Judaism

Show materials in this field in:

Show Articles
16.10.2024

Thinking of Those Whose Homes Were Turned Into Huts

There is something strange about the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which occurs a few days after Yom Kippur. One is required to leave one’s usual home and move to temporary, flimsy huts exposed to the vagaries of the weather. The holiday embodies the memory of protecting former slaves who dwelled in huts on their journey […]

More
11.10.2024

Elul: Self-Examination or Self-Righteousness?

“This past year has proven how fragile and precious life can be.” Rabbi Moshe Taragin, educator and author, begins his recent article with these words. It is written during the Hebrew month of Elul, which, this year, began in September. He mourns the death of some of his students who died as Israel’s soldiers in the war […]

More
26.8.2024

Война в Газе кристаллизует образ Израиля

Современный Израиль привлекает большое внимание аналитиков и общественности, но понять его мешают идеология, предрассудки и мифы. Зачастую к обсуждению Израиля подходят осторожно, чтобы не быть обвиненными в антисемитизме. В одной из предыдущих статей я объясняю, что отличает антисионизм от антисемитизма. Однако основная трудность в понимании Израиля состоит в привычной ассоциации этого государства в Западной Азии с евреями. […]

More
28.8.2024

War on Gaza Crystalizes Israel’s Image

(240812) — GAZA, Aug. 12, 2024 (Xinhua) — People flee from the Hamad City, a neighborhood in the northwest of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 11, 2024, following the latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) (Image by Xinhua) Modern Israel attracts much attention from […]

More
18.8.2024

Ascending the Temple Mount: An Unholy Act in a Site of Holiness

(Image by Prensa Latina)   Every year, Jews recite the entire Pentateuch aloud in synagogues. It is divided in weekly portions. Last week’s one (Vaet’hanan, Deuteronomy 3 :23 – 7 :11) contains passages that are central to Jewish liturgy, including the Shema, a declaration of loyalty to God, or more precisely, a declaration of love […]

More
14.6.2024

Israel ist nicht das Judentum – und umgekehrt

Nahostkonflikt: Antizionismus ist nicht Antisemitismus. Und die meisten Zionisten sind keine Juden. Antisemitismus ist momentan ständig in den Schlagzeilen. Israels Premier nennt nicht nur den Vorwurf, Israel begehe in Gaza einen Genozid antisemitisch, sondern auch amerikanische Studierende, die einen Waffenstillstand fordern. Was Israel tut, provoziert in der Tat antisemitische Akte gegen Synagogen, jüdische Schulen und […]

More
22.05.2024

«Мы говорим Израиль – подразумеваем евреев»: опасное смешение понятий

Антисемитизм выходит сегодня на первые полосы газет западных стран. Премьер-министр Израиля называет антисемитскими обвинения в том, что Израиль совершает геноцид в Газе, и даже призывы к прекращению огня. В то же время военные действия Израиля провоцируют действительно антисемитские нападения на синагоги, еврейские школы и даже на отдельных евреев. Поэтому важно понять, что такое антисемитизм и […]

More
06.04.2024

The Story of Arab-Jews Instills Hope

Reflections on Avi Shlaim, Three Worlds : Memoirs of an Arab-Jew, London: Oneworld, 2023, 324 pp. During my stay in Iran in 2016, I heard from several Muslims that Jews are good businessmen because they are trustworthy, and their word weighs more than a notarized contract. I recalled these comments when I read about Yusef, one of […]

More
22.3.2024

Purim at the Time of Genocide

22.03.24 – Montreal, Canadá – Yakov M. Rabkin The Jewish holiday of Purim, related in the Book of Esther, celebrates deliverance from a genocide. How to celebrate it when death and starvation kill thousands in Gaza, and the holiday’s rhetoric, namely the memory of the archenemy Amalek, is being used by Israeli politicians responsible for […]

More
23/02/2023

La agonía del sionismo de izquierda

Antaño, conocía a muchos sionistas de izquierda. Buscaban la justicia social, apoyaban las iniciativas de paz con los palestinos y creían en las raíces progresistas de Israel. De hecho, en sus primeros años, el sionismo, aunque era un proyecto de asentamiento que excluía a la población autóctona, estaba asociado a ideas de colectivismo e igualdad. […]

More
28/05/2020

为什么西方恐惧中国?

