Gil I always have music playing in my head, never actual songs but riffs and solos and harmonies and b-sides, endless variations of the music that I’ve heard mixing with the tones and rhythms of the sounds that I’m hearing around me.
It’s like life is one big jam session.
Arabic is central to my Judaism.
Without it, the Sepharadi legal scholars (from whose waters I drink) would not have had such complete access to the cultural corpus of Geonic interpretations, rulings, and traditions, all of which are fundamental to correctly understanding the Gemara.
There is much more to say, but let that simmer for a bit.
Zionism is simply defined as the collective aspiration of the Judaean people to return to Zion.
That aspiration – expressed for many centuries in prayer, ritual, law, literature, mysticism ,activism, immigrations, and eventually the contemporary project of modern state building – is shared by nearly the entire Jewish nation to some degree or another. From Jerusalem to Ethiopia to Yemen to Persia to India to Russia to Ukraine to Germany to Italy to Spain to France to England to Morocco to Brasil to Argentina to the USA.
It has directly led to the emergence of a deeply flawed but thriving democratic society – very much a work in the early stages of progress, but no less a concrete manifestation of that aspiration, held by millions of people worldwide.
There is a lot to criticize in what has been said and done in the name of Zionism, ranging from state policies to fringe criminal gangs and everything in between.
But to declare your opposition to Zionism as a whole – to think that you have the power to negate that global aspiration – is as delusional as it is audacious.
Like trying to fight a force of nature.
Or of history.
On behalf of Zion, I would like to extend a warm invitation to Zohran Mamdani to come visit this beautiful Land that such diverse people all call home.
We can tour the historical and political sites of the country with Jewish and Islamic tour guides, meet with Israeli and Palestinian communal leaders, and discuss hard questions together over Shabbath meals.
Mr Mamdani, come see the complex reality of our situation with your own eyes. Come hear with your own ears our stories of war and our dreams of Zion, coming to life beyond the colonizers’ framing
Learn what it means for us to put down the gun and share society, and learn how you can help make that vision real.
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Social media makes the world small: If you know someone who knows someone…. Let’s make it happen.
Her: “Our sale is one book for 80, two for 150…”
Me: “I just have this one book.”
Her (flips through catalogue): “Ok that will be 80 sheqels!”
Me: “But it says 68 on the back…”
Her: “Uh…” (confers with colleague) “…ok 70 sheqels.”
Me:
Her:
Me: “This book is on sale, right?”
Her: “Yes!”
Me: “Shouldn’t it cost less than the normal price, not more?”
Her:
Me:
Her: “Ok 60 sheqels.”
Sold. I may not be much of a negotiator but I’m not paying MORE than the sticker price during Hebrew Book Week. 😂
Happy studies y’all!
Morning Questions
I’m sitting on the bus wondering:
Did the combined Israeli-American strikes (particularly on Fordow) decimate Khameini’s nuclear program?
Or is it still intact?
Were these decisive moves or political posturing?
How many times will we go through this dance?
Allow me to parse this for you.
POTUS is ambivalent on Iran. His real issue was with Obama. He had been listening to the isolationists in MAGA telling him to stay out of Iran, but then saw the Israeli attack “winning” and wanted some of the attention for himself. “No nukes for Iran!” is an easy slogan to get behind, and POTUS thinks in slogans.
So after publicly dithering for a few days, he unilaterally decided to drop 420,000 pounds of explosives on Iranian nuclear sites and then declare a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, to both sides’ surprise on both counts.
Bibi quickly fell in line with POTUS. Khameini said he would but then fired missiles anyway.
Now POTUS still has his cake after eating it too: He got his part in the “win” and thrilled the Evangelicals AND he can appease the isolationists by disengaging from the war and even criticizing Israel’s continued response to Khameini’s attacks.
This is your America First president.
This is your Best Friend Israel ever had.
This is your Hero.
Never stop believing in the possibility of a shared society.
So many people are caught in emotional echo chambers and have rationalized their disillusionment with the possibility of a shared society with different kinds of poorly thought-out dogmas.
Don’t fall for it.
The possibility is always there for us to realize.
How much would it cost to outfit public bunkers with signal repeaters?
Because this whole “wait for a signal from homefront command in a place with no signal” thing is a little wonky…
If there’s anything we learn from the megilla of Esther it’s that egotistical autocrats make poor leaders/allies but good instruments of divine providence.
Stay Frosty Friends 😎