July 31, 2010

  

Here at the New Vilna Review we are seeking to create a space online to discuss the many different issues that relate to modern Jewish identity. Daniel E. Levenson, publisher of the New Vilna Review, has long had an interest in exploring the variety of themes to be found in different forms of modern Jewish literature and on this page you can find his musings on everything from the future of the State of Israel and the challenges facing the American Jewish community, to the ways that important cultural ideas are being expressed in Jewish essays, poems and fiction.  An active member of the Boston Jewish Community, Daniel Levenson often writes about issues facing Jews in New England and beyond.

 

An Impending Split? The Ultra-Orthodox and Everyone Else

 

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM

July 27, 2010

 

Over the past few months things have been heating up in the Israel political and judicial system over the question of who is a Jew, and in a larger sense, who gets to make that decision. Apparently this is such a big story that even the New York Times has devoted digital ink to it, with reporter Ethan Bronner noting in a piece on the NY Times website that: “The more liberal forms of Jewish practice advocated by the Reform and Conservative movements, with which most American Jews are affiliated, have never taken root here. Israel has left liturgy in the hands of the Orthodox, with most Israeli Jews leading almost completely secular lives, seeking out rabbis only at birth, marriage and death.”

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Thoughts on Creative Writing, Jewish Community and BCI

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM

July 22, 2010

 

For the past three and a half weeks I have been out in the desert where I had a chance to do some  thinking, writing, teaching and learning. I have always found inspiration in arid places, whether hiking in the Negev in southern Israel or exploring the American southwest. This time I was lucky enough to spend some time getting to know a new desert environment while teaching a creative writing workshop at the Marylin and Sigi Ziering Brandeis Collegiate Institute in southern California. BCI, as it is popularly known, is a program that brings Jewish young adults from communities around the world to spend 26 days together to explore Jewish ideas, strengthen their sense of Jewish identity and learn about themselves through participation in daily arts workshops.

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A Deepening Divide Between Haredim and the Jewish Community

 

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM

June 16, 2010

 

One of the things that really stood out when I was living in Jerusalem last year was the degree to which the Hardei, or ultra-Orthodox, community seems to be separate from other Jews and the rest of Israeli society. We see traces of this here in the United States as well, as ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities are often relatively closed-off, keeping them separate not only from the rest of American society, but from other Jews as well. While there have always been differences, regardless of where Jews have lived, in terms of degree and manner of observance, I can’t help but feel that in the last 15-20 years these differences are becoming more prominent, and consequently, more problematic.
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In the Face of Global Eco-Threats, JNF and Others Lead the Way

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM

June 9, 2010

 

It should be clear to anyone who pays attention to the news that the world is currently facing a serious crisis when it comes to the state of our natural environment. A dependence on fossil fuels, a myopic view of land use and conservation, and a willingness to place profits ahead of long-term sustainability have left us with a planet that is in serious peril. While the United States drags its feet on alternative energy technology and seems relatively laid-back when it comes to finding alternatives to mining coal (which has had a tremendously negative impact on the American landscape) or offshore drilling for oil (we all know how that has turned out lately) there is an impressive array of groups and individuals working to become global leaders in environmental protection in the Middle East from whom the rest of the world could learn a thing or two. And not only are they helping to solve key environmental problems, but they are often doing so across political, ethnic and religious lines.

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Is it Time to Let Go of Gaza?

 

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM

June 1, 2010

 

When President Obama announced a renewed effort at making peace between Israel and the Palestinians earlier this Spring, I felt a mix of emotions - curiosity as to what this process might look like, fear that pushing both Israel and the Palestinians too far too fast might have a long-term detrimental impact on negotiations, and hope that after so many years of fighting both sides had finally reached a point where painful but necessary compromises could be made. As the proximity talks began and progressed, they seemed to be going well (from what one could see from the outside) and in the last week there were also noticeable improvements in US-Israeli relations at various levels, including between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. When I went to bed on Sunday night I had just finished writing a blog post for the Jewish Boston site about the threat that Hezbollah continues to pose to both Israel and Lebanon and the implications of this for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. When I got up on Monday morning I was shocked to read about the incident which took place in international waters off the coast of Israel between those trying to run the blockade of Gaza and the Israeli navy.

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An Award Well-Deserved for Jeff Robbins

by Daniel E. Levenson, ALM
May 26, 2010

As I was driving home last night, from the American Jewish Committee’s Human Rights Award Dinner, I was listening to the BBC in the car. After a few minutes a report came on about an Israeli air strike that was carried out earlier in the day in response to a Palestinian bomb and mortar attack from Gaza. As I listened to the news, I couldn’t help but think of what Jeff Robbins, the lawyer, writer and long-term human rights advocate who was honored at the dinner, said about the cycle of violence in the Middle East, the ways in which terrorist groups help to fuel the conflict and the myopic view that the rest of the world seems to take when it is innocent Israelis, who are dying at the hands of terrorists, while doing nothing more than going about the ordinary tasks of everyday life.

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A Symbol of Unity in Fractious Times

by Daniel E, Levenson, ALM

May 20, 2010 

 

One of the things that makes the Massachusetts Synagogue Council unique is that it consistently brings together Jews of different denominational affiliations to not only talk about issues of common concern, but to engage in learning and celebration with one another. In these difficult and fractious times within the American Jewish community, when we so often find ourselves at odds over Israel, forms of ritual observance and the nuances of Jewish cultural identity, it’s encouraging to see that there are people here in Boston who are actively working to bring the Jewish people together.

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Toward a More Inclusive View of Development in the Middle East

 

by Daniel E. Levenson
 
As I was perusing the internet this afternoon I came across a piece on the Brookings Institution website that caught my attention because it had to do with socioeconomic development in the Middle East. I have long felt that economic cooperation, and specifically cooperation on projects that will help build up the infrastructure of civil society, is an area that holds great promise to help bring about the eventual normalization of relations between Israel and her Muslim neighbors. To create a real and lasting peace,  it will not be enough to get the two sides to stop shooting (literally and figuratively)  at each other. We have seen such a solution in place between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan, and while it is certainly a significant improvement over the relationships that existed in say, 1966, it is by no means a warm peace, or one which has brought great advantages to the citizens of either Israel or these two Arab nations, aside from the cessation of open hostilities.

 

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