Since its debut in 1996, Azure has emerged as a leading venue in which thinkers from around the world may engage in dynamic discussion and debate. Published quarterly in both English and Hebrew editions, and featuring a range of established and up-and-coming writers, Azure is committed to the development of a strong Jewish consciousness, and to providing a moral and intellectual basis for the Zionist enterprise.

Azure features essays and reviews on subjects such as theology and philosophy, political theory, history, strategic affairs, and Jewish culture and Israeli society. It encourages scholars from around the Jewish and non-Jewish world to offer differing and opposing perspectives, thereby helping to fulfill its goal of serving as a meeting place for serious, agenda-shaping ideas. 

Highlights from Azure’s latest issue (No. 45, Summer 2011) include: 

"The Secret Passion of the New Antisemitism"

By Assaf Sagiv

This issue’s editorial argues that the antisemitic wave currently sweeping the West is simultaneously predictable and perplexing, but what makes it particularly challenging is its seemingly impossible combination of rejection and attraction, of Judeophobia on the one hand and—strange as it may sound—a fascination with what the Jews are meant to embody on the other. Such a bizarre phenomenon requires careful consideration.

"A Tragedy Shrouded in Silence: The Destruction of the Arab World’s Jewry"

By Adi Schwartz

Israeli journalist and researcher Adi Schwartz revisits Israel’s attitude toward the calamity that befell the once-great Jewish diaspora of the Arab world. This painful chapter of Israeli history, Schwartz insists, deserves closer scrutiny. His investigation raises questions concerning not only various Israeli governments’ policies, but also the conceptual foundations of the Jewish state itself.

"Staring Down the Barrel: Israel’s Oil Problem"

By Eugene Kandel and Netanel Oded

Israeli economists explain why Israel needs to reduce its reliance on petroleum, and make that goal a national priority. Given the Israel’s geopolitical neighborhood, its intellectual resources, and the lack of any local oil lobby, the Jewish state emerges as the perfect candidate for this type of project.

"The Shape and Meaning of Biblical History"

By Daniel Gordis

Shalem Center senior fellow Daniel Gordis demonstrates that the Hebrew Bible is purposely structured so as to endorse the cultural-ethnic commonwealth as the ideal condition under which humanity may prosper. Gordis previous concluded in Azure, that the concept of nationality was not a modern European innovation as some scholars proclaim it to be, but rather an integral part of the Hebrew Bible from its very beginnings. 

To view the entire issue, click here.