Hatching the Cobra
Let no one praise Perillus, who was cruder than the tyrant Phalaris, for whom he constructed a brazen bull, promising that when a man was enclosed therein and a fire…
Essays
Rethinking Holocaust Memory
“Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”…
March 1968: Pierpaolo Pasolini to the Students
We are posting Pierpaolo Pasolini’s 1968 letter to the students in revolt to invite reflection on the continuities and discontinuities of students’ protest, consider what has happened since and think…
Extravagant reflections around Pesach
This essay is part of a widespread reflection on the places and forms of historical Judaism. E: It’s going to be Pesach soon. What are you thinking about? Will…
Del doman non v’è certezza
From the joint program on Giorno della Memoria In the past weeks I have received hundreds of remembrance day emails and letters asking “to fight Holocaust distortion” and “antisemitism.” One…
Truth or Dare?
Reinterpreting Al-Harīrī’s Arab Rogue. The Markaz Review, 2021 A new English translation of Impostures from Basra-born Al-Harīrī (aka the Arab poet known as Abū Muhammad al-Qāsim ibn Alī ibn Muhammad…
Immanuel’s Riddle
“But when I raise my voice at Kedushah or Yozer, the fountains of song open wide. And on Kippur, or Purim, or any of the holidays, whether I chant a…
The Heretical Origins of the Sonnet
This essay was published in: Daily JStor, April 21, 2021 Of variable rhyme scheme and meter, sonnets are sometimes structured into stanzas of an octet and a sestet or of…
The Last Muslims in Italy
During Dante’s lifetime, the only Muslim city on the Italian peninsula ceased to exist. Dante does not mention Lucera Saracenorum (a Latin placename meaning “Lucera of the Saracens”) in his writings,…
Always Remember Your Name
A memoir by Andra and Tatiana Bucci. Forward by Ruth Franklin Andra and Tatiana Bucci, Always Remember Your Name, translated by Ann Goldstein. Astra House By all rights, this book…