Zeek Archive 2002-2003

Here you will find over 300 pages of reviews, essays, poetry, and original creative writing covering a wide range of Jewish expression and experience, from the first two years of Zeek magazine. For an archive of 2004-2006 material, please click here. Zeek appears in print and online; all our online material is made available here, free of charge. Past print issues may be purchased here. We encourage you to share, link to, and print out the work here. However, please note that all contents are copyright 2002-2003 Metatronics Inc. and the authors. Duplication is allowed only with prior written permission from Zeek.

Archive categories:

Culture & Art Books Fiction, Essay, & Memoir Film, Theater & Media Jay's Head Music Politics Poetry & Dramatic Writing Photography Spirit

Culture and Art

The Ritual of Family Photography Amy Datsko
Constitutive ritual for distributed families
May, 2003

The Art of Enlightenment Jay Michaelson
James Turrell and the truth of light
April, 2003

War and Not-War Dan Friedman
The ambiguities of art and life
March, 2003

Strasbourg Cathedral Michael Shurkin
The soft borders between Jewish particularism and universalism
February, 2003

If Only It Were All Just Art Michael Shurkin
Anxiety on the National Mall
January, 2003

Wrestling with Installation Art Michael Shurkin
Arte Povera, Damien Hirst, and annoying pomo intellectualism
December, 2002

Eye Candy Michael Shurkin
Pierre Bonnard at the Phillips Collection
November, 2002

Why We Still Need Beethoven Michael Shurkin
Why modern art survives in a postmodern age
October, 2002

The Aesthetics of Power Michael Shurkin
The Art of the Press Conference
September, 2002

Drawing a Line in the Cheese Michael Shurkin
Totalitarianism, kitsch, and Mamma Mia
August, 2002

Edward Weston and the "M" Word Michael Shurkin
What is modernism?
July, 2002

Knowledge, Community, Irony, and Love Jay Michaelson
What's the difference between laughing with art and laughing at it?
June, 2002

LIFELIKE COLLEGE NUDES Tom Slattery
At college art classes, looking for the real art among the posing.
May, 2002

Mystical Nazi Sex Gods Jay Michaelson
What draws protesters to banal holocaust art?
April, 2002

Books

Run Like the Wind Jay Michaelson and Dan Friedman
Two Zeek editors discuss running, spirituality, and Running the Spiritual Path
December, 2003

Radical Evil Michael Shurkin
Bernard Henri-Levy on the death of Daniel Pearl
September, 2003

July, 2003 Symposium of Douglas Rushkoff's Nothing Sacred
The Sacred and the Profane Douglas Rushkoff and Jay Michaelson
Douglas Rushkoff talks with Zeek about the future of Judaism
July, 2003

Reinventing the Wheel Michael Shurkin
A review of Douglas Rushkoff's Nothing Sacred
July, 2003

They Gonna Crucify Me Ken Applebaum
A 'lapsed Jew' responds to Nothing Sacred
July, 2003

Fiction, Essay and Memoir

Fleeing Edges Noam Mor
December, 2003

Anything You Want to Be Ben Cohen
July, 2003

Film, Theater, TV & Media

No Pulp Dan Friedman
The superficial thrills of Kill Bill
November, 2003

More than This Dan Friedman
Lost in Translation: A snapshot of the evansescent
October, 2003

Holocaust Video Testimonies Dan Friedman
The other reality TV
August, 2003

Simulacra and Science Fiction Dan Friedman
May Tricks: Reel-or-Dead?
June, 2003

Antifada Paratrooper Michael Kuratin
The new Israeli smash hit
May, 2003

Genuine Authentic Gangsta Flava Dan Friedman
Ali G.: The Poseur's Poseur
April, 2003

What is Charlie Kaufman Doing? Dan Friedman
The interdependence of fantasy and reality
February, 2003

Far from Heaven: Excavating Paradise Peter Conklin and Dan Friedman
Viewing the 1950s through its own fantastic prism
January, 2003

Eminem & Class Rage Dan Friedman
Will the star of 8 Mile be America's next working class hero?
December, 2002

Red Dragon: Light but no Heat Matt Huntington
How Hollywood misunderstands fear
November, 2002

Everybody wants to play with a bigger train set Dan Friedman
How to be Spike Lee instead of another Clocker
October, 2002

