Historical accounts of Jewish violence—particularly against Christians—have long been explosive material. Some historians have distorted these records for anti-Semitic purposes. Others have discounted, dismissed, or simply ignored the evidence, often for apologetic purposes. In Reckless Rites, Elliott Horowitz takes a new and forthright look at both the history of Jewish violence since late antiquity and the ways in which generations of historians have grappled with that history. In the process, he has written the most wide-ranging book on Jewish violence in any language, and the first to fully acknowledge and address the actual anti-Christian practices that became part of the playful, theatrical violence of the Jewish festival of Purim. He has also examined the different ways in which the book of Esther, upon which the festival is based, was used by Jews and Christians over the centuries—whether as an ancient mirror of modern tribulations or as the scriptural basis for anti-Semitic claims regarding the bloodthirstiness of the Jews. Reckless Rites reassesses the historical interpretation of Jewish violence—from the alleged massacre of thousands of Christians in seventh-century Jerusalem to later medieval attacks on Christian symbols such as the crucifix, transgressions that were often committed in full knowledge that their likely consequence would be death. A book that calls for major changes in the way that Jewish history is written and conceptualized, Reckless Rites will be essential reading for scholars and students of history, religion, and Jewish-Christian relations.
Harrowing of Hell
In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell is the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. In triumphant descent, Christ brought salvation to the souls held captive there since the beginning of the world.
Prefigurement
Today’s cruel treatment of Muslims and immigrants was originally crafted as an attack on Jews.
First Impressions on Ephesians 3:1-12 - Without Authority
This is the beginning step of my sermon work on the epistle text for the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2026.
Main Page
The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73/74 CE) was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the province of Judaea, it was bloodily supressed and resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. After the client kingdom of Judaea was annexed as a Roman province in 6 CE, tensions grew due to harsh governance and social, ethnic, and religious divisions. Open revolt erupted after the Roman governor Gessius Florus looted the temple in Jerusalem and killed many civilians. Early rebel successes included the defeat of Cestius Gallus at Bethoron, but Roman forces under Vespasian and later his son Titus reconquered the province. Jerusalem fell in 70 CE after a devastating siege, and the last resistance ended with the fall of Masada. The war profoundly reshaped Jewish history and religion, accelerated the separation between early Christianity and Judaism, strengthened the Flavian dynasty, and set the stage for the later catastrophic Bar Kokhba revolt. (Full article...)
Heroism, horror and the ‘pits of hell’: inside the last days of El Fasher
Over two days in October 2025, up to 10,000 people are believed to have been massacred; a further 40,000 civillians from the Sudanese city are still unaccounted for. This is the story of what happened
Israel: What Went Wrong?
A leading Israeli American scholar of the Holocaust explores and explains his native country's intensifying turn toward violence and exclusion.The distinguished historian Omer Bartov was born on a kibbutz, grew up in Tel Aviv, and served in the Israel Defense Forces during the Yom Kippur War. He went on to become a leading scholar of the German army and the Holocaust, before turning his attention to his native country.In Israel: What Went Wrong?, Bartov sketches the tragic transformation of Zionism, a movement that sought to emancipate European Jewry from oppression, into a state ideology of ethno-nationalism. How is it possible, he asks, that a state founded in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, an event that gave legitimacy to a national home for the Jews, stands credibly accused of perpetrating large-scale war crimes? How do we come to terms with the fact that Israel’s war of destruction is being conducted with the support, laced with denial and indifference, of so many of its Jewish citizens?Tracing the roots of the violent events currently unfolding in Israel and the occupied territories, Bartov tracks his country's moral tribulations and considers the origins of Zionism, the intertwining of Israel’s independence with Palestinian displacement, the politics of the Holocaust, controversies over the term "genocide," and the uncertain future. The result is a searing and urgent critique that addresses today’s debates over Zionism and the future of Israel with rigor and depth.
