Charles Krauthammer

"Decline is a Choice" (2009)

Auto de fé

 

 "Saint Dominic presiding over an Auto-da-fe", Pedro Berruguete (1499)

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֣י בָא֮ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְאָמַרְתִּ֣י לָהֶ֔ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְאָֽמְרוּ־לִ֣י מַה־שְּׁמ֔וֹ מָ֥ה אֹמַ֖ר אֲלֵהֶֽם

Moses said to God, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם

And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh.” He continued, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’” 

Exodus 3, 13-14

(Sefaria)

Samuel Heilman

"Chasidic Judaism In America Today!", Samuel Heilman

Toledo

The "El Transito" Synagogue in Toledo, Spain (1357)

Steven Pinker

"The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity" (2013)

Vida

A Philippine eagle in a sanctuary in Davao city, Philippines. 

The bird, one of the largest and most powerful in the world, is endangered by deforestation and hunting

Carl Burgos

"The Human Torch" (1939)

Vespasiano

"Vespasian Victory" (75 CE)

To celebrate their triumph over Jerusalem, the Romans produced a huge issue of commemorative coins, known as Judaea Capta (Judea captured). 
These coins depict the Emperor Vespasian; Titus, the general who conquered Jerusalem and later became emperor in 79 C.E.; and personifications of a defeated Judea as a mourning Jewess.
 

Alan Mittleman

"Twentieth Century Perspectives" (1)

"Our Boys"

Promo | HBO

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann's condemnation of antisemitism (1942)

כִּ֤י יְבִֽיאֲךָ֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה בָא־שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ וְנָשַׁ֣ל גּֽוֹיִם־רַבִּ֣ים ׀ מִפָּנֶ֡יךָ הַֽחִתִּי֩ וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁ֨י וְהָאֱמֹרִ֜י וְהַכְּנַעֲנִ֣י וְהַפְּרִזִּ֗י וְהַֽחִוִּי֙ וְהַיְבוּסִ֔י שִׁבְעָ֣ה גוֹיִ֔ם רַבִּ֥ים וַעֲצוּמִ֖ים מִמֶּֽךָּ

When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and He dislodges many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you— 

וּנְתָנָ֞ם יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ לְפָנֶ֖יךָ וְהִכִּיתָ֑ם הַחֲרֵ֤ם תַּחֲרִים֙ אֹתָ֔ם לֹא־תִכְרֹ֥ת לָהֶ֛ם בְּרִ֖ית וְלֹ֥א תְחָנֵּֽם

and the LORD your God delivers them to you and you defeat them, you must doom them to destruction: grant them no terms and give them no quarter. 

Deuteronomy 7:1-2

(Sefaria)

Babilónia

 

An earring found during an excavation at Mount Zion is cited as evidence of Babylonian conquest of city in 586 BCE

Reuven Hammer ע״ה

Vida

 

Newly hatched loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) make their way to the sea at Cirali Beach in Kemer district Antalya, Turkey

Purple Mountains

"All My Happiness is Gone"

"Friends are warmer than gold when you're old
And keeping them is harder than you might suppose
Lately, I tend to make strangers wherever I go
Some of them were once people I was happy to know

Mounting mileage on the dash
Double darkness falling fast
I keep stressing, pressing on
Way deep down at some substratum
Feels like something really wrong has happened
And I confess I'm barely hanging on

All my happiness is gone
All my happiness is gone
It's all gone somewhere beyond
All my happiness is gone

Ten thousand afternoons ago
All my happiness just overflowed
That was life at first and goal to go
Me and you and us and them
And all those people way back when
All our hardships were just yardsticks then, you know
You know

It's not the purple hills
It's not the silver lakes
It's not the snowcloud shadowed interstates
It's not the icy bike chain rain of Portland, Oregon
Where nothing's wrong and no one's asking
But the fear's so strong it leaves you gasping
No way to last out here like this for long

'Cause everywhere I go, I know
Everywhere I go, I know

All my happiness is gone
All my happiness is gone
It's all gone somewhere beyond
All my happiness is gone"

Samuel Bak

"Passing"

David Berman ע״ה

Tisha B'Av

"Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem", Francesco Hayez (1867)

Kafka

National Library archival expert and Humanities Collection Curator Stefan Litt shows drawings by novelist Franz Kafka, during a press conference in the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, on August 7, 2019. Hundreds of letters, manuscripts, journals, notebooks, sketches and more - handwritten by Brod and Kafka - have been transferred to the National Library of Israel, following orders by Israeli and Swiss courts to open vaults in Zurich, which had stored the materials for decades. These materials, part of Max Brod's literary estate, have now been returned to Israel and have arrived at the National Library in Jerusalem, in accordance with Brod's wishes. 

