Lamed E Summer 2011 Number 11

Lamed-E
A Quarterly Journal of Politics and Culture
Selected and Edited by Ivan Ninic
Summer 2011 Number 11

The Geopolitics of Israel - Biblical and Modern

Pact or Fiction

The recent rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas may be a blessing. It exposes the fatal flaw at the heart of the peace process: the West’s fantasy of Palestinian moderation. By Lee Smith

Found in Translation - Scholar Adin Steinsaltz

discusses his recently completed edition of the Talmud, why the Internet is better than TV, and the prospect of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Elvis playing cards together By Samantha M. Shapiro

Outstanding Explanation:

Why Israel mustn't withdraw to its pre '67 borders line

Monk, mystic, mechanic

Ludwig Wittgenstein's complicated ties with his Viennese family, the suicides of three of his siblings, his ambivalent attitude toward his Jewish origins and his homosexuality - all are examined in a new exhibition in Berlin in honor of the great 20th century philosopher, who died 60 years ago. By Avner Shapira

Gathering Storm

Aberrant Marxist, heretical Jew, maverick social theorist — Walter Benjamin remains difficult to classify, but his mystique only continues to grow By David Kaufmann Via Athens Indymedia

Lenin's Jewish roots confirmed

Newly released letter written by Lenin's eldest sister reveals their maternal grandfather was a Ukrainian Jew who converted to Christianity to escape Pale of Settlement, gain access to higher education Associated Press

Balkan Mystery

In Leeches, a novel by the Serbian Jewish writer David Albahari, Belgrade plays home to nationalists, anti-Semites, and kabbalistic puzzles By Adam Kirsch