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Podcast: The Tikvah Podcast
Episode: Andrew Doran on Why He Thinks the Roots of Civilization Are Jewish
Description: Traditional readers of the Hebrew Bible, reinforced by rabbinic commentary, condemn the bloodlust, cruelty, exploitation of the weak, and exaltation of the strong that is on display in the Amalekite attack on Israel in the book of Exodus. But it's not the Amalekites, the nomadic enemies of the Israelites, who are shocking for their sacralized violence; it's the Israelites who are shocking for their ability to quiet that darker, natural impulse, and live out a different moral code. That is the thought that frames a recent essay called "Civilization Is from the Jews," written by Andrew Doran, a...