Citizen Rights in Flux: The Influence of American Immigrants to Israel on Modes of Political Activism
Although American-born Israelis are among the smallest immigrant groups in Israel, they have been at the forefront of extra-parliamentary activity in Israel for nearly thirty years. The ubiquitous presence of American-born Israelis in such frameworks is particularly pronounced in extra-parliamentary groups active in the political-security realm. The difficulty these immigrants experience in integrating themselves in the formal Israeli political structure seems to reinforce a basic "activist
Jewish Defense in Libya
During the late medieval and modern periods, the Jews of Libya had often felt the need for protection, which they did not trust the state authorities to provide. Consequently, the Jews developed strategies to defend themselves independently or in collaboration with local chiefs, who strove to keep independent of the authorities. Jewish defense was based on individuals and special organizations that were not part of the official communal leadership, which was responsible for internal religious se
Continuity and Change in the Constitutional Experience of German Jewry
Despite the progress of Emancipation in the nineteenth century, German Jews were required to belong to legally recognized Jewish communities. Even after this requirement was lifted, Jewish communal life remained strong. The community structure that the Prussian state expected the Jews to implement was modeled after German civil administration. This framework, however, resembled both medieval German and medieval Jewish models. Thus, German Jews, while modernizing their own communal institutions,
Religion and Public Life in the Thought of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik views religion as a private affair, which occurs in the intimate relations between the I, the Thou, and the Eternal Thou. He consistently denies or de-emphasizes the public or coercive role of Judaism and halakhah. Yet Soloveitchik has trouble justifying his private religion with Jewish tradition and with the relatively expansive self-understanding of halakhah. This trouble is reflected in a number of contradictions about the nature and function of Judaism and halakhah,
Hora’at Sha’ah: The Emergency Principle in Jewish Law and a Contemporary Application
This essay deals with the emergency principle in Jewish law, which suspends the normative positive statute when, if implemented, the consequences would undermine the Jewish polity. After explicating the emergency principle as defined by Maimonides, other instances of the principle are examined. In conclusion, the relevance of the emergency principle to lenient conversion standards in contemporary Israel is suggested.
The Jews of Steamboat Springs
In the ski resort town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the late Professor Daniel J. Elazar, founder of the thirty-year, worldwide Study of Jewish Community Organization (and founder of the Jewish Political Studies Review), found a microcosm of the American Jewry now taking shape. In this town of 7,000 are several hundred Jews, ninety of whom are members of local Jewish organizations. They represent a community of Americans of Jewish descent for whom being Jewish is increasingly a matter of indiv
Draining the Swamp of Terror: One Corner at a Time, or All at Once?
“From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” — President George Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress, September 20, 2001
The Druze in Israel and the Question of Compulsory Military Service
The Israeli Druze community is the only major non-Jewish group in the state whose sons are required to serve in the IDF. Over the past 50 years the community has forged a covenant of blood with the Jewish state, suffering hundreds of casualties while loyally defending the State of Israel
Palestinian Cease-Fire Compliance: Dilemmas for American Policy
President George W. Bush was very cautious about the marks he gave to Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat on the latter’s cease-fire efforts. True, Bush stated: “I was pleased to see that Mr. Arafat is trying to control the radical elements within the Palestinian Authority, and I think the world ought to applaud him for that” (emphasis added). Bush re-stated his belief that “there ought to be a Palestinian state, the boundaries of which will be negotiated by the parties” (Presidential News Conference — October 11, 2001 — CNN.com).
“In Amsterdam I Created the Idea of a Jewish State…”: Spinoza and National Jewish Identity (in Hebrew)
Spinoza was the first philosopher to classify Judaism as nationalism according to the modern secular understanding of the term, and not as religion. He showed that the original laws of the Torah of Moses were as a state constitution directed exclusively toward down-to-earth objectives. God was the king, but the world was not theocratic because the kingdom of God was not established as a church; that is, Moses did not consider himself, nor did he appoint beneath him, a leader that presumed to personify the authority of God, who acts and supervises directly (or through the laws of nature).
One Year of Yasser Arafat’s Intifada: How It Started and How It Might End
The first anniversary of the current Palestinian Intifada was marked on September 28, 2001, throughout parts of the Arab world. The date was chosen to correspond to Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount one year ago, when he served as head of Israel’s parliamentary opposition. Because of the alleged proximity of his visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque (he actually did not get near the Muslim shrines), the Palestinians called their uprising: the Al-Aqsa Intifada. But clearly this name was chosen in order to mobilize Arab and Islamic public opinion for a more general struggle over Jerusalem rather than over the Palestinian cause alone.
Jewish Perspectives on Genetic Engineering
One of the technological marvels of the modern age is genetic engineering — the manipulation of genetic material, and the transference of genetic material between different types of organisms, to create transgenic or genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) with modified traits.
Israel is Not the Issue: Militant Islam and America
After the September 11 terrorist assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many American analysts have been seeking to understand the source of the intense hatred against the United States that could have motivated an act of violence on such an unprecedented scale.
Militant Islam’s Fury at America: The Israel Canard
After witnessing the September 11 terrorist assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many American analysts have been seeking to understand the source of the intense hatred against the United States that could have motivated an act of violence on such an unprecedented scale. In that context, a new canard is beginning to run through repeated news reports and features: that somehow America’s support for Israel is behind the fury of militant Islamic movements, like that of Osama Bin Laden, towards the United States.
AMERICAN JEWISH PUBLIC ACTIVITY — IDENTITY, DEMOGRAPHY, AND THE INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE
Jews in America have been known to be, in Earl Raab’s felicitous phrase, “politically hyperactive.” Yet today, the most fundamental indicators of Jewish support — membership, participation, and contributions — are on the wane for most of the organizations which have been in the forefront of Jewish activity in the public square in recent decades.
