JL;DR

The discussion in the Winter 2020 Letters involves different perspectives on the current state and potential future of American Judaism. There are views on t...

Harold Bloom, a renowned literary critic, had a profound impact on his students with his intense engagement with poetry and prose, urging them to be transpor...

"God Is in the Crowd" by Tal Keinan delves into the complex issues facing Jewish communities today, touching on topics like the decline of American Jewry due...

"The text 'Tradition and Invention' explores how Jews, for much of their history, were perceived as lacking a political life due to their exile and subordina...

The text discusses the life and work of James Atlas, a literary biographer who delves into his experiences writing biographies of famous figures like Saul Be...

In "Funny Man" by Patrick McGilligan, the biography of Mel Brooks unfolds, shedding light on the comedy icon's journey from his early days as the exuberant C...

The text discusses the life and writing of Glikl bas Judah Leib, a 17th-century Yiddish writer known for her unique memoirs. Glikl refrained from giving her ...

The reminiscence of the Mendelssohn scholar Alexander Altmann reflects on his punctuality and devotion to studying Moses Mendelssohn's works, notably "Jerusa...

Kalonymus Kalman Shapira and Hillel Zeitlin, two prominent figures in interwar Warsaw's Hasidic world, had significant impacts on the Hasidic community befor...

The story of Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Jewish boy who assassinated a German diplomat in 1938, not only sparked Kristallnacht but also outlined the de...

Shmuel Yosef Agnon's work "The Ubiquitous Gabirol" delves into the story of a mystical encounter with the medieval poet Solomon ibn Gabirol, where Agnon weav...

The text recounts a personal interaction with Gershom Scholem, a prominent Jewish scholar of mysticism, at an event in Jerusalem. Scholem's interest in surna...

The text discusses the symbolic dimension of baseball cards and idolatry, drawing parallels between the reverence for baseball cards and religious idol worsh...

Rabbi Moshe Hayim Efrayim of Sudilkov, a prominent figure in early Hasidism, authored "Sefer Degel Machaneh Efrayim," a collection of sermons linking Torah t...

In "State or Substate?", Dmitry Shumsky explores the idea of nonstatist Zionism, focusing on major Jewish figures like Judah Magnes and Martin Buber who envi...

Doba-Mera Medvedeva's memoir details life in a shtetl in late 19th and early 20th-century Belarus, marked by poverty, revolution, and war. Despite being bare...

The article reflects on the complex character of Shylock from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" through a Jewish lens, particularly focusing on the symb...

Samuel Greenberg, a Jewish poet and artist born in Vienna in 1893, moved to New York with his family and settled on the Lower East Side. Despite dropping out...

"I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians" is a film by Radu Jude that delves into the uncomfortable history of Romania during World War II. The ...

Sally Berkovic's memoir "Under My Hat" delves into her experiences as an Orthodox Jewish woman, navigating the complexities of religious commitment and engag...

Rocketmen, curated by Adolfo Roitman, Hagit Maoz, and Michael Maggen at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, focuses on Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, who ...

The text discusses different perspectives on Jewish identity and the relationship between Israel and the diaspora. There are critiques of a book analyzing Eu...

Abraham Joshua Heschel, a prominent Jewish thinker and refugee scholar, faced uncertain times during Nazi rule in the 1930s. In a new collection of his writi...

The book "The Gray Lady and the Jewish State" discusses the New York Times' controversial editorial decisions regarding Israel and Zionism, particularly high...

In Tova Reich's novel "Mother India," a Jewish mother from Brooklyn decides to spend her final days in Varanasi, India, instead of risking reincarnation. The...

The exhibit "Jews, Money, Myth" at the London Jewish Museum curated by Joanne Rosenthal, Dominik Czechowski, and Morgan Wadsworth-Boyle until October 17, exa...

Guy Gavriel Kay, a Canadian fantasy writer and son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland, has made significant contributions to the fantasy genre through works l...

Simon Rawidowicz's essay "Israel: The Ever-Dying People" reflects on the Jewish historical tendency to fear disappearing while paradoxically surviving. The c...

Alter Druyanov, a Russian Jew and Zionist, compiled a three-volume book of Jewish jokes in Hebrew, showcasing the humor of Jewish folklore with some jokes re...

The British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership has been plagued by accusations of anti-Semitism, merging pro-Palestinian activism with old Europea...

The text delves into the author's reflections on his Jewish heritage and experiences at Harvard University, juxtaposing his family's history as Hebrew teache...

"Leviticus on the Fourth of July" is an anthology that explores the influence of the Hebrew Bible on American national consciousness and institutions. It hig...

In the book "#IsraeliJudaism: A Portrait of a Cultural Revolution," authors Shmuel Rosner and Camil Fuchs discuss the evolution of Jewish identity in Israel,...

In "The Anti-Imperialism of Idiots," Susie Linfield explores the estrangement between Zionism and the Left, questioning why many left-wingers oppose Jewish n...

Vasily Grossman, a Soviet Jewish author known for his commitment to truth and humanistic ideals, engaged in acts of defiance against the repressive Soviet re...

In "The Open-Door Policy" by Robert H. Mnookin, the author addresses the contentious topic of intermarriage and its implications for Jewish communal life in ...

In "The Sounds of Silence," John Gray, a retired philosophy professor, critiques atheist thinking for resembling monotheism in seeking an intelligible order ...

"Anti-Zionism on Campus" edited by Andrew Pessin and Doron S. Ben-Atar discusses the rise of anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism on American campuses, fo...

H. G. Adler, a survivor of Theresienstadt and Auschwitz, was a prominent yet underrecognized figure in Holocaust literature. Born in Prague, Adler's associat...

"In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" is a significant literary work by Delmore Schwartz that captures the process of its creation and its impact on a new intel...

The text discusses the author's experiences visiting Yemen in the 1980s, particularly focusing on documenting the lives of the Jewish communities there throu...

In "Jacob & Esau: Jewish European History Between Nation and Empire," Malachi Haim Hacohen explores the enduring rivalry between Jacob and Esau as a lens for...

"The Birobidzhan Affair: A Yiddish Writer in Siberia" explores the tragic story of Israel Emiot, a Yiddish poet who believed in the Soviet project to create ...

"Shadow Strike" by Yaakov Katz recounts the 2007 discovery of a Syrian nuclear reactor by Israeli intelligence and the subsequent diplomatic and military act...

The text discusses various perspectives and viewpoints on different literary works and their influences. It starts with a letter pointing out the omission of...

At the age of 68, the author reflects on their journey of learning Yiddish later in life, despite not growing up with the language spoken fluently at home. T...

The relationship between Jewish writers Saul Bellow and Bette Howland is explored in this text that delves into their deep emotional connection, marked by th...

The book of Ruth, despite its quiet nature, continues to resonate in Western literature. Writers like Marilynne Robinson and Meir Shalev draw upon the Ruth s...

Herman Wouk, a celebrated but often overlooked Jewish American author, injected Jewish themes into postwar American literature in an innovative yet understat...

This article discusses the author's unexpected fascination with the television series, Game of Thrones, and the parallels he sees between the show and Jewish...