Yossi Klein Halevi
Encyclopedia
Yossi Klein Halevi is an Israeli author
and journalist
.
in a Jewish family. He completed a BA
in Jewish Studies
in Brooklyn College
in 1978, and completed his MA
in Journalism at Northwestern University
. In 1982, he moved to Israel with his wife Sarah (née Lynn Rintoul).
from its founding until 2002. Halevi wrote a column for The Jerusalem Post
, and wrote regularly on Israeli issues for the op-ed page of the Los Angeles Times
, and occasionally for the New York Times and Washington post. His first book, Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist, was published in 1995. In it, he tells of his youthful attraction to, and subsequent break with, the militant Rabbi Meir Kahane
.
In 2001 he published At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land. The book tells of his spiritual journey as a religious Jew into the worlds of Christianity and Islam in Israel. Halevi joined the prayers and meditations in mosques and monasteries
, in an attempt to experience the devotional lives of his non-Jewish neighbors and to create a religious language of reconciliation among the three monotheistic
faiths.
Halevi is a Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute
, a Jerusalem-based research institute and educational center. He is Israel correspondent and contributing editor of The New Republic
. He is a lecturer on American and Canadian campuses, focusing on politics and culture in Israel.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
Biography
Halevi was born and raised in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in a Jewish family. He completed a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Jewish Studies
Jewish studies
Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history , religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages , political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies...
in Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
in 1978, and completed his MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Journalism at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. In 1982, he moved to Israel with his wife Sarah (née Lynn Rintoul).
Journalistic and literary career
He worked as a senior writer for the bi-weekly magazine The Jerusalem ReportThe Jerusalem Report
The Jerusalem Report is a biweekly print and online newsmagazine that covers political and social issues in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world...
from its founding until 2002. Halevi wrote a column for The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
, and wrote regularly on Israeli issues for the op-ed page of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and occasionally for the New York Times and Washington post. His first book, Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist, was published in 1995. In it, he tells of his youthful attraction to, and subsequent break with, the militant Rabbi Meir Kahane
Meir Kahane
Martin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
.
In 2001 he published At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land. The book tells of his spiritual journey as a religious Jew into the worlds of Christianity and Islam in Israel. Halevi joined the prayers and meditations in mosques and monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, in an attempt to experience the devotional lives of his non-Jewish neighbors and to create a religious language of reconciliation among the three monotheistic
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
faiths.
Halevi is a Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, Israel, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America...
, a Jerusalem-based research institute and educational center. He is Israel correspondent and contributing editor of The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
. He is a lecturer on American and Canadian campuses, focusing on politics and culture in Israel.
Political activism
Halevi has been active in Middle East reconciliation efforts, and serves as chairman of Open House, an Arab-Jewish educational project in the working class town of Ramle. He was a founder and board member of the now-defunct Israeli-Palestinian Media Forum, which brought together Israeli and Palestinian journalists.Film
In 1985, the documentary film Kaddish, produced by Steve Brand, which focuses on his relationship with his father, a Holocaust survivor, was released. The Village Voice called it one of the best ten films of the year.Published works
- Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist, New York-Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1995. ISBN 9780316498609; HarperCollins, 2002, ISBN 9780060505820
- Am Eingang zum Garten Eden: Suche nach Hoffnung mit den Religionen im Heiligen Land, ISBN 978-3-8306-7371-2, EOS-Verlag, St. Ottilien, 2009.
- בפתח גן העדן, ISBN 965-07-1539-8, Shalom Hartman Institute, Keter, Jerusalem, Israel, 2007.
External links
- About Halevi
- Yossi Klein Halevi, The pattern of Palestinian rejectionism, Jewish World Review, 12/7/2004
- Yossi Klein Halevi, Kabbalah goes Hollywood, Jewish World Review, 30/4/2004