikvah Fund is pleased to republish—for the first time online—one of the great ethicists and philosophers Hans Jonas’s forgotten forays into Jewish thought. Jonas argues that Judaism and scientism, the ideological faith in science as an authority in all realms of human life, are in opposition at the most basic levels. In their moral […]
Read MoreA Nation Conceived in Defeat
June 21, 2016 | By: Jacob Wright
Biblical history is the fount of the Jewish people’s collective memory, and the editors and redactors of the Hebrew Bible strategically deployed this history for a distinctly political purpose. In the pages of Azure, biblical scholar Jacob Wright argued that, in addition to celebrating the glory of military victory, the editors of the Hebrew Bible […]
Read MoreMarkets and Morals
June 7, 2016 | By: Jonathan Sacks
Friedrich Hayek, noted as one of the twentieth century’s greatest defenders of the free market, also made a case for religious traditions. In theory, the energetic, dynamic, disruptive market would seem to be at odds with the restraint, humility, and anti-materialism of revealed religion. Reflecting on Hayek’s praise for both religious order and market freedom, […]
Read MoreDoes the Bible Have a Political Teaching?
June 2, 2016 | By: Yoram Hazony
In recent years, scholars of political theory have rediscovered the Hebrew Bible. Intellectual historians have looked to uncover the influence that biblical ideas have had on the development of Western civilization, and theologians and philosophers have started to reanalyze the biblical text itself to distill its social and political wisdom. One of the best of […]
Read MoreTranscript: "Charles Krauthammer - At Last, Zion"
April 6, 2016 | By: Charles Krauthammer
As part of the Tikvah Fund and Hertog Foundation’s Advanced Institute, “Is Israel Alone?,” Roger Hertog sat down with syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer to revisit Dr. Krauthammer’s legendary article for the fiftieth anniversary of Israeli independence. Published in The Weekly Standard, “At Last, Zion,” described the achievement of Israel’s founders within the full scope of Jewish history, […]
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