How the Hebrew Bible’s Revolutionary Political Wisdom Shaped the Modern World

Aug. 29 2023

In the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, God makes His covenant not with particular individuals, but with the Jewish people as a collective whole. Joshua Berman sees this as evidence that religion cannot be properly understood or experienced as an entirely individual affair, but only in the context of community and social relationships. Thus, explains Berman in conversation with Ari Lamm, religion—even in a liberal, pluralistic society—must not be confined to the private sphere, but should instead inform public and political life, as indeed it has in the American republic. (Audio, 56 minutes.)

Read more at Good Faith Effort

More about: American founding, Biblical Politics, Hebrew Bible, Religion and politics

The Democratic Party Is Losing Its Grip on Jews

Since the 1930s, Jews have been one of America’s most solidly Democratic ethnic groups. Although, true to form, a majority again voted for Kamala Harris, something clearly has shifted. John Podhoretz writes:

Over the course of the past thirteen months, Jews in America have been harassed, threatened, seen their ancestral homeland derided as a settler-colonial genocidal state. They have seen Jewish kids mistreated on college campuses. And they have seen the Biden administration kowtow to Muslim populations hostile to Jews and the Jewish state in Michigan. They have heard the criticisms of Israel’s efforts to defend itself, and have noted the silence from the administration when it came to anti-Semitic assaults and the refusal of college presidents to condemn the treatment of Jews and Jewish topics under their ambit.

And Jews have acted.

The initial evidence from last night’s election is that there has been a significant shift in the Jewish vote from previous elections, a delta of anywhere from 10 to 40 percent overall.

Read more at Commentary

More about: 2024 Election, American Jewry, Anti-Semitism, Democrats, U.S. Politics