In 1998, as the State of Israel turned fifty years old, Charles Krauthammer penned his seminal essay, “At Last, Zion.” Wide-ranging and provocative, the piece takes an unvarnished look at the existential crisis of Diaspora Jewry as well as what Krauthammer calls the “Israeli exception” to the assimilationist trend. However, the re-centering of Jewish life […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher.  This week, instead of one of our regular conversations on great Jewish essays and ideas, we are pleased to introduce you to a brand new podcast, Kikar: Conversations in the Jewish Public Square, produced by our partners at the Jewish Leadership […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher.  Chapter 1: Why the Jews? Chapter 2: Wilhelm Marr, Anti-Semitism, and Anti-Liberalism Chapter 3: The Moral Strut Chapter 4: The Nature of Left-Wing Anti-Semitism Cui bono? Who benefits? Who benefits when Jews are turned into scapegoats for the ills […]

“Har Habayit beyadeinu!” “The Temple Mount is in our hands!” These were the words Lieutenant General Mordechai Gur broadcasted as he commanded the division that liberated the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967. But did Israel ever really take control of its holiest site? In 2006, Shmuel Berkovits’s “How Dreadful is this Place!” Holiness, Politics, and […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher.  Chapter 1: One Who Was Born in Jerusalem Chapter 2: The Last Hebrew Classic Chapter 3: Scholem, Bialik, and Agnon on Hebrew’s Revival  Chapter 4: The Still Small Voice Chapter 5: Agnon’s Significance Today Shmuel Yosef Agnon was one […]