Long-form essays on Judaism, Zionism, halakha, and the present hour.
For 3600 years, being Jewish at its core meant being accepted by a Jewish community. Not descent from a special family. Not lip service to a particular dogma. When Jewish society existed in Israel, many immigrants from Africa, Asia, and even Europe were accepted as full citizens. When Jewish society was forced to reconstitute in … Read more
What does it mean to be a post-Judaism Jew and why does Israeli society pose that question more pressingly than any other con-text in the past nearly 2000 years? What is the editorial agenda of the Hebrew anthological /anthropological biblos, versus that of the later masterful compendia – how is the past portrayed and how … Read more
I don’t know if I like or dislike Yuval and Rachel’s documentary. I haven’t seen it and, given my schedule, unfortunately I probably won’t have time. Therefore, I don’t actually know what message they are encoding: The IDF committed genocide in Gaza? The IDF used “collateral damage” to legitimize the unnecessary deaths of thousands of … Read more
The fact that there is extremely legitimate basis for very valid and trenchant criticism of the policies of the state of Israel and its institutions, does not in any way make the dubious framing of violence against Jewish people in the diaspora as understandably (!) reactive to those policies any less morally bankrupt. Hell it … Read more
“The Decline of the Generations” – a very brief intro to the main personalities of the Israeli settler movement, standing on one leg… The father: R. Abraham Isaac Kook was a visionary of peace, love, and light. He preached social unity and cultural revival, focusing heavily on the people of Israel’s ancient and intrinsic connection … Read more
I moved to Jerusalem 15 years ago. I’ve never thought once about moving back to the land of my birth. I love this land. This city. This country. I love the people(s) in it – Israelis, Palestinians, immigrants, sojourners. All of them. (Yes, all of the above sometimes frustrate me, irritate me, challenge me, even … Read more
tl;dr Vote your conscience, vote your brain, vote for a party that is actually building a future for our children instead of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. === “Only the right-wing can keep us safe!” And they can’t even do that right? “You have to vote for a party that will definitely cross … Read more
An armed gang surrounds a family home, drunk on power and violence. The police and the army stand by, waiting for orders from a man who made his career organizing and supporting armed gangs, and was welcomed into the government by a man who made his career inciting people against each other. This, too, is … Read more
As much as most current implementations of AI are garbage and some are in fact dangerous, as ecologically & economically unsustainable as its material basis truly is in its current state and will only get worse if its evolution slows down – it nevertheless really is the technology of the future. Full stop. I will … Read more
America, the land of my birth and my passport. I want to say RIP (I muttered it under my breath at lunch today) because the doors to the land of opportunity are closing and the ruling party is obsessed with the most un-American nonsense I couldn’t imagine in an AI slop version of a political-economic … Read more