Shaul Magid

Shaul Magid teaches Modern Judaism at Harvard Divinity School, is a senior research fellow at The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard, a Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College, and the rabbi of the Fire Island Synagogue. His latest book is The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance.

Politics/LawAugust 1, 2009

Of Zionism and Anti-Zionism: The Ultra Orthodox and the Settler Movement in Israel

By Shaul Magid

Israel’s Ultra Orthodox, or Haredim, do not share the theological assumptions of the settlers—but in recent years a purely pragmatic alliance has formed. What does this mean for Israel as a society?

(A)theologies, Politics/LawJune 17, 2009

‘Jews Who Were Israelis’: Anti-Semitism and the Mumbai Chabad Center

By Shaul Magid

Though Mumbai militants were instructed to kill “Jews who were Israelis,” few of the victims had any ties to Israel and at least one was an Ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist. Comprehending the conflicting notions of Jewishness is essential to understanding whether this was an act of anti-Semitism or not.

Politics/LawJune 12, 2009

Pariah or Charmed Hero: America’s Obsession with Jews and Israel

By Shaul Magid

Listening to Palin and Biden, one is reminded that American support for Israel borders on obsessive. The biblical story of the golden calf reminds us that obsession does not usually produce good gods—or good policy.