Speaking of Politics (or Not)

Here is a reminder to those of us who are suffering from PTDCS (Post Traumatic Democratic Convention Syndrome) or from PTRCS (Pre Traumatic Republican Convention Syndrome) – heal yourselves, find your center, breath in-breath out, and check out some political journals & magazines lying flat on their back covers in our reading room, waiting to be read:

Commentary (July-August 2008), with articles about Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, and, of course, America.

B’nai B’rith Magazine (Summer 2008), on Jewish geography, Israel and the Diaspora, and campus Anti-Semitism.

Congress Monthly (March-April 2008), a special issue for Israel’s 60th anniversary, telling the story of American Jewish volunteers in 1948.

The Near East Report published out of Washington by AIPAC, with updates about American policies regarding Israel.

Moment (July-August 2008), on Jewish politics, culture, religion.

Tikkun, on politics, spirituality, culture aimed at repairing & transforming the world.

Israel Horizons (Summer 2008), with an article entitled “Advising the Next President on Mideast Diplomacy.”

Contemporary Jewry, Crosscurrents and Azure offer more academic perspectives on Jewish political & religious life.

And of course, weekly newspapers such as Forward (NY), The Jewish Journal (LA), Ha’Artez (Tel Aviv), that offer current news and commentaries on the state of the Jewish people all around the world.

Finally, for those of you who had enough politics for a while, two fascinating articles about Jewish books:

Stealing Wisdom: a Story of Books (and Book Thieves) from Immanuel of Rome’s Mahbarot, by Ann Brenner, in Prooftexts ( 28:1, Winter 2008)

The First Jewish Books and the History of Jewish Reading, by David Stern, in The Jewish Quarterly Review ( 98:2, Spring 2008)

Enjoy Labor Day Weekend, and Shabbat Shalom
yaffa