Fast Track from Ridgemont High Dan Friedman
Sean Penn and intertextuality
September, 2002

Keep Your Eyes Peeled Dan Friedman
The limited vision of Minority Report
August, 2002

Of Spiders and Clones Dan Friedman
The personal politics of this summer's blockbusters.
June, 2002

The Nature of Authority Dan Friedman
A review of "The Paradise Institute," a meditation on frames, judgment, and power.
May, 2002

9/11: Tony's Story Dan Friedman
CBS's packaging of the '9/11' documentary reveals exactly what America fails to understand about September 11.
April, 2002

Domestic Violence in the Global Village Dan Friedman
Frederick Wiseman takes us inside the pervasive, sinister institution of domestic violence.
March, 2002

Upright Values Dan Friedman
Cinema can help expose ourselves to the world, or it can seduce us to sit back and relax.
February, 2002

Digitizing Celluloid Dan Friedman
Harry Potter is cute, but is it a bad thing that adults crave escapism?

Jay's Head

Energy Jay Michaelson
What is 'energy'? Is it nonsense?
November, 2003

Season of Revision Jay Michaelson
Changes of season and changes of heart
October, 2003

What is Burning Man? Jay Michaelson
Why Black Rock City matters
September, 2003

The Queer Guy at the Strip Club Jay Michaelson
or, The Opposite of Sex
August, 2003

Meditation and Sensuality Jay Michaelson
Sex, drugs, and God in all
July, 2003

I hear America Bling-blinging Jay Michaelson
Hypercapitalism as Satanism
June, 2003

Constriction Jay Michaelson
Dick Cheney and the New Age
March, 2003

What the World is... Jay Michaelson
...and what to do about it
February, 2003

Quality of Life Jay Michaelson
What my grandmother's suffering teaches
January, 2003

Go as Far as Possible Jay Michaelson
Life beyond the idea of limits
December, 2002

Are we all asleep? Jay Michaelson
When life seems irresolvably absurd
November, 2002

Top Ten Lessons for New Homosexuals Jay Michaelson
Tips and advice from my first gay year
October, 2002

The Warm, Impossible, Wall-less Summer World Jay Michaelson
Summer days, summer nights are gone...
September, 2002

The Ghost and the Machine Jay Michaelson
Why is it easier to see God in nature than in the city?
August, 2002

Loneliness and Faith Jay Michaelson
Being at one with Being
July, 2002

On Eighth Avenue in New York Jay Michaelson
New York, full of life, a cure for loneliness.
June, 2002

The Desert and the City and the Mall Jay Michaelson
If the desert feeds the spirit, and Paris delights the senses, what does McDonald's do? May, 2002

Cheap Jews try to Save the World Jay Michaelson
Am I an environmentalist for the same reasons I don't like to spend money?
April, 2002

Skepticism Does Not Exist Jay Michaelson
With stories today about space aliens and the power of prayer, what are the limits of your enlightened skepticism?
March, 2002

How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Beatles Jay Michaelson
When is it okay to like what the uncool kids like?
January, 2002

Whoo Hoo! Jay Michaelson
What can a guy shouting 'whoo hoo!' at a concert tell us about a life well lived?
November, 2001

McDonald's: A Better Opiate for the Masses? Jay Michaelson
If crass capitalism stops us from killing each other, is it such a bad thing after all?
October, 2001

Learning about the Meaning of Life at Kinko's Jay Michaelson
What's the right perspective, close up where everything matters, or from a distance, where it doesn't?
August, 2001

Music

Koby Israelite Matthue Roth
From Israeli speed-metal to Jewish post-jazz
November, 2003

With a Bible and a Gun Samuel Hayim Brody
The prophetic justice of Johnny Cash
October, 2003

Beats, Rhymes, and Nigguns Matthue Roth and Juez
Four modern Orthodox breakbeat musicians on Jewish art
May, 2003

I'm Hearing Music from a Different Time Zeek staff
Zeek remembers Joe Strummer
January, 2003

Eminem & Class Rage Dan Friedman
Will the controversial rapper be America's next working class hero?
December, 2002

And the Jester Sang for the King and Queen Bex Schwartz
How Weird Al changed my life, and Randy Newman changed the world.
April, 2002