 

Maimónides

"Rambam's Guide for the Perplexed on the Seder Night", Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Vida

A tiger cooling in water in Ranthambore national park, India

Tisha b'Av

"Tisha b'Av - The Miracle of Jewish Memory", Rabbi Meir Soloveichik

Amsterdão

Illustration of a Portuguese Jewish funeral in Amsterdam, Bernard Picart (18th-century)

וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה בְּנִ֥י בְכֹרִ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: Israel is My first-born son. 

וָאֹמַ֣ר אֵלֶ֗יךָ שַׁלַּ֤ח אֶת־בְּנִי֙ וְיַֽעַבְדֵ֔נִי וַתְּמָאֵ֖ן לְשַׁלְּח֑וֹ הִנֵּה֙ אָנֹכִ֣י הֹרֵ֔ג אֶת־בִּנְךָ֖ בְּכֹרֶֽךָ  

I have said to you, “Let My son go, that he may worship Me,” yet you refuse to let him go. Now I will slay your first-born son.’” 

Exodus 4:22-23

Masada

"Karaim"

Antissemitismo

Rabbi Sacks on worldwide antisemitism (House of Lords, 20th June 2019)

Vida

Sage grouse

Aarão

The Tomb of Aaron the High Priest in Jordan

Marrocos

Temple Beth-El in Casablanca, Morocco

Salomão

"The Judgment of Solomon", Valentin de Boulogne (1625)

רָאִ֥יתִי עֲבָדִ֖ים עַל־סוּסִ֑ים וְשָׂרִ֛ים הֹלְכִ֥ים כַּעֲבָדִ֖ים עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ

I have seen slaves on horseback, and nobles walking on the ground like slaves. 

Ecclesiastes 19:7

Israel

"BDS: The Attempt to Strangle Israel", Alan Dershowitz (PragerU)

Leon Klinghoffer

"An Innocent Bystander: The Killing of Leon Klinghoffer", Julie Salamon

Vida

A sap-sucking coreidae atop a flower in Dhading, Nepal 

Hanukiyah

Reddish Studio: Naama Steinbock and Idan Friedman, Israel (2011)

Alan Mittleman

 "Political Thought in Ancient and Medieval Judaism"

וידוי

Confession 

אָנָּא יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ. תָּבֹא לְפָנֶיךָ תְּפִלָּתֵנוּ. וְאַל־תִּתְעַלַּם מַלְכֵּנוּ מִתְּחִנָּתֵנוּ. שֶׁאֵין אֲנַחְנוּ עַזֵּי פָנִים וּקְשֵׁי עֹרֶף לוֹמַר לְפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ צַדִּיקִים אֲנַחְנוּ וְלֹא חָטָאנוּ. אֲבָל חָטָאנוּ. עָוִינוּ. פָּשַׁעְנוּ. אֲנַחְנוּ וַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְאַנְשֵׁי בֵיתֵנוּ: אָשַׁמְנוּ. בָּגַדְנוּ. גָּזַלְנוּ. דִּבַּרְנוּ דֹפִי וְלָשׁוֹן הָרָע. הֶעֱוִינוּ. וְהִרְשַׁעְנוּ. זַדְנוּ. חָמַסְנוּ. טָפַלְנוּ שֶׁקֶר וּמִרְמָה. יָעַצְנוּ עֵצוֹת רָעוֹת. כִּזַּבְנוּ. כָּעַסְנוּ. לַצְנוּ. מָרַדְנוּ. מָרִינוּ דְבָרֶיךָ. נִאַצְנוּ. נִאַפְנוּ. סָרַרְנוּ. עָוִינוּ. פָּשַׁעְנוּ. פָּגַמְנוּ. צָרַרְנוּ. צִעַרְנוּ אָב וָאֵם. קִשִּׁינוּ עֹרֶף. רָשַׁעְנוּ. שִׁחַתְנוּ. תִּעַבְנוּ. תָּעִינוּ וְתִעֲתַעְנוּ. וְסַרְנוּ מִמִּצְוֹתֶיךָ וּמִמִּשְׁפָּטֶיךָ הַטּוֹבִים וְלֹא שָׁוָה לָנוּ. וְאַתָּה צַדִּיק עַל־כָּל־הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ. כִּי אֱמֶת עָשִׂיתָ. וַאֲנַחְנוּ הִרְשָׁעְנוּ

