Judaism and Politics

This war diary, presented by Susan Weingarten, relates her experience in a kibbutz on the Gazan border on October 7th and the days following her return to Jerusalem after the Hamas massacre.

Ari Lamm explores a recent instance of talmudic censorship, as well as its implications for thinking about Jewish-Christian relations and American society at large.

The propriety of celebrating the downfall of enemies presents a complex web of questions and seemingly contradictory Jewish texts. Michael Kurin makes sense of this subject and proposes a framework for applying it to matters of Israeli public policy.

Shaul Seidler-Feller Introduction Early last week, a friend forwarded me a recently-published video produced in Israel. When it began to play, I was quickly taken in...

R. Shimshon Nadel explores the connection between the Hasmonean dynasty and the modern-day State of Israel.

What is President Trump’s legacy for Orthodox Jews? Shalom Carmy, taking stock of the past four years, considers religious liberty, Israel policy, and the bitter polarization that dominates American politics

Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center on the political advocacy of faith communities today.

Joshua Yuter considers rabbinic conceptions of justice in the age of #metoo.

In the summer of 2024, IDF police raided the Sde Teiman base as part of an investigation into reports of serious abuse of alleged terrorist detainees. The many turns of the resulting controversy divided Israeli society during wartime and brought global attention to Israel's military prisons. Ari Zivitofsky reflects on these events and argues that senior officials in the Israeli government and media failed to heed the dictates of the Jewish ethical tradition.

Historian Jonathan Sarna places a recent decision by an Orthodox synagogue to modify the "prayer for the government" into sharp historical focus.