Words of the Week

“In my travels and talks and meetings, I am constantly running up against this problem. When people are polite, they often tell me how ‘difficult’ supporting Israel in their communities has become, because of the settlements, or because of offensive statements by Israeli politicians. The problem is a sincere one, but it is a structural one, and will not go away so long as (i) American Jews relate to Israel as principally a political cause rather than a civilizational force, (ii) American Jews relate to some policies and not others as resonating to the core of their own identity as Jews, and (iii) American Jewish politics are so different from Israeli politics, which is unlikely to change.

And that’s when they’re polite.”

Source: David Hazony, “Israeli Identity and the Future of American Jewry” (The Tower)

Words of the Week

“To me, the Zionist project is all about love and about heart, and the mere specter of an American Jewish community bereft of those qualities—of devotion to what is without doubt and by far the most exceptional Jewish enterprise in 2,000 years—strikes me as nothing less than heartbreaking.”

Source: Daniel Gordis, “Why the American Jewish Distancing from Israel Is So Heartbreaking” (Mosaic)

Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • “If trauma passes down through generations, then so too must love.” From a lovely essay by Leah Kaminsky over on Literary Hub.
  • J-Job alert: position available for “a Program Coordinator to help create, implement, and promote PJ Library programming in New York City, Long Island and Westchester.”
  • We’re less than one week from the start of Jewish Book Month. Library Journal takes note with Rachel Kamin’s excellent article on Jewish fiction. (I’d love this article even if it didn’t mention two books I’ve helped promote through my work with Fig Tree Books.)
  • Speaking of Fig Tree Books, we’ve had a big week in HQ! First, we launched a Goodreads giveaway of advance copies of Abigail Pogrebin’s forthcoming My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew. And then, digital galleys became available for reviewers/librarians.
  • And some news from my own home office: I’ve got a new poem (inspired by a study of the Book of Ecclesiastes) on the Forward‘s Sisterhood blog, and a new article (my first!) for the wonderful Jewniverse site, about one of the most arresting artifacts you’ll find in the New-York Historical Society’s current exhibition, “The First Jewish Americans.”
    Shabbat shalom.

  • Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Salaried editorial fellowship available at Lilith magazine.
  • I was bowled over this week by “Can You Spot the Latino?”, an essay by Salvador Litvak on Hevria.
  • Wishing everyone heading to the 2016 International Jewish Artist Retreat a wonderful experience!
  • A hearty Mazal Tov to Jessamyn Hope on a new honor for her debut novel Safekeeping.
  • And let’s not forget that May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Check this website for resources/info.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Words of the Week

    “Bernie Sanders’ campaign has illuminated the new rules that govern Jewish participation on the progressive left. One cannot simply be a Jew: One must be a Jew who loudly and proudly declaims his distance from Israel and the American Jewish ‘establishment’ at every possible opportunity. And unlike every other member of the progressive coalition, Judaism and Jewish peoplehood must only be expressed through a universalist vision of ‘social justice’ that emphatically proclaims that Jewish causes and rights are no more (or usually less) worthy than those of Black Lives Matter, the Palestinians, La Raza, etc., and which sees this self-abnegation as the price of entry—for Jews alone.”

    Source: Jamie Kirchick, “Bernie Sanders’ Jewish Problem, And Ours” (Tablet)