Please L·rd, Our G·d and G·d of Our Fathers – Let Our Prayer come before You & do not conceal Yourself, Our King, from our supplications. For we are not brazen faced & stiff necked to say before You, L·rd, our G-d & G-d of our Fathers – we are righteous and we have not sinned. Rather we have sinned, we have been crooked and transgressed – we and our fathers and the people of our household. We were guilty. We Rebelled. We Stole. We spoke slander and evil speech. We caused iniquity, We caused evil. We did intentional bad. We did violence. We accused falsely and deceitfully. We provided bad advice. We spoke falsity. We became angry. We mocked. We rebelled. We rebelled against your word. We provoked. We committed adultery. We left the path. We transgressed deliberately. We damaged. We caused pain. We caused pain to our father and mother. We were stiff necked. We were evil. We destroyed. We did despicable things. We made people err. We left Your Commandments and Your good laws & they were not worthy of us. And You are righteous on everything that happens to us – for You did truth and we acted wickedly. 

(Sefaria)
 

Marc Weitzmann

(2018)

Isidor Kaufmann

"The Newlywed"

Cabala

"Kabbalah Practice", Rabbi Lawrence Kushner (2016)

Vida

 

A leg of a ‘diablito’ frog ( Oophaga sylvatica) is photographed in a laboratory in a zoo in Cali, Colombia

Delphine Horvilleur

"Réflexions sur la question antisémite"

Anel

 

A Jewish ceremonial wedding ring, inscribed “mazel tov,” made of gold and enamel, from the Colmar Treasure (c. 1300-1347)

Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Wittgenstein and Modernity", with Ray Monk, Marjorie Perloff and Steven Beller (2016)

With three crowns was Israel crowned – with the crown of Torah, the crown of Priesthood, and the crown of Kingship. The crown of Priesthood was bestowed on Aaron and his descendants. The crown of Kingship was conferred on David and his successors. But the crown of Torah is for all Israel. Whoever wishes, let them come and take it. Do not suppose that the other two crowns are greater than that of Torah…. The crown of Torah is greater than the other two crowns.

Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:1

Pinchas

"Phinehas kills Zimri and Cosbi", Johann Teufel (1572)

Moses Mendelssohn

"Moses Mendelssohn: Judaism beyond Politics", Alan Mittleman

Vida

 

One-horned rhinoceros take shelter on a higher ground in a flood-affected area of Kaziranga national park in India

כַּ֭מַּיִם הַפָּנִ֣ים לַפָּנִ֑ים כֵּ֤ן לֵֽב־הָ֝אָדָ֗ם לָאָדָֽם

As face answers to face in water, So does one man’s heart to another.

Proverbs 27:19

A-WA

"Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman" 

Halakhah

"Misconceptions of Halakhah", Barry Wimpfheimer interviewed by Shmuly Yanklowitz

וְעַתָּ֖ה לֵ֑ךְ וְאָנֹכִי֙ אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה עִם־פִּ֔יךָ וְהוֹרֵיתִ֖יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּֽר

Now go, and I will be with you as you speak and will instruct you what to say.

Exodus 4:12

Amsterdão

"View of Amsterdam from the Northwest", Rembrandt (1640)

Bíblia

"The Changing Role of the Bible in America", Christine Rosen (2013)

Vida

Egrets play at Hongze Lake wetland bird-watching park in east China

Isidor Kaufman

     "Portrait of Hasid at Prayer"

Espinosa

"Spinoza: Judaism as a Politics", Alan Mittleman

Reform

"History of Jewish Movements: Reform, Conservative and Orthodox" (BimBam)

Jerusalém

"Jerusalem, the Beating Heart of Jewish Faith"

Bauhaus

The original look of The Poli House, one of Tel Aviv’s historic Bauhaus structures that’s now a hotel 

Balaam

"Balaam and the Ass", Pieter Lastman (1622)

Vida

A butterfly rests on flowers in Yangon, Myanmar

Lawrence Kushner

"Do no Harm" (2016)

Guther Jikeli

"Jews of France & Antisemitism in Europe"

Bob Dylan

"Fourth Time Around"

When she said
“Don’t waste your words, they’re just lies”
I cried she was deaf
And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes
Then said, “What else you got left?”
It was then that I got up to leave
But she said, “Don’t forget
Everybody must give something back
For something they get”

I stood there and hummed
I tapped on her drum and asked her how come
And she buttoned her boot
And straightened her suit
Then she said, “Don’t get cute”
So I forced my hands in my pockets
And felt with my thumbs
And gallantly handed her
My very last piece of gum

She threw me outside
I stood in the dirt where ev’ryone walked
And after finding I’d
Forgotten my shirt
I went back and knocked
I waited in the hallway, she went to get it
And I tried to make sense
Out of that picture of you in your wheelchair
That leaned up against . . .

