Long-form essays on Judaism, Zionism, halakha, and the present hour.
Rambam, Maimonides, Abu Imran, or the Ra”m ba”r Maza”l, as he was variously known, was not just a legal scholar and judge, not just a doctor and a philosopher, but a contemplative mystic on the path of prophecy, not just practicing conceptual-emotional quietude through meditative prayer but actively living a life of self-abnegation, service, and … Read more
Zionism for Palestinians? I’ve been having great discussions with listeners to The Z Word ‘s first episode, my conversation with Palestinian author Mo Husseini . A central point of not conflict nor disagreement but, rather I would say, creative tension, between Mo and I was in the relevance of Zionism to Palestinians. Mo represented an … Read more
I respect Haredim. I think that their counter-cultural ethos is inspirational and the construction of a lifestyle revolving around the study and observance of Torah is admirable. I, too, value the study of Torah and in fact I think that it can be a valid form of national service, on par with army service, in … Read more
The Igbo culture always surprises me. Today I learned that those Igbos that still pray according to the ways of Omenana, convene an additional service steeped in tradition (after they recite together the tephilloth that they have learned from Jewish sources) with the invocation: “Whom do Igbos serve?” “Yah!” I don’t think we’re talking about … Read more
Who invented the Jews? Who invented the Palestinians? “Sand explained during a newspaper interview his reasons for writing the book: “I wrote the book for a double purpose. First, as an Israeli, to democratise the state; to make it a real republic. Second, I wrote the book against Jewish essentialism.” Sand explained in the same … Read more
Morning meditation on political Zionism: The political component to Zionism is not Jewish sovereignty over the land. According to Jewish tradition, the Creator was, is, and forever will be the sovereign over this land and all lands. We are just migrants, tenants granted the right to reside here and the responsibility to live with the … Read more
On October 7th, 2023, the Hamas military invaded southern Israel. For an entire day, they systematically murdered every Jewish person they found. Their stated goal was to join with Hezbollah forces scheduled to invade northern Israel on the same day, and together with militant cells in the West Bank successfully wipe out millions of Jewish … Read more
People (especially those from a certain North American country) are obsessed with politics, especially partisan politics. Everything must be explainable by reference to your political ideology or better yet, your party affiliation. My concern for the welfare of the poor, of immigrants, of queer people, of Palestinians, of strangers within my community and outside its … Read more
Yesterday I saw a video of an execution on Facebook. A row of kneeling men, shot in the head from behind. The person who shared the video asserted that the shooters were Hamas soldiers, the victims were men accused of “collaboration” with Israeli forces. From what little I could tell, this was the case. This … Read more
This will make some people irrationally mad but: Zionism must reckon with the devastation of Gaza. We’ve left behind the naive days when we waged war solely and wholly in self-defense, with great concern and cunning strategy to decisively end wars with as little human, moral, economic cost as possible. Rejecting the blood libels and … Read more