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The Man-Made Messiah

From the January 2011 Print Edition

The most recognized face of any Jewish leader of the past fifty years belongs to the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, even more so today than at his death in 1994. There are few Jews who have not seen the picture of the Lubavitcher rebbe on billboards or in other media or who have not . . . . Continue Reading »

Why Are the Jews Chosen?

From the April 2010 Print Edition

One way anti-Jewish sentiment has been interpreted is simply as a quid pro quo. Gentile animosity, in this view, does to the Jews what the Jews have done, or at least would like to do, to Gentiles—because we Jews present ourselves as the chosen people. In the seventeenth century, Baruch . . . . Continue Reading »

Conrad Black and Judaism

From Web Exclusives

In the Tuesday, September 29 edition of the National Post (Toronto), long time columnist Conrad Black wrote “Why I Became a Catholic.” I was intrigued by Lord Black’s story of his spiritual journey to a more intense Christianity, yet I began to recoil when reading his dismissal of Judaism as a real spiritual option for himself (or for anyone else like him)… . Continue Reading »

Richard and the Jews

From the April 2009 Print Edition

In his youth in rural Ontario and rural Texas, Richard John Neuhaus had little or no contact with Jews––but as an adult his contact was constant. And this played a key role in Richard’s life and career as a priest and a public intellectual, for his constant contact with Jews went hand in hand . . . . Continue Reading »

God-Talk

From the February 2009 Print Edition

Sacred Attunement: A Jewish Theology by Michael Fishbane University of Chicago Press, 246 pages, $30 The word theology means literally God-talk . But since talk about anything”even talk about God”takes place in a particular language at a particular time, how one engages in theology . . . . Continue Reading »

Body and Soul

From the April 2006 Print Edition

The eight-hundredth anniversary of the death in 1204 of Rabbi Moses the son of Rabbi Maimon the Spaniard”better known to the world as Maimonides”was celebrated throughout the world. It gave Jews, especially, the opportunity to call the world’s attention to Maimonides’ great . . . . Continue Reading »

DN 12.16.05 Following the no…

From Web Exclusives

Following the no confidence vote in the House of Commons that led to the fall of the minority government of Liberal Paul Martin, the Governor-General of Canada (who is the official representative of the Head of State, Her Majesty the Queen) has called for a parliamentary election on January 23rd, . . . . Continue Reading »