How does rabbinic Judaism view international law -- and how should that guide Jewish ethics today? My latest on Amalek, Zionism, and state violence. reformjudaism.org/learning/tor...
On the cries of others, and the language of listening:
reformjudaism.org/learning/tor...
"How odd / Of God / To choose / The Jews."
Mine on moral universalism and Jewish particularism in biblical and rabbinic thought:
reformjudaism.org/learning/tor...
reformjudaism.org/learning/tor...
In a moment when radical Israeli politicians weaponize Judaism to justify racism, Jews must engage our tradition in its full moral complexity. Thanks to @rabbirickjacobs.bsky.social of the URJ, I'll post short pieces on Exodus over four weeks. First up: antisemitism's origins—and how we respond.
This Thursday, 12/11, I will discuss American antisemitism w/ Pamela Nadell and Stacy Burdett at DC's Capital Jewish Museum.
Save the date: Feb. '26 Hopkins Jewish Studies @jhuartssciences.bsky.social hosts "Imagining Israel Baal Shem Tov," a 1-week masterclass w/ Dr. Jonatan Meir. Travel stipends available.
krieger.jhu.edu/jewishstudies/2025/11/20/announcing-the-2026-crane-masterclass-with-dr-jonatan-meir/
Betting on the “Judeo-Christian tradition” was always a dubious wager. As the hyphen drops on the Far Right, seems like it’s time to re-up this piece of mine.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Happy-ish to share my recent interview with the Adventures in Jewish Studies podcast on antisemitism and anti-Zionism, sponsored by @jewishstudies.bsky.social www.associationforjewishstudies.org/podcasts/ant.... #JewishStudies #Antisemitism #AntiZionism
Coming in Summer 2026:
Happening today - a global gathering to discuss the legacy of legal titan Alexander Pekelis (1902-1946). Centro Primo Levi hosts me, Natalia Indrimi, @yosefmalka.bsky.social Mauro Grondona, Ilaria Pavan and Umberto Gentiloni. RSVP for zoom -- details in link primolevicenter.org/events/minor...
Coming this Tuesday, a symposium on Louis Brandeis, Jewish liberalism, and Zionism.
pjil.law.harvard.edu/event/the-je...
Livestream on Zoom via harvard.zoom.us/j/96207758290
Talks by Shaul Magid, Amalia Kessler, William Forbath, Laura Weinrib, Noah Feldman and yours truly
Full program details and zoom link now available for the Louis Brandeis symposium at Harvard Law School in a few weeks. pjil.law.harvard.edu/event/the-je...
Charlottesville shattered America's illusions about hate. Repair begins with grasping how it turbocharged antisemitism and turned the very act of opposing hate into political warfare.
I'll be previewing my forthcoming book at the Univ. of Florida Jewish Studies Program on 9/4.
bit.ly/UFLoeffler
Coming up next month at Harvard Law School - “The Jewish Problem, Then and Now: Rethinking Louis Brandeis’s Liberalism” Details in the link, and zoom option to follow pjil.law.harvard.edu/event/the-je...
Logo of "Nationalities Papers, The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity," displayed in white text on a blue background with the hashtag "OpenAccess" at the bottom.
#OpenAccess from @nationalitiesp.bsky.social -
The Right to Banality: Interwar Jewish Global Thought between Eastern Europe and the Middle East - cup.org/4fnkMVM
- @jloeffler.bsky.social
#FirstView
If you are looking to read something on the history of Zionism that moves beyond the settler colonialism debate & shows how the pre-1948 conflict in Palestine is linked to pre-Holocaust Eastern Europe -- & the role of int'l law in this story -- here's a new piece by yours truly. cup.org/4lQfUL7
assets.cambridge.org/97811088/393...
Volume 4 of the Cambridge History of the Holocaust is out this month, with my essay, "In Search of Global Justice: Holocaust, Genocide, Law." Edited by Laura Jockusch and Devin Pendas. TOC and other information in the next comment.
Don’t think that the sky is a curtain, made so God won’t see!
That the clouds are so that no one can see your hands;
That the wind will muffle the wild cries;
That the earth will soak up the blood of the victims...
- I.L. Peretz (1905) , trans. J. Loeffler (2010)
jamesloeffler.com/dont-think-a...
A new-ish piece of mine on Judaism and human rights, Israel and Palestine, is out. Come for the critique of easy religious slogans, stay for the reflections on what a future Jewish ethics might look like. creor-ejournal.library.mcgill.ca/article/view...
Last year I wrote a short piece about antisemitism and free speech, a spin-off from the book I am now completing (due out May '26). It just won the Rockower prize for excellence in writing about antisemitism. Happy to share once again here. www.hartman.org.il/what-we-have...
