Observation
A Century of Rewarding Palestinian Terror
By Douglas J. FeithFor almost 100 years, appeasement of Arab violence has paid bloody dividends. The lesson has yet to sink in.
Unlock the most serious Jewish, Zionist, and American thinking.
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For almost 100 years, appeasement of Arab violence has paid bloody dividends. The lesson has yet to sink in.
Monthly Essay
Understanding and defeating the assault on Jewish moral self-confidence.
Podcast • Episode 44
The sages note a comparison between Moses and David, and the Torah and Tehillim.
Podcast • Episode 442
A seismic shift in the Middle East.
Podcast • Episode 43
David describes what it means for Scripture to be inscribed on our soul.
Podcast • Episode 45
Why do the sons of Korach, an adversary of Moses, merit their own psalm?
Podcast
In this daily podcast, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik guides listeners through all 150 chapters of King David's Psalms, exploring their poetry, meaning, and enduring place in the life of faith.
Course Lesson
In this story, Yudka, a young kibbutznik, delivers a radical sermon arguing that Zionism must break from diasporic Jewish existence and all of Jewish tradition. Yet Yudka's fervent outburst leaves his...
Podcast
A daily 15-minute podcast guiding listeners through the entire Hebrew Bible in one year, with insightful commentary and analysis.
Podcast • Episode 42
Psalm 39 reminds us that we are part of a larger story.
Observation
For Hashem, for country, and for Yale.
Observation
The rulers of the Gulf states are cheering every Israeli strike. But they now have less incentive to improve diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.
Podcast
Professor Ruth Wisse explores the wit and wisdom of the greatest stories in the modern Jewish literary canon.
Observation
Jews vs. Rome bridges the great historiographic divide.
Course
Leon Kass Teaches Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus
Course
Delve into the masterpieces of modern Jewish literature with one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Jewish fiction.
Monthly Essay
With a new nuclear deal on the way, attention is again turning to Iran. Four recent books, plus the deal itself, suggest that America and Europe are blind to the regime's motivating spirit.
Course Lesson
In this conversation, Professor Kass sets out the structure and frame of Exodus as a tale of national birth. He argues that the transformation of the children of Israel into the Jewish nation concentr...
Observation
On Martin Luther King Day, the ghost of the great civil-rights leader was summoned to condemn Israel. The problem? While alive, King had plenty of opportunities to do so—and never did.
Course Lesson
Isaac Babel embedded into the Red Army as a journalist during the Russian Civil War. In this story, he offers a stark, unflinching look at the moral and emotional complexities of being Jewish during t...
Response
Committed to developing and supporting the intellectual, religious, and political leaders of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
Podcast
Weekly, in-depth conversations on Jews, Judaism, America, and Israel with leading thinkers, writers, rabbis, and policymakers.
Observation
The spy show seems so accurate I found myself wondering whether its creators are themselves former Mossad agents who spent time in the titular city.
Monthly Essay
October 7 was not Palestine’s independence day, but the final nail in the two-state solution’s coffin. Is confederation with Jordan all that remains?
Monthly Essay
The case of the literary master helps explain why people who devote themselves to compassion for all so often make an exception for Jews.
Podcast • Episode 1
Explore how Genesis 1-2's creation stories reveal insights into today's technological marvels and their profound implications for humanity.
Podcast • Episode 41
A mysterious opening of the psalm seems to describe it as a "reminder."
Observation
Archaeological evidence suggests that the original Hanukkah menorah was made from the spear tips of the Maccabees.
Course Lesson
I.L. Peretz, a towering figure of Yiddish culture, used his stories to challenge Jewish complacency and inspire moral courage. In "Bontsha the Silent," he critiques a culture of docility through a fol...
Course Lesson
Not long after the Children of Israel escape Egypt, they come to Mount Sinai. There, they enter into a covenant with God. In this episode, Professor Kass thinks about the nature of covenant and why th...
Course Lesson
In this episode, Professor Kass discuses some of the central themes of the Book of Exodus, including the questions of how a people becomes a nation, and how human beings can bring God's holiness into...
Course Lesson
In this shocking story, Lamed Shapiro confronts the moral and psychological devastation of anti-Semitic violence in early 20th-century Eastern Europe. By addressing the pogrom phenomenon from all angl...
Monthly Essay
Three catastrophes, all marked by euphoria at the start and denial at the end, have shaped the Palestinian predicament. Has the fourth arrived, and is the same dynamic playing out?
Podcast • Episode 40
A much-sung verse can be read in two ways.
Monthly Essay
It'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?
Observation
Unlike Western Christians, Middle Eastern Christians never warmed to Jews, but the rise of Islamism has led some to see Israel as the proverbial enemy of their enemy.
Observation
Leading thinkers confront the crisis of anti-Semitism and anti-Western ideology on campus—and explore how America’s universities might yet be renewed.
Podcast • Episode 441
Wherever it’s been made legal, the practice has expanded rapidly.
Podcast • Episode 440
A selection from a year of episodes.
Podcast • Episode 1
Psalms is a book in which God is praised. Why then does it begin with praise for man?
Course Lesson
Sholem Aleichem's breakout story follows Moshe, a naive young scholar whose first trip away from home devolves into a comic nightmare involving a dead woman, an amoral shtetl, and the Russian police....
Observation
Philologos says farewell.
Podcast • Episode 18
Egyptology reshapes the Exodus narrative, revealing the biblical plagues' lessons through a key statue inscription at the Met.
Podcast • Episode 6
Abraham and Sarah's laughter at Isaac's birth reveals profound insights into Jewish identity and the significance of names in biblical narratives.
Podcast • Episode 38
A psalm’s central verse is about genuine moral enlightenment.
Podcast • Episode 37
Psalm 35 appears at an important moment in American history.
Podcast • Episode 25
A profoundly moving story teaches us about the faith at the heart of the most famous psalm.
Podcast
Discover the history, meaning, and soul-shaping purpose of the prayers Jews recite each and every day.
Course
A comprehensive look at the history of Zionism—political, social, and religious—and the schools of anti-Zionism that have opposed it.
Podcast • Episode 301
The last words of 2 Chronicles 36 offer a profound hint about the era we inhabit, bridging ancient wisdom with modern understanding.
