05 Mar
2012 March-April, Israel, Issues, Opinion, Religion, Topics

Naomi Ragen: The Ultra-Orthodox’ PR Problem

By Naomi Ragen The cultural divide in Israel between Haredi and secular Jews has reached new extremes. In December, Haredi men spat upon a terrified eight-year-old girl, Naama Margolese, as she made her way to a Haredi-opposed national religious girls school in Beit Shemesh—a school the Haredim claimed was purposely and provocatively zoned on land in their neighborhood. A few days later, a female soldier riding up front in a bus in Ramat Eshkol was verbally attacked by a Haredi father of ten who called her a “whore.” She replied that she was protecting him. He responded that his Torah learning was protecting her. Police were eventually called in, and the man found himself behind bars. More recently, a female employee of Israel’s lottery putting up posters in Beit Shemesh found herself stoned, her car windshield smashed,...

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05 Mar
2012 March-April, Culture, Issues, Opinion, Topics

Clifford D. May: Are We Too Fair-minded to Take Our Own Side?

By Clifford D. May In the 20th century, a war was waged against the Jews of Europe. It culminated in the Holocaust. In the 21st century, a war is being waged against the Jews of the Middle East. How that turns out will depend in large measure on whether people in the Middle East, Europe and America stand up to resurgent anti-Semitism. At the moment, there’s little basis for confidence. In Iran, Egypt, the West Bank, Gaza and other corners of the Middle East, what is now routinely said and written about Jews is indistinguishable from what the Nazis said and wrote about Jews in the 1930s. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently called Israel “a cancerous tumor,” adding, “And it will be removed.” In Europe, anti-Semites are generally more sophisticated. They don’t call for the Jewish...

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05 Mar
2012 March-April, From the Editor, Issues, Opinion, Topics

From The Editor

By Nadine Epstein Welcome to our Messiah Issue! The specter of a messiah is alive and well in the 21st century. We may not think of it in these terms, but many of us are wishing for someone to swoop in and fix America’s economy, secure Israel’s future, eradicate suffering and make the world a better place. Not surprisingly, then, the Messiah is a daily presence in politics. How many people do you know who have expressed disappointment in President Barack Obama because he hasn’t met their expectations to transform the American political system in his first term? I am sure you know at least one, probably many more. They are engaging in messianic thinking by projecting their hopes onto one man (females don’t seem to be taken seriously as messianic figures) who they hope will bring about...

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05 Mar
2012 March-April, Fiction, Issues

Moment-Karma Foundation Fiction: Infections

By Dalia Rosenfeld The onion Lotzi was eating could be smelled five floors below him in the entrance to Migdal Zahav, the Golden Tower of Jerusalem, where he lived. Lotzi always waited for me to arrive before retrieving his knife from the cupboard, a gesture that was never lost on me since I feared he would one day use it to take his life. With one clean cut the onion would separate into two halves, each half rocking on its domed back for a second or two before coming to rest on the countertop. Lotzi ate it with bread, one slice for every three bites of onion, and washed it down with a cup of tepid Wissotzky made from old teabags reduced to the size of walnuts. He always offered me tea but never anything to...

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05 Mar
2012 March-April, History, Issues, Religion

Messiah Mania: A Short History of Four Jews and Their Legacies

Jesus Simon Bar Kokhba Shabbtai Tzvi Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson No one can verify the exact number, but to date, Judaism has rejected at least 24 Jews claiming to be the Messiah. The religion’s deep skepticism is reflected in the advice of the first-century sage Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai, who said that if you are planting a tree and someone tells you that the Messiah has come, finish planting the tree and then go to greet him. But this hasn’t stopped the following larger-than-life men from inspiring thousands, even millions, of followers, and from deeply influencing Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Western civilization. Jesus  (4 BCE – 33 CE) During Jesus’ lifetime, there were numerous Jewish revolts against the oppressive rule of Rome. Persecution was so intense and life so difficult that some Jews believed the end of time had already arrived and...

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05 Mar
2012 March-April, Big Questions, Issues, Religion

What Does the Concept of the Messiah Mean Today?

Amos Oz I’m a secular Jew. I am in dire need of sober political leadership, not of a messiah. But let me tell you this. In Judaism, the messianic idea is only reliant in the future tense. Any Jewish messiah in Israel being transformed into the present tense is false messianism. Primarily, I mean the claim that the Messiah is here, or around the corner. He may be around the corner, but that’s where he should always be. It doesn’t mean not to do much and everything will be taken care of. In the Jewish tradition we have to act, every day, every hour. We have to make moral decisions, almost every minute. Sitting idly waiting for the Messiah is a sin. Amos Oz is a renowned novelist, journalist and author of the recently published Scenes from a...

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05 Mar
2012 March-April, Issues

Recovering Messiah

By Nadine Epstein If ever there was a tale of comic resurrection, it belongs to Marc Maron. The 48-year-old comedian’s climb back from drugs, drinking and despair—with a lot of help from iTunes—is a modern-day redemption story. The progeny of a Jewish doctor and homemaker mother, Maron began his standup career in the 1980s. A hit in alternative comedy clubs in New York in the 1990s, Maron blew his Saturday Night Live interview, then watched as his friends—and enemies—went on to sitcom deals and television specials. Jealous, angry and bitter, he turned to alcohol and cocaine. He went through two divorces, the second so contentious he based his one-man show, Scorching the Earth, on it. In 2005, he was fired as a co-host of Morning Sedition, a talk show on the liberal and now-defunct Air America radio network. (Rachel Maddow got part...

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