Sounds those Chimes of Freedom Bex Schwartz
Mariah Carey? Bleagh! Where's the next Country Joe & the Fish to protest the 'New War'?
March, 2002

Seeing Dylan and/or Divine Revelation Jay Michaelson
Two related theories about Bob Dylan, or, a review of his November 19, 2001 show, in which divine revelation plays a significant role.
December, 2001

Will the Strokes save Rock & Roll? Jay Michaelson
Strokes, Hammerstein Ballroom, Halloween 2001. History in the making?
November, 2001

Poetry and Dramatic Writing

re:vision Raphael Cohen
November, 2003

Trembling Before You Matthue Roth
September, 2003

Wisconsin Chanel Dubofsky
September, 2003

Stones of Jerusalem David Goldstein
August, 2003

Not Mentioned Hal Sirowitz
July, 2003

I Wish I Was... Harbeer Sandhu
June, 2003

fish rain Susan H. Case
May, 2003

yom kippur Sara Seinberg
April, 2003

The Reason for Jellyfish Hal Sirowitz
March, 2003

Treasure Ron Mohring
February, 2003

The Relentless Pull of Genetic Memory Dan Lupkin
December, 2002

Driving Julia Glassman
November, 2002

Repentance Poem #4 Matthue Roth
October, 2002

four untitled poems Joseph Dobkin
September, 2002

Hands Harvey
August, 2002

Jealousy Matt Morris
July, 2002

dick Matthue Roth
June, 2002

Josh Ring's Track Meet Josh Ring
May, 2002

Experimental Values Shaun Hanson
April, 2002

mako shark insanity! Adam Sontag
March, 2002

Deep, Jewish Pain Andrea Liu
February, 2002

Damp Memories Joseph Dobkin
January, 2002

Politics

Four Israeli Intelligence Directors: The Yediot Interview
A translation of the November, 2003, interview by an Israeli tabloid with four former Israeli intelligence directors.
December, 2003

Are the Ten Commandments Really Carved in Stone? Joel Shurkin
The ambiguous truth behind the two stone tablets, recently removed from Alabama's judicial building.
December, 2003

French Antisemitism Michael Shurkin
Is France Antisemitic?
November, 2003

Zionism and Colonialism Michael Shurkin
Is Zionism Colonialism?
June, 2003

Shtupping in the Shadow of the Bomb Marissa Pareles
Jewish sex radicalism in the New World Order
May, 2003

The Red-Green Alliance Dave Hyde
The weird and worrying links between the radical Left and the Islamist Right
April, 2003

Germanophobia Michael Shurkin
Fearing the Germans for the Wrong Reasons
April, 2003

The Other Rally Samuel Hayim Brody
Confrontation and cooperation in the face of odious leaders
February, 2003

Some things have changed, some have stayed the same Jay Michaelson
Alienated politics in an age of ignorance
December, 2002

Manufacturing Dissent Chad Beck
For the Left's voice to be heard, it needs to play by the rules
November, 2002

The Polity Rachel Dobkin
Overheard in Union Square, September 11, 2002
October, 2002

Mourning in America Samuel Hayim Brody
Consuming September 11
September, 2002

Elephant Memory Jay Michaelson
The most evil and deceitful administration in American history
August, 2002

The Failure of Anti-Despotism Justin Weitz
America's shallow globalization strategy
July, 2002

Finding a Place in the Minefield:
American Jews and the Situation Samuel Hayim Brody
Avoiding the obvious Jewish responses to the mideast crisis: a response to Jay Michaelson
June, 2002

On Being a Leftist and a Zionist Jay Michaelson
It's a lonely world when you're both an anti-globalization leftist and a Zionist.
May, 2002

Enraged in the Enron Age Dan Friedman
The rich are ripping us off! What are you gonna do about it?
April, 2002

What's your point? Samuel Hayim Brody
A WEF Protester Tells You Why He Bothers
March, 2002

Faces of Death Thomas Vinciguerra
An exclusive interview with the close confidant of many world despots.
February, 2002

Counterculture and Democracy Jay Michaelson
The best guarantor of democracy is subversive, oppositional counterculture.
January, 2002

Five Groups to be Angry at after September 11 Jay Michaelson
There's a lot of frustration in the air. Channel your rage at the people responsible for September 11 -- and we don't mean those cavemen in Afghanistan.
December, 2001