News and Politics

The State of Utopia

By Shai Ginsburg

It is difficult to believe that three weeks ago the main news item in Israel was Netanyahu’s endorsement of the two state solution. Notwithstanding the coverage his Bar Ilan address received, within days, it had largely slipped from public consciousness. While Obama’s Cairo speech continues to reverberate throughout the Middle East, the Israeli prime minister’s so-called acceptance of the “leftist” program has left no marks. The dismissive reception that Netanyahu received when he traveled to Europe afterwards, coupled with persistently blatant demands—even from Silvio Berlusconi—to cease all settlement construction in the Occupied Territories shows how little Netanyahu was taken seriously by Israel’s so-called best friends.

Life and Action

Dreaming of Paris

By Angela Himsel

Growing up in the Worldwide Church of God, I celebrated Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles every autumn with my parents and siblings. I spent these feasts with Alise, my friend with the exotic name and the big dreams.

Arts and Culture

The Tragedy of the Smile

By Shai Ginsburg

Tamar Yarom’s 2007 documentary To See If I’m Smiling is a fascinating, yet disturbing study of the effect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Israeli psyche. The film is comprised of interviews with six female military veterans, who did much of their active duty in the Occupied Territories, in Judea and Samaria and in the Gaza Strip prior to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the territory.

Arts and Culture

Mirror to the Crisis: Israeli Media

By Shai Ginsburg

Whenever I return to Israel, I always make a point of listening to local talk shows and reading as many magazines as possible. If you want to gauge changes in public opinion quickly, there’s no better way to do it. My last trip back to Israel, in June, is no exception. The following are my incidental observations.

Faith and Practice

Is Kabbalah Mysticism? Continuing the Debate

Boaz Huss has claimed that “mysticism” is a term that is foreign to Judaism and thus should not be used to identity or describe kabbalistic literature; and that mysticism is a theological category in any case and should not be part of academic discourse more generally. I disagree.

Arts and Culture

Jewish Film Festival Diary, Week 2

By Shai Ginsburg

The recent stream of successful Israeli features—The Band’s Visit, Waltz with Bashir, and Beaufort, to name the most obvious—has significantly raised the bar for Israeli filmmakers. No longer can we consider oursleves satisfied by a well-made, albeit Israeli film. Rather, inclined moviegoers are lead to expect extraordinary cinematic experiences, of the kind that an increasing number of Israeli films simply cannot provide.

Arts and Culture

Revelation Time

By Joel Schalit

As any electronic or hip-hop artist will tell you, one of the most important aspects of making music is capturing the right sample. Not just any sample, but something that you can rightfully call your own.

Life and Action

Tel Aviv to Milan

By Joel Schalit

“The Italians are faced with the same problem with Jihad as we are,” the Israeli software engineer said. “One day, Europe will be dominated by these people, and something has to be done about it.” Replying that my wife and I live in a largely Arab immigrant neighborhood in Milan, I argued that it was hard to see how Europe wasn’t manufacturing many of these problems itself.

Life and Action

Viva Italia

By Joel Schalit

Over the course of the last two decades, the question of race has come to the forefront of Italian politics. Italy’s leader is of course not exempt from this discourse, having made extremely bold statements such as expressing his opposition to a “multicultural Italy,” and working hard to pass legislation attempting to limit illegal immigration.