Brian Ogren is Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Rice University. This interview is based on his new book, Kabbalah and the Founding of America: The Early Influence of Jewish Thought in the New World (New York University Press, 2021). […]
Judaism
What do Jewish texts say about abortion?
Whatever one thinks about the recent Texas abortion law, this piece by Rachel Mikva of Chicago Theological Seminary reminds us that not all religious people believe that life begins at the fetus’s heartbeat. Here is a taste of her piece […]
Jamie Raskin, a humanist, seems to be doing the Lord’s work
“Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil.” —Exodus 23:2, quoted by House manager Jamie Raskin in the Donald Trump impeachment trial. In May 2016, The Washington Post published an article about the beliefs of the Maryland congressman. Here […]
Remember the Elderly
This is an important reminder from Shai Held, president, dean, and chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar. Here is a taste of his recent piece at The Atlantic: Why do I say “the elderly”? In its biblical context, the obligation to […]
Christian Uses and Representations of Judaism and the Old Testament in Reformation Europe
Ralph Keen is writing for us this week from the annual meeting of the American Society of Church History in New York City. Keen is Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation Chair of Catholic Studies and Professor of History at the University […]
Why Jews and Muslims Might Claim a Religious Liberty Exemption to the Alabama Abortion Bill
Steven Waldman, author of a new book titled Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom, makes a fascinating argument in a recent op-ed at Newsweek. What happens when a pro-life position on abortion clashes with religious liberty? Jews […]
5 “Must-Read” Books on Anti-Semitism in America
These recommendations come from Brandeis University’s Jonathan Sarna, one of the foremost authorities on American Judaism. (Back in 2012, I reviewed Sarna’s excellent book When General Grant Expelled the Jews). Antisemitism in America By Leonard Dinnerstein And the Dead Shall Rise: […]
Who Owns the Oldest Synagogue Building in the United States?
A federal court just ruled that Congregation Shearith Israel (Manhattan, 1654), the oldest Jewish congregation in America, owns Touro Synagogue (Newport, R.I.), the oldest synagogue building (1763) in America. Find out more by reading Sharon Otterman’s story at The New York Times. Here […]
America and the Ten Commandments
Oxford University Press blog is running an excerpt from Jenna Weissman Joselit‘s new book Set in Stone: America’s Embrace of the Ten Commandments. Here is a taste: Although we are told that Moses received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, their […]
The Author's Corner With Zev Eleff
Zev Eleff is Chief Academic Officer at Touro College, Hebrew Theological in Skokie, Illinois. This interview is based on his new book Who Rules the Synagogue?: Religious Authority and the Formation of American Judaism (Oxford University Press, 2016). JF: What led […]
The Author's Corner With Rebecca Alpert
Rebecca T. Alpert is Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Temple University. This interview is based on the forthcoming paperback release of her 2011 book Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball (Oxford University Press). JF: What led you to […]
The Secular Prophetic Style of Bernie Sanders
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the religion of Bernie Sanders. I tried to suggest that Sanders’s religion is informed by the virtues that have informed American socialism and republicanism. Over at Religion & Politics, Michael Schulson offers […]
Mini-Review of Jonathan Sarna, “When General Grant Expelled the Jews”
Today Books & Culture is running my mini-review of an excellent book: Jonathan Sarna’s When General Grant Expelled the Jews. Here is a taste: On December 17, 1862, in the midst of the Civil War and only weeks before Abraham […]
Beuttler Reviews Schultz, “Tri-Faith America”
Fred Beuttler, the former deputy historian of the House of Representatives, reviews Kevin Schultz’s Tri-Faith America: How Catholics and Jews Held Protestantism to its Protestant Promise. Here is a taste: Schultz concludes with warnings of a return to a “Protestant […]
FDR was a Jew and Lincoln was a Catholic
OK, not really. But these rumors swirled during the FDR and Lincoln presidencies. Bruce Feiler wonders “Why Americans Don’t Like their President’s God.” He concludes: But as reliably as Americans have adopted these views, they’ve also moved past them. In […]