An Israeli writer’s final word to his fellow citizens
Amos Oz feared that fanaticism was rising in Israel as well as in the West.
Judaism
A DNA test and its aftermath
Even as a child, Dani Shapiro wondered whether she belonged in her family.
Jesus’ earliest followers were Jewish, too
Paula Fredriksen challenges popular assumptions about the first generation of Christians.
A personal discipline of Talmud study
Ilana Kurshan shows how the practice of Daf Yoni gave structure to a life made formless and void.
How a doctor finds hope at a Jerusalem hospital
Pediatric oncologist Elisha Waldman explores a city's complexities as he reflects on his patients' spiritual needs.
Practices drawn from the Hebrew Bible are not new to the continent. Seeking full conversion to rabbinic Judaism is.
Zionism’s competing visions of Israel
Michael Brenner shows that contemporary debates have precedents in the origins of the movement.
The many lives of Adam and Eve
Stephen Greenblatt weaves an impressive—but incomplete—tapestry of interpretations of the story of the Fall.
Jewish history through Christian eyes
Must Christianity always define itself against Judaism? The Didache didn't.
What’s behind the New Testament?
There is abundant documentation of the intertestamental period. We just haven't read it.
Nicole Krauss’s love letter to (an imagined) Kafka
A breathtaking novel that bleeds existential urgency from every page
This book taught me about phylacteries. More importantly, it taught me about myself.
Dreaming in Israel
In Aharon Appelfeld's novel, a teenage Holocaust survivor sleeps, remembers, and learns to speak anew.
A novel at the edge of faith
It’s rare to encounter a female protagonist in theological fiction.
Questions in Genesis
A book of essays asks, is the Bible literature? How is a blessing like an oath? And what if Eve was just hungry?