There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart
By Cindy Milstein Published by AK Press, 2021 392 pages, paperback The contemporary renewal of Jewish anarchism draws on a history of enslavement, displacement, white supremacy, and genocide as well as ancestral resistance, strength, imagination, and humor—wisdom that is sorely needed today. Through stories at once poetic and poignant, There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart offers a powerful elixir for all who rebel against systemic violence and injustice. The contemporary renewal of Jewish anarchism draws on a history of suffering, ranging from enslavement and displacement to white nationalism and genocide. Yet it also pulls from ancestral resistance, strength, imagination, and humor—all qualities, and wisdom, sorely needed today. These essays, many written from feminist and queer perspectives, journey into past and contemporary trauma in ways that are humanizing and healing. They build bridges from bittersweet grief to rebellion and joy. And via concrete illustrations of how Jewish anarchists lovingly transform their own ritual, cultural, and political practices, they clearly illuminate the path toward mending ourselves and the world. Praise for There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart... "There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart is a breathtaking kaddish to everyone living the revolutionary vision that Jewish radicals dreamed was possible. It drives to the heart of a tradition that we must rediscover, a story that is simultaneously particular and universal: we can survive if we do it together." —Shane Burley, author of Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse "In this moment of resurgent fascism and authoritarianism, the foundational relationship between antisemitism and anti-Blackness is more stark and apparent than ever. The vibrancy of this collection articulates not only a foundation for solidarity in shared struggles against white supremacy but also the vast imaginaries and world-making potential in the diversity of Jewish cultural expression and radical—specifically anarchist—thought. As a Black anarchist, I could not be more grateful for the generosity, vulnerabilities, and fierce, unwavering love for humanity shared within these pages." —Zoé Samudzi, coauthor of As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation “The texts collected here are striking in their literary richness and emotional openness, awakening both pain and solace, insights and further questions . . . A highly rewarding reading experience that will appeal well beyond the Jewishanarchist intersection.” —Uri Gordon, co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics "There Is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart offers an ardent new archive of Jewish anarchism. These voices expand a defiant tradition: they speak of the disruptiveness of care, the labor of grief, and the pleasures of survival. As fascism and antisemitism rise, these poets, rabbis, and organizers urgently reach for another world through this one." —AE Torres, author of Horizons Blossom, Borders Vanish: Anarchism and Yiddish Literature "This book asks how modern generations of Jewish anarchists are wrestling with rising fascism, white supremacy, and antisemitism, and lifts up the specific cultural tools we bring to the work of mending (or maybe reimagining) the ever-shattering world. Today the book is a mirror; tomorrow, a new window into the archive of Jewish anarchists throughout history." —Ezra Berkley Nepon, author of Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue: A History of New Jewish Agenda "As leftist Jewish thought and organizing today witnesses a resurgence, this collection provides an important document of its anarchist current." —Treyf Podcast “A poem and a love note, a prayer song and a protest, an attempt to mend a burning world with the best of Jewish, anarchist, and Jewish anarchist traditions.” —Dan Berger, author of Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era "There is Nothing So Whole as a Broken Heart is a powerful celebration of ritual—both Jewish and anarchist."—Gabriel Moshenska for Jewish Socialist
A Genocide Scholar Asks “What Went Wrong” in Israel
Podcast Episode · The New Yorker Radio Hour · April 17 · 39m
Gaza genocide
The Gaza genocide is the ongoing, intentional, and systematic destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel during the Gaza war. It encompasses mass killings, the deliberate killing of children, deliberate starvation, infliction of serious bodily and mental harm, and prevention of births. Other acts include blockading, destroying civilian infrastructure, destroying healthcare facilities, killing healthcare workers and aid-seekers, causing mass forced displacement, committing sexual violence, and destroying educational, religious, and cultural sites. The genocide has been recognised by a United Nations special committee and commission of inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, multiple human rights groups, state governments, numerous genocide studies and international law scholars, and other experts.
'Zionism Led to Genocide. It Must Disappear': Omer Bartov's New Book …
archived 25 Apr 2026 07:22:14 UTC
Jason Arday: We Must Rage – Rage Against the Journalism of Cruelty
The death of the academic shows the casual conversion of humiliation into entertainment by a media running on monetised hate and cruelty
With Freedom in Our Ears
Contributors bring to light the presence and persistence of Jewish anarchism throughout histories of radical labor, women's studies, political theory, multilingual literature, and ethnic studies.
“If you want to pray to Mercury, wear the garments of a scribe:” <i>kuttāb</i> , <i>udabāʾ,</i> and readers of the <i>Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm</i> in the court of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III
This work addresses the question of the intended audience of the Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, the famous Andalusi treatise on magic, better known by its Latin moniker, Picatrix. I propose that a substantial po...
Traces of Necromantic Divinatory Practices in the Picatrix
In the famous medieval magical manual called the Picatrix, the unknown author describes the phenomenon of magic with the term nigromantia. As is well known, the original meaning of the Greek term necromantia has a more concise meaning. It is used for a special kind of divination, i.e., divination through the parts of a cadaver and the conjured spirit of the dead. Seemingly, in the Picatrix, no necromantic ritual can be found; moreover, the author stresses that his main goal is pious, i.e., to find the path leading to the ultimate source of the universe, the one and only God. In my article, I show that on some pages of the Picatrix, there are traces of divinatory practices that may be connected to the original meaning of the term nigromantia. In the third book of the manual, descriptions of some interesting rituals attributed to the pagan Sabeans of Harran and their teacher, the god Hermes can be found. During the practices, the magician involved conjured spirits of the heavenly bodies and powers as well. Because of this, by looking closely at and analyzing the given text, it is possible to piece together a complex web of necromantic and demonic divinatory rituals.
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Why Some Catholics Want Peter Thiel Burned at the Stake
Peter Thiel took his Antichrist lectures to Rome recently, and the pope's AI adviser had a... strong reaction that included fire and a stake.