一个幽灵正在困扰着美国–一个 “以中国为中心的世界 “的幽灵。通过表达这种担忧,特朗普总统承诺要 “让美国伟大”。一些欧洲盟友也表达了这种担忧。其他一些盟友则保持着明显的沉默。但这种担忧究竟是为了什么? 美国三十年来一直享有唯一超级大国的地位。华盛顿曾勉强尊重的苏联,其军事平等地位已不复存在。经过前十年的温顺,后苏联的俄罗斯已经取得了较为独立的地位,但面临着严峻的经济挑战。中国是一个更大的参与者,政治上有纪律,工业上有实力,技术上也很先进。 但是,尽管经常有人表示担心,但中国并没有威胁到自由民主国家或 “自由法治世界”。与长期以来在世界范围内进行军事和政治干预的西方国家不同,中国对其他国家的治理方式不感兴趣,也没有强行改变政权的习惯。此外,它还学会了从自由贸易和全球化的和平条件中获益,而这两方面都是美国及其帮助建立的机构所推动的。中国的 “一带一路 “倡议就是要利用这一成功经验,改善区域间的互联互通和物流。 美国对柯维德-19大流行病的反应,暴露了其严重的脆弱性。但早在这次公共卫生危机之前,美国人就担心中国会在经济上打败他们。正因为如此,美国政府才会采取各种政治手段来对抗中国的工业和技术崛起。它还增加了在中国周边地区的军事存在。 然而,中国不会做出对称性的回应。它不会在加拿大和墨西哥寻求军事基地,以配合美军在日本和韩国的存在。相反,它正在建立起可信的威慑力。上海合作组织是地区性的,由七个正式成员组成,其中四个核大国(中国、印度、巴基斯坦和俄罗斯)。 以中国为中心的世界幽灵,就像过去的 “红色威胁 “和 “反恐战争 “一样,起到了增加美国军费开支的有益作用。衰落中的帝国往往是暴力的。20世纪50年代英国在东非的行动和法国在阿尔及利亚的行动就体现了这种倾向。与中国发生军事冲突的前景可能会让一些人感到兴奋(正是第二次世界大战把美国从大萧条中拉出了大萧条),但由于核武器的原因,仍然令人怀疑。

More
September 2009

How to help Israel

Written for the Canadian Jewish News, September 2009. How to help Israel by Yakov M Rabkin* Rosh Hashana, Jewish New Year, is all about moral reckoning and self-improvement. The Jewish tradition views the Jews’ eventual return to the Land of Israel as a spiritual concept, dependent on the behaviour of the Jews and, above all, […]

More
27 May 2009

Torn apart between Jewish values and support for Israel

Published on May 27 in ON LINE  opinion  – Australia’s e-journal of social and political debate http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8967&page=0 Torn apart between Jewish values and support for Israel By Yakov Rabkin Parents know how hard it is to tell their children untruths or half-truths. We do so when we are morally torn, ethically embarrassed or intellectually inconsistent. […]

More
February 2009

Innocence and Responsibility

Published in German in Jüdische Zeitung, Berlin, February 2009, p. 11 under the title “Unschuld und Veratwortung”. Innocence and Responsibility Yakov M Rabkin[1] The recent massacre in Mumbai is hard to forget. Dennis Praeger, a prominent author and broadcaster, writes in the online Front Page Magazine that “slaughtering as many people as possible in India’s […]

More
Fall 2008

Darwin and the Jews

Published in Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, Volume 27, Number 1, Fall 2008, pp. 104-106 Darwin and the Jews Geoffrey Cantor and Marc Swetlitz, eds., Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism, Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 2006, xii+260 pp. This book is a collection of papers written by scholars […]

More
17 mai 2008

Le Forum:17 mai 2008, vol 38, no 30

Le religieux et le politique: l’inévitable collision L’équipe Poexil discute de la place de la religion dans la sphère publiquePeut-on penser le religieux sans s’y soumettre ni le juger? C’était l’ambitieux programme, non dénué d’angélisme, que les responsables de l’équipe Poexil ont présenté aux participants du colloque «Penser le religieux», tenu à l’UdeM les 6 […]

More
2008

American Jews in the Physical Sciences, 2008

Published in the Encyclopedia of American Jewish History, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC- Clio, 2008, vol. 2, pp. 739-742. AMERICAN JEWS AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES The issue of Jews in any creative occupation—science, art, or literature—constitutes a controversy in itself. If science were seen as an objective and impersonal reflection of physical reality this article would […]

More
January 2008

The Siege of Gaza Exposes Rift Between Judaism and Zionism

THE SIEGE OF GAZA EXPOSES RIFT BETWEEN JUDAISM AND ZIONISM Yakov M Rabkin Rabbi Dow Marmur is right to raise the issue of morality of Israel’s actions in Gaza (“Can Israel’s attacks on Gaza be justified?” Globe and Mail, January 17, 2008). As a rabbi he naturally turns to questions of morality since this is […]

More
February 2007

Debate on Anti-Zionism

Letter to the Canadian Jewish News, February 2007 Many thanks for covering a debate about my book A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism that took place at McGill University (“Relevance of Jewish anti-Zionism”, CJN February 8, 2007, p. 19). It was indeed rewarding to discuss with students who had read […]

More
2005

Israël à la défense des juifs? Le renard prêche aux poules

Publié dans Politis (Paris), 2005, p. 19.   Israël à la défense des juifs? Le renard prêche aux poules   Yakov Rabkin   Depuis quelques années, des représentants de l’état d’Israël et ses partisans juifs à travers le monde ont multiplié les expressions de leur préoccupation à l’égard de l’antisémitisme. Or, les invocations de l’antisémitisme […]

More
2003

Aleph: Historical Studies in Science & Judaism

Published in Isis: International Journal for the History of Science 94 (2003), pp. 117-118. Freudenthal, Gad (Editor). Aleph: Historical Studies in Science & Judaism, No. I. 351 pp., tables. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2001. (Paper.) Studies of Jews in science have often provoked adverse reactions. The idea of distinguishing between Jewish and non-Jewish […]

More

Books

All Books