Mosaic

This month, @HusseinAboubak, the insightful historian of ideas, draws on Bernard Lewis's great work What Went Wrong? arguing that Lewis had it wrong, too, and that what ails Islam today is what ails us: a modern, post-Enlightment collapse of meaning. mosaicmagazine.com/essay/history-…

To learn about the Druze of contemporary Israel, read @jackfdickens as he examines the origins of the religion and some of its recent, and less recent, history including a "vast, country-wide uprising against French colonial rule" in 1925. ideas.tikvah.org/mosaic/picks/r…

In Vatican II, the Catholic Church rejected anti-Semitism. Gavin D’Costa argues that, regarding Jews, Vatican II was less of a “doctrinal U-turn” than many believe: "In fact, the popes were often at the forefront of protecting the Jewish people." ideas.tikvah.org/mosaic/picks/t…

The UK gives hope to Hamas even as Gazans risk their lives to protest their terrorist rulers. David Lammy, foreign secretary, publicly lambasted Israel and threatened to punish it with economic sanctions—@JakeWSimons comments on British naivete. ideas.tikvah.org/mosaic/picks/t…

Tal Fortgang writes on the bad faith of those accusing the government of “weaponizing” anti-Semitism. The claim that pursuing foreign troublemakers and the universities that host them is counterproductive for Jewish students is a shoddy sort of blackmail. ideas.tikvah.org/mosaic/picks/u…

Herod the Great built up much of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, ruling a Judea that had gone from Roman ally to Roman satellite—a story maybe relevant today. Nachi Weinstein and Martin Goodman delve into Herod’s life and times. ideas.tikvah.org/mosaic/picks/t…

Nearly two years of war have placed substantial burdens on the Israeli economy. And yet, Amit Serusi observes, signals are emerging that Israel’s economy is not just enduring, it's "preparing for a significant leap forward." ideas.tikvah.org/mosaic/picks/i…

By the 1500s, centers of Jewish publishing began to emerge, but wouldn't come to Berlin until the 1690s. Marvin Heller tells the story of Daniel Ernst Jablonski, a Protestant minister and court preacher, who founded the city's first Hebrew printing press. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-…

Richard Kreitner writes about the the career and death of Jacob Joseph, NYC's first, and last, chief rabbi whose funeral sparked a violent anti-Semitic riot. The Jewish community's assertive response is a lesson we could use, today. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-…

A pro-Israel American Jew, Jonathan Torop, looks across 40 years of shifting narratives, from Said to Arafat to today, centered on the day he found himself standing next to Yasser Arafat, architect of endless troubles. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-…

As some degree of calm reaches Suwayda, where fighting led to many dead and reports of atrocities against Druze citizens, @Mr_Andrew_Fox judges what the chaos says about the regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa, and @SpencerGuard judges what is says about Israel. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-z…

Does Hamas have a split between "moderates" and "hardliners?" Ehud Yaari argues that Hamas has competing, loosely defined factions led by Khaled Meshal Khalil al-Hayya. In the end, both desire to see Israel destroyed, so moderate might be a relative term. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/politics…

As we approach the Ninth of Av, or Tisha b'Av, the Jewish people mourn together. But how can a person remember an event that he or she never experienced? This week we share the first episode of R. J.J. Schacter's course on the Jewish Meaning of Memory. mosaicmagazine.com/observation/hi…

With the Iranian nuclear program damaged, and its regional influence diminished, the US must now keep it from recovering, and, ideally, hasten its demise. @BenjiBaird argues that it can do both through economic means—if Congress does its part. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/politics…

Tucker Carlson regularly demonizes the Jews and lionizes America's enemies, representing a growing slice of the American right no longer confined to the fever swamps. @RLHeinrichs examines Carlson's anti-Americanism, which she dubs the 1939 Project. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/politics…

Israel is working with the PA to impose some order on areas the IDF has seized from Hamas. Yet the PA continues to drive terrorism—and still gets tens of millions yearly from the US. Maurice Hirsch and Rikki Zagelbaum break down the depth of the problem. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-z…

What is going on in Syria? @AmitSegal argues the geopolitical import of the Druze as a buffer for Israel and Syria, and @SethAMandel argues the morality of Israeli action to prevent the slaughter of one more Middle Eastern minority. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-z…

What turned the Arab world's golden age into jihadist rage? Islamism promises purity but delivers postmodern despair. From @HusseinAboubak and @mosaicmag: meforum.org/mef-online/the… #MiddleEast #Islamism #ArabMind #WhatWentWrong #Jihadism

With numerous signs of rising anti-Semitism in the U.S., Jack Miller and Wilfred M. McClay write of the ways in which the American story and the Jewish story have been intertwined, from the Founders' adoption of the Exodus story and through to today. mosaicmagazine.com/picks/history-…

For decades, @robsatloff watched Middle East Studies departments devolve into anti-Israel advocacy. Now, he has built a new graduate program to train policy professionals rather than ideologues. He and Jonathan Silver discuss restoring a debased field. mosaicmagazine.com/observation/hi…