Hillel Halkin

Jan 14, 2025 | jewishreviewofbooks.com | Malka Simkovich |Akiva Schick |Hillel Halkin |Yossi Shain

In the late third century BCE, a group of scholars working on a translation project in Egypt invented a Greek word that would change the course of Jewish—and arguably human— history. The project was to render the Hebrew Torah into Koine Greek. According to a second-century BCE novella called the Letter of Aristeas, the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus (the son of Alexander the Great’s general) commissioned a Greek translation of the Torah for the royal library.

Sep 30, 2024 | jewishreviewofbooks.com | Amichai Chasson |Akiva Schick |Hillel Halkin |Matti Friedman

Some evenings, in the still calm of Massachusetts, I stretch out on the couch and open Google Maps. My fingers glide over that gleaming digital globe, from North America to the Middle East, and once they find Jerusalem, I start running the regular route I used to take, before I went into this temporary exile in North America.

Apr 26, 2024 | jewishreviewofbooks.com | Yehuda Kurtzer |Akiva Schick |Hillel Halkin |Asa Kasher

Tikkun Olam 84 minutes In December 2023, I found myself in the basement of a Yale dorm, watching a new documentary about young American Jews. Israelism follows Simone Zimmerman and a young man identified only as “Eitan” as they narrate their journey from being passionate advocates for Israel and, in Eitan’s case, an IDF soldier, to outspoken critics of the country.

Sep 12, 2023 | jewishbookcouncil.org | Ruby Namdar |Hillel Halkin |Kristin Hannah

JBC Dis­cus­sion Guides take some of the work out of your book club, whether you’re look­ing for help select­ing books, or need some con­ver­sa­tion starters. Check out the annu­al selec­tion guides for a curat­ed list of books to read for the year, and the indi­vid­ual guides to add depth (and some fun) to your book club meeting.