The Era of Jihadist Insurgencies Is Over
Twenty years after the second intifada began, the states have returned.
October 6, 2020
What Natan Sharansky Gets Wrong about David and Isaiah, and Right about the Jewish Predicament
A false dichotomy between the particularist king and the universalist prophet nevertheless discloses a truth about its author.
In his recent memoir, written with the historian Gil Troy, the refusenik-turned-Israeli politician-turned-Jewish Agency leader Natan Sharansky explores the lessons learned in his career in the service of the Jewish people following his release from Soviet prison. One of the book’s themes is the balancing of the universal with the particular. In this connection, Sharansky appeals to the twin biblical models of the particularist David and the universalist Isaiah—contrasting “Davidian” Israelis interested in building the Jewish homeland, by force if necessary, with American Jewish “Isaiahans,” focused on peace, human rights, and social justice. To Meir Soloveichik, Sharansky exemplifies the successful and heroic bridging of these two poles, but fails at his biblical interpretation:
October 6, 2020
No, U.S. Pressure on Iran Hasn’t Risked Starting a War
The ayatollahs want to keep conflict in the “gray zone.”
What Natan Sharansky Gets Wrong about David and Isaiah, and Right about the Jewish Predicament
A false dichotomy between the particularist king and the universalist prophet nevertheless discloses a truth about its author.
The Crisis of the Family, Not Social Distancing, Is Making Americans Lonely
Exacerbating the loneliness gap.
The Israeli Band Bringing Ancient Hebrew Poetry to the World
How Yamma made Psalm 104 a runaway hit.