Jewish Word | A Word Fit for a King
By Caitlin Yoshika Kandil
Today, “messiah” usually brings to mind a personal savior, the end of time, the Kingdom of Heaven—or Jesus Christ. This grand, contemporary...
Nathan Guttman: Is the American Right too Right for Israel?
By Nathan Guttman
This election cycle has officially ended the decades-long debate over whether Israel should be an American campaign issue. For better or worse, it...
Eetta Prince-Gibson: Can a “Messiah” Save Israel Now?
By Eetta Prince-Gibson
“The Messiah is not coming. The Messiah is not going to phone, either.”
In a still-popular song from the 1980s, Israeli rock singer Shalom...
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...
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,...
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...
Fiction // Infections
This story is the second-place winner of the 2010 Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest. Founded in 2000, the contest was created to recognize authors...
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...
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...
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...
A Priest Bears Witness
Father Patrick Desbois is on a mission to uncover the mass graves of nearly two million Jews. Sixty years after the Holocaust, time is running...
Speaking Volumes | Crying for Jean Valjean
I read Les Misérables when I was 25, studying at the London School of Economics. I was searching for my path. I’d spent several years as a journalist and was considering trying to make a go of it as a foreign correspondent.