Essays, notes, poems, and prayers
Writing
Most of this started as a Facebook post and got a second life here. Every piece carries its date in two calendars.
- 17 April 2026ל׳ בניסן תשפ״וNote
Words Matter
Words matter. I try to choose my words carefully: The IRGC - not Iran. Hezbollah - not Lebanon. Hamas - not Gaza. Criminals - not terrorists. Autonomy - not sovereignty....
- 13 April 2026כ״ו בניסן תשפ״וNote
Hungary Reminder
The people of Hungary have given us a breath of fresh air and reminded us all that This Too Shall Pass. They suffered for over a decade under an incompetent,...
- 12 April 2026כ״ה בניסן תשפ״וNote
Hope on a Sunny Day
I'm hopeful. Yeah I'm watching the clock waiting for the missiles to start coming again - waiting for the big barrage of remaining missiles, recovered missiles, manufactured missiles, while we...
- 10 April 2026כ״ג בניסן תשפ״וNote
Ask Me About Anything Else
Don't ask me about the ceasefire (it's BS and prepare for the possibility it won't last). Don't ask me about the war (it's BS and prepare for the possibility it...
- 10 April 2026כ״ג בניסן תשפ״וNote
1492 and Modernity
Hot Take 🔥🔥🔥 The event that catalyzed the dawn of modernity in general, and of modern Zionism in particular, was the expulsion of the Jewish people from Spain in 1492.
- 9 April 2026כ״ב בניסן תשפ״וNote
Four Categories of Disagreement
4 Categories of Disagreement with the Orthodox Street (Believe it or not the great rabbis of the past actually got most of the following right imho) A) Issues where the...
- 9 April 2026כ״ב בניסן תשפ״וNote
Two Roads of Love
"Love the Lord your God with your entire mind, personality, and capability" is no small thing, yet crucially, the road of this love is meant to be easy. We are...
- 8 April 2026כ״א בניסן תשפ״וNote
A Mother’s Milk
A thought on Kashruth: "FWIW the judges on the national court extended the basic concept of not cooking a goat in its mother's milk, which inverts the view of the...
- 8 April 2026כ״א בניסן תשפ״וNote
God Gave Me a Brain
89 comments, mostly indignant at the suggestion that there aren't any good arguments for categorically prohibiting electricity on Shabbath, but this one tickled me: "Only thing gnarly here is your...
- 6 April 2026י״ט בניסן תשפ״וNote
Prepare for the Worst
(Thoughts on the immediate situation... If you live in this country... Please read to the end. Stay safe my friends.) POTUS is threatening to attack every power plant and bridge...
- 4 April 2026י״ז בניסן תשפ״וNote
Unfit Bomb Shelters
(Some thoughts on bomb shelters and missiles, with a request at the end:) For someone who's been itching for a war with Iran for decades, our prime minister didn't actually...
- 4 April 2026י״ז בניסן תשפ״וNote
The Arizal as Zionist
Really enjoying this preliminary research situating the Arizal within the emergence of modern #Zionism and reading Lurianic kabbala as a Zionist project. Immigration, political organization, autarky, ecology - just a...
- 30 March 2026י״ב בניסן תשפ״וNote
One Law for All
I have my thoughts about the death penalty and they're complicated and truthfully undecided, but just focusing on policy for a sec: I'm just saying... if the death penalty is...
- 30 March 2026י״ב בניסן תשפ״וNote
Five Bitter Herbs
What's on your seder plate? Five traditional options for the "bitters": Ḥazzereth – cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa) (all identifications follow Rambam's commentary on Mishnah Pesachim 2:6). An annual vegetable that...
- 22 March 2026ד׳ בניסן תשפ״וNote
Racism in the Bomb Shelter
Racism reared its ugly head in the bomb shelter today. I didn't see the point of confronting it on the spot - I've learned that racists operating in maladaptive defense...
- 22 March 2026ד׳ בניסן תשפ״וNote
Coerced vs Choosing Societies
"A society that has to coerce its population into compliance does not outcompete one whose people are choosing, daily, under fire, to stay and build." Sometimes AI says something smart....
- 17 March 2026כ״ח באדר תשפ״וNote
When the Interceptors Run Out
Known: The number of interceptors the US coalition forces have left. Unknown: The number of ICBM launchers the Khameini regime is conserving underground. I don't mean to be a downer...
- 16 March 2026כ״ז באדר תשפ״וNote
Sanity in a Mad World
Life is crazy. The world has gone mad. Technology overwhelms, wars crush, society fractures, people are alienated from each other and themselves. What's truly nuts is that sentence could have...
- 11 March 2026כ״ב באדר תשפ״וNote
Miracles in War
Life is full of miracles. The improbable and fortuitous concatenation of events, despite conflicting agendas, beliefs, and environmental factors. Oftentimes, those miracles are easily mistaken for natural events or human...
- 8 March 2026י״ט באדר תשפ״וNote
Kosher Rules of Thumb
Biblical rules for living a kosher life: - Eat obligate herbivores - Shun predators, scavengers, and bottom feeders - Make death painless - Respect that which gives life 🐄🐑🐐🐓🐟