Her Jamaican rum
And when she did come, I asked her for some
She said, “No, dear”
I said, “Your words aren’t clear
You’d better spit out your gum”
She screamed till her face got so red
Then she fell on the floor
And I covered her up and then
Thought I’d go look through her drawer

And when I was through
I filled up my shoe
And brought it to you
And you, you took me in
You loved me then
You didn’t waste time
And I, I never took much
I never asked for your crutch
Now don’t ask for mine

Sinagoga Nożyk

Warsaw, Poland

כִּ֤י שֶׁ֨בַע ׀ יִפּ֣וֹל צַדִּ֣יק וָקָ֑ם וּ֝רְשָׁעִ֗ים יִכָּשְׁל֥וּ בְרָעָֽה

Seven times the righteous man falls and gets up, While the wicked are tripped by one misfortune. 

Proverbs 24:16

Ruby Namdar

"The Ruined House", with author Ruby Namdar and Liel Leibowitz

Vida

 

Aerial photo shows egrets resting on top of trees at the Dafeng Milu national nature reserve in Yancheng, eastern China

A-WA

"Mudbira"

The face of Moses was like the sun, the face of Joshua was like the moon.

Bava Batra 75a
 

Israel

"Shadow Strike: How Israel Destroyed Syria's Nuclear Reactor", Yaakov Katz 

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen recites his poem "My Lady Can Sleep"

This poem was published in "The Spice-Box of Earth", Leonard Cohen's second collection of poetry (1961)

Míriam

Anselm Feuerbach (1862)

Europa

"Religious Freedom and Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Europe", Rabbi Meir Soloveichik (2017)

Vida

 

A dorsal view of an ancient arachnid, a Chimerarachne yingi specimen, in amber (100 million year old)

"Man Smoking in Diner", Harold Feinstein (1974)

Charles Krauthammer

"Charles Krauthammer on his distinguished career in writing and ideas" (2015)

Jonathan Haidt

"The Three Terrible Ideas weakening Generation Z and damaging Universities and Democracies" (2018)

Nova Iorque

"Lodgers in Bayard Street Tenement, Five Cents a Spot", Jacob August Riis (1889)

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־יְהוָה֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָי֒ לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי גַּ֤ם מִתְּמוֹל֙ גַּ֣ם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם גַּ֛ם מֵאָ֥ז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל־עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי׃ 

But Moses said to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant;
I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

Exodus 4:9

(Sefaria)

Ben Hecht

"Ben Hecht: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures", Adina Hoffman & Phillip Lopate

Vida

False Tree Coral

América

"Is America Experiencing Europe's Growing Anti-Semitism?"

Cabala

 

"As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist", Eitan Fishbane

 

Francesca Woodman

(circa 1979)

Filisteus

 Philistine Bichrome Krater, a large bowl for mixing wine (11th century BCE)

Labour

"The Left's Jewish Problem' and Jeremy Corbyn", Dave Rich

Yahrzeit

 

This Shabbat (3rd Tammuz) marks the 25th yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

 

Vida

White-lipped island pit viper

Ben Hecht

Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?

Numbers 16:3

Leon Klinghoffer

Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Murder of Leon Klinghoffer Aboard the "Achille Lauro" (2015)

Deborah Lipstadt

"L'Chayim"

Jonas

Huqoq synagogue (5th century CE)

França

Delphine Horvilleur et Marc Weitzmann débattent autour de leurs livres 

 "Réflexions sur la question antisémite" et "Un temps pour haïr", publiés par les Editions Grasset

Maná

"The Israelites Gathering Manna", Ercole de Roberti (c. 1490) 

וְכָל־עַבְדֵ֨י הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֲשֶׁר־בְּשַׁ֣עַר הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ כֹּרְעִ֤ים וּמִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִים֙ לְהָמָ֔ן כִּי־כֵ֖ן צִוָּה־ל֣וֹ הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וּמָ֨רְדֳּכַ֔י לֹ֥א יִכְרַ֖ע וְלֹ֥א יִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶֽה׃

All the king’s courtiers in the palace gate knelt and bowed low to Haman, for such was the king’s order concerning him; but Mordecai would not kneel or bow low. 

Esther 3:2