Response ·
The Messages about Jews in Christian Art
By Edward RothsteinAnd how Jews used art to send messages about themselves.
History & Ideas
Latest Mosaic Content for History & Ideas
Observations ·
This Hebrew Saying Might Have the Same Origin as an American Southern One
By PhilologosCould "It’s easier to take the Jew out of exile than to take exile out of the Jew" and "You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy" have shared roots?
Observations ·
How Monotheistic Israel and Pagan Rome Gave the World Its Weeks
By PhilologosA rivalry between the Jewish numerical and European pagan-astronomical nomenclatures for the seven-day week has played out over millennia across the world.
Monthly Essay ·
Jewish Studies against the Jews
By Andrew KossAs America's universities catch fire and its Jewish students grow more fearful, the field most likely to have something to say has remained silent—or worse. How did it go wrong?
Observations ·
Were There Arab Jews, and Did They Speak Judeo-Arabic?
By PhilologosJews in Arab lands spoke much the same Arabic as their neighbors. But the notion that they thought of themselves as Arab Jews, pushed now in some circles, is a historical absurdity.
Response ·
Jews Shouldn’t Take the AI Hype at Face Value
By L. M. SacasasTechnologies have radically changed religions in the past. But that doesn't mean they'll do so this time.
Response ·
The Man Who Inspired American Jews to Embrace Zionism and Americans to Fight Hitler
By Rick RichmanAbraham Cahan's still-relevant vision of America's place in the world, and the Jews' place in America.
Monthly Essay ·
The Very Model of a New York Intellectual
By Ruth R. WisseAbraham Cahan was one of America's first great Jewish newspapermen, and set an example of independent thinking that the nation could sorely use today.
Observations ·
The Irony of “Genocide”
By PhilologosA Jewish lawyer coined the term because there was no word that described the murder of a whole people. But the definition he favored is so loose it can apply to almost any conflict.
Monthly Essay ·
What Would Ben-Gurion Do?
By Neil RogachevskyIsrael’s founding father argued for a conception of politics uniquely tailored to the Jewish state. Fifty years after his death, his country could use it more than ever.
Observations ·
The Secrets of the Jewish Leap Year
By PhilologosSome years in the Jewish calendar, like the current one, have an extra month. How'd that come about and why?
Response ·
The Jews Who Guard Dostoevsky
By Gary Saul MorsonMany Dostoevsky scholars have been Jews, perhaps because the anti-Semitic writer needed to be seen as theirs—as almost Jewish in his concerns.
Observations ·
The Best Books of 2023, Part II
By Andrew Koss, Jonathan Silver, and Rabbi Meir SoloveichikFeaturing fears, fates, burdens of power, memory wars, Sabbath days, Russian writers and timeless questions, years of upheaval, Japanese Jews, and more.
Observations ·
The Best Books of 2023, Part I
By Elliott Abrams, Cynthia Ozick, Neil Rogachevsky, and Ruth R. WisseFeaturing prime ministers, kidnappings, popes, silences, exiled shadows, portraits, intellectual origins, the best minds, and more.
Response ·
Anti-Semitism Appeals to Intellectuals Because It Feels Like an Idea
By Adam KirschThat's why geniuses like Dostoevsky can love all humanity and hate the Jews.
Observations ·
The Hebrew Language’s Expression of the Year
By PhilologosRarely heard in the speech of most Israelis in the past, b’sorot tovot, an ironic “good news,” has suddenly become a common way of saying goodbye.
Observations ·
How Wars Get Their Names
By PhilologosMost wars, including the current one, are just called “the war” at first. The names that stick usually come years and sometimes centuries later.
Response ·
In the Yom Kippur War, Strategic Vision Mattered Most
By Michael DoranNixon and Kissinger understood Israeli military power to be an asset to America, not a liability, and they formulated a strategy designed to exploit that power.
Response ·
Israel Won the Yom Kippur War Because Golda Dug In Her Orthopedic Heels
By Uri KaufmanAcquiescing to American restraint would have led to an Israeli defeat, and peace between Egypt and Israel might never have happened.
Response ·
Israel’s Existential Struggle Is Also the West’s
By Arthur HermanFor the West, what's at stake now is not just the safety of Israel's citizens, but its own.
Monthly Essay ·
The Hidden Calculation Behind the Yom Kippur War
By Michael DoranIt's long been the greatest question about the war: why Israel waited to be attacked. But what if it was convinced to wait by its closest ally, the United States?
Monthly Essay ·
The Perennial Power of the Nakba
By Hussein Aboubakr MansourHow generations of Arab thinkers and leaders tried to turn the humiliation of their losses to Israel into a springboard to launch their nations into an enchanted new age.
Observations ·
The Mysterious Glossary of Maimonides
By PhilologosWhat might the great scholar have been intending with a recently discovered list he made of seemingly random words from random European languages?
Observations ·
How the King James Bible Misled Generations of Readers
By PhilologosA misunderstanding about mirrors, with far-reaching, metaphysical consequences.
Observations ·
How Much Plato Did Paul or the Rabbis Know?
By PhilologosA reader's question prompts Philologos to turn up a crucial link between the three.
Response ·
Anti-Modern Anti-Semitism
By Tara Isabella BurtonThe cultural chaos of the current era seems to map perfectly onto the anxieties of the 19th century. The same goes for today's flavor of anti-Semitism.
Observations ·
The Battle of the Seventy Translators
By PhilologosHow many rabbis first translated the Hebrew Bible, and how many different translations did they produce?
Response ·
Who’s Afraid of Ritual Slaughter?
By Eric MechoulanInsects may be welcome on European plates, but not kosher meat.
Response ·
The Marcionite Offensive
By Michel GurfinkielEuropean hypocrisy on animal rights and ritual slaughter comes straight from an ancient Christian heresy.
Observations ·
How Many Egyptian Words Made It into Biblical Hebrew?
By PhilologosAnd does their presence illuminate the book of Exodus—or is it simply a sign that ancient Egypt was a powerful nation?
