Last week on MJL, Brigitte Sion offered her analysis of four national Holocaust memorials, and in so doing, noted that Germany’s memorial is often treated more like a park than a reminder of genocide.
Because of its extreme simplicity and the absence of markers specific to the Holocaust, the memorial can easily be mistaken for an […]

As Daniel mentioned in this post a couple of weeks ago, renowned chef Adeena Sussman has launched a kosher food column on MJL:
The latest installment of Adeena Sussman’s MJL food column “The Inspired Kitchen” is now available. The newest recipe: Schnitzel (Israeli chicken cutlets) — with a spicy kick.
Want a vegetarian alternative? Well, there’s always Morningstar Farms […]

Menachem Wecker has launched a new blog — Iconia — which will focus on the intersection of art and religion. It’s looking good so far.
Check out Wecker’s coverage of Adi Nes’ biblical photography.

On Thursday night, Ultra-Orthodox activists in Jerusalem burned barrels of “immodest” clothing, claiming that female immodesty is the only thing that still needs to be fixed in this otherwise perfect world.
We will get rid of the tight clothes and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will place his mercy on us,” it was written on […]

Steven over at Canonist has written a thoughtful reply to yesterday’s posting about his debate with Dan Sieradski. I had raised Maimonides’ Jewish Aristotelianism as an analogue for Sieradski’s Jewish Social Justice — i.e. theological frameworks that may not be the actual essence of Judaism, but can be argued for using Jewish tradition.
To this, Steven […]

Apparently the new edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica takes a skeptical position on this question.
Find out more here.

Generally, it’s not fun to see your friends fight, but when the fight is over the soul of Judaism, it’s easier to oblige.
From Monday of last week to Monday of this week, Jewcy hosted an email debate between Canonist’s Steven I. Weiss and Jewschool’s Dan Sieradski. The topic: Is Social Justice the Soul of Judaism?
I […]

Norman Mailer’s first novel in a decade, The Castle in the Forest, was released today. The book, which is narrated by the devil, tells the story of the young Adolph Hitler.
So far the book has been very well reviewed, and you can read the first few pages of the novel here.

As I mentioned on Friday, much of David Klinghoffer’s diagnosis of liberal pluralism (as he experienced it at Limmud NY) is correct. “Liberal pluralists” (a category in which I would likely be included) do indeed have a difficult time with claims of absolute truth.
I do not believe, however, that this is a flaw in […]

This week’s Forward features a harsh, but disciplined critique of “liberal pluralism” by David Klinghoffer. The article consists of Klinghoffer’s reflections on his experience at Limmud NY last weekend.
The slogan of the multi-denominational event, a four-day party for Jewish intellectuals, was “Jewish Learning Without Limits.” The buzzword was “pluralism,” but what stood out was […]