On Chanukah and Extremism

What Adam Sandler doesn’t tell you: the Hasmonean intra-ethnic cleansing campaign that followed the Maccabean miracle of lights.

News and Politics

Three Israels: Why We Can't Talk about BDS

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Despite Theodor Herzl’s dream, Israel is not simply a state like any other state. There are three Israels: the State of Israel (a “state like any other state”), Israel/Palestine, and the Jewish State. Which state(s) shape our understanding of Israel determines our views of the BDS movement.

Life and Action

The End of Civil Discourse

By Sasha T. Goldberg

Recently, I read a status update from an intelligent person who asked all of their friends who disagreed on their assessment of Israel as a terrorist state to hit the de-friend button. Is this really what we’ve come to?

News and Politics

Which Campaign to Wage?

By Michael Felsen

Is the new anti-BDS campaign (called the Israel Action Network) really serving Israel’s best interests?

News and Politics

The Moral Argument Against BDS

By Naftali Balanson

Responding to the New Israel Fund’s recent article in Zeek, Balanson from the NGO Monitor argues for even stronger measures against the BDS movement.

News and Politics

What Really Happened at the GA

By Joanna Steinhardt

I asked a protester, “Why disrupt the GA?” She answered, “We had to scream to be heard.”

News and Politics

Don't Divest; Invest

By Naomi Paiss

For the first time ever, New Israel Fund weighs in publicly on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement - and its answer is not necessarily what you would expect.

News and Politics

Peace Process or Land Grab?

By Rebecca Vilkomerson

The Jewish Voice for Peace advocates Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions of/against Israel.

Arts and Culture

Before Derrida: Salomon Maimon

By Louis Greenspan

A founder of post-Kantian German Idealism; a predecessor of French post-structuralism; a guy who thought he could become invisible–meet Salomon Maimon.

Life and Action

Beyond Good Intentions: A Values Proposition for Jewish Service-Learning

By Aaron Dorfman

For an investment of $1,800, we’re delivering about $150 worth of manual labor to a poor community in the developing world. Why is what we are doing not “poverty tourism”?