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Smelly Little Orthodoxies of Iran’s Left
The anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism of Iranian intellectuals is especially troubling for one former comrade
The Rise of Abraham Cahan
Acclaimed journalist Seth Lipsky gives us the fascinating story of a man of profound contradictions: an avowed socialist who wrote fiction with transcendent sympathy for a wealthy manufacturer; an internationalist who turned against the anti-Zionism of the left; an assimilationist whose final battle was against religious apostasy. Lipsky’s Cahan is a prism through which to understand the paradoxes and transformations of the American Jewish experience. A towering newspaperman in the manner of Horace Greeley and Joseph Pulitzer, Abraham Cahan revolutionized our idea of what newspapers could accomplish.
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The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem
The first comprehensive biography of one of the most beloved authors of all time: the creator of Tevye the Dairyman, the collection of stories that inspired Fiddler on the Roof.
Novelist, playwright, journalist, essayist, and editor, Sholem Aleichem was one of the founding giants of modern Yiddish literature. The creator of a pantheon of characters who have been immortalized in books and plays, he provided readers throughout the world with a fascinating window into the world of Eastern European Jews as they began to confront the forces of cultural, political, and religious modernity that tore through the Russian Empire in the final decades of the nineteenth century.
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Menachem Begin
The Battle for Israel's Soul
Forthcoming in March 2014
A fascinating biography of the sixth prime minister of Israel that explains how the pre-state terrorist became the first Israeli leader to sign a peace treaty with an Arab country.
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The Book of Job
When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person
The Jewish Encounter series will be complemented with Rabbi Kushner’s popular introduction to the Book of Job.
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When General Grant Expelled the Jews
Jonathan Sarna sheds new light on one of of our most enigmatic presidents, on the Jews of his day, and on America itself.
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Ben-Gurion
A Political Life
David Ben-Gurion was a mythic figure, a founding father of Israel, and the country’s first prime minister, but he was also a real man, brimming with human contradictions, who was observed in all his complexity by Shimon Peres.
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Latest News and Reviews
Avi Shilon on “Missing Menachem”
“Daniel Gordis’ clearly written and engaging book tells Begin’s story well and, perhaps more importantly, makes a fine contribution to the study of his character.” Continue reading
Menachem Begin’s election in 1977 divides Israel’s history in two
“A pair of events, neither of which occurred at a chronological midpoint in Israel’s history, nevertheless divide that history in two. The first was the Six Day War of 1967. The second was Menachem Begin's electoral victory of 1977. Both came unexpectedly, both launched Israel on unforeseen trajectories and both had immense consequences that the country is still struggling to cope with.” Continue reading
Gordis on “the heart of Israel’s founding”
“In Menachem Begin, Gordis manages to capture, in clean clear prose, the heart of Israel’s founding and formative years: the soaring idealism and bare-knuckle pragmatism, the shows of Jewish unity and the bitter feuds, the inspiring stories of survival and the depressing anecdote of violence. It’s a good place to start for the contemporary reader curious about one small but central clump of the tangled roots of the Middle East's current turmoil.” Continue reading
Featured Events
Columbia University Hosts Sholem-Aleichem and his Legacy: Conversation with Alisa Solomon and Jeremy Dauber
Moderated by Alana Newhouse Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University
Jewish Encounters Book Series
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