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.
- 5 September 2025י״ב באלול תשפ״הNote
Reading Life Talmudically
"A person can read their own life talmudically as such. Hawa amina: “I thought I would be this kind of person.” Qushya: Life challenged that assumption. Teruṣ: I adapted, reinterpreted....
- 4 September 2025י״א באלול תשפ״הNote
Jewish Is Modern
"To be Jewish is to be modern, and vice versa." - R. José Faur z"l Understood correctly, Jewish ideas are at the forefront of human development and are produced by...
- 3 September 2025י׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
What Is Light
Light. What is light? Illumination of things. What is illumination? The alleviation of darkness. What is darkness? Absence. Absence of what? Light.
- 2 September 2025ט׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
Statement on the Discourse of Genocide
Statement on the Tiktok Discourse of Genocide in Gaza The Mt. Zion Bureau of Public Affairs affirms the responsibility of every sovereign state, including Israel, to conduct military operations in...
- 31 August 2025ז׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
Devastation of Gaza
The devastation of Gaza can still shock and pain me, as a thinking and feeling human being and as a religious Zionist, and pose a collective challenge to Israeli society...
- 31 August 2025ז׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
The Z Word Podcast
NGL I kinda want to have open, honest, soulful conversations with people about Zionism in today's world and the shared future of Palestinians and Israelis, and record them and release...
- 27 August 2025ג׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
Sketch of the Amida
A rough sketch of the 'amida: Through systematically developing a concept of the Creator and making that concept real through the act of dialogic address to the Creator, we bring...
- 25 August 2025א׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
No Precept Is Small
The merit to fulfill even a small precept (מצווה) is truly great, because no divine precept is truly small. 😀
- 25 August 2025א׳ באלול תשפ״הNote
Forbidden War
I would like to suggest a new halakhic category of war. We are familiar with: - Mandatory war (מלחמת מצווה) - with the aim of clear self-defense (still applicable) or...
- 24 August 2025ל׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Fetishizing Exile
Everyone's entitled to their personal opinion but people who fetishize exile do not and can not represent the Jewish nation, in any serious context. Whether in the faculty of Harvard,...
- 24 August 2025ל׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Preaching to Progressives
It occurred to me why I may prefer preaching to progressives more than conservatives. Progressives generally don't view tradition as obliging or a source of authority. Convincing them of the...
- 24 August 2025ל׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Reviving the National Court
When people think "Halakhic State" they usually think Haredistan or settler apartheid state. How Ever: If we had a revived National Court ("sanhedrin"), it probably would have authorized the initial...
- 21 August 2025כ״ז באב תשפ״הNote
The Covenant of Fragments
The Covenant of Fragments: Towards a Jewish Theology of Religions Introduction The religious history of humanity is marked by astonishing diversity. Across continents, cultures, and centuries, peoples have devised systems...
- 20 August 2025כ״ו באב תשפ״הNote
No Moral Default
Very happy to see how many people are sharing the Orthodox rabbinic letter on Gaza and the state of religious Zionism today. Not surprised by the knee-jerk backlash they're all...
- 17 August 2025כ״ג באב תשפ״הNote
A Declaration of Emuna
Honestly, with the world 🌍 the way it is right now - with our country 🇮🇱 the way it is right now - bringing a child into it is a...
- 13 August 2025י״ט באב תשפ״הNote
Law, Text, Science, Reason
All my posts are public these days. Someone recently left a bizarre comment on one of my posts about halakha and sexual orientation, and proceeded to try and tag a...
- 11 August 2025י״ז באב תשפ״הNote
Istanis and Orientation
After considering recent literature reviews of peer-reviewed studies, my understanding that the consensus of the best scientific findings available regarding sexual orientation is that it is a combination of attraction...
- 11 August 2025י״ז באב תשפ״הNote
30 Days
30 days. Either come up with a plan for defeating Hamas and rescuing the hostages, or end the war. Either way, let in as much food, medicine, and baby supplies...
- 9 August 2025ט״ו באב תשפ״הNote
Gay Rabbis
I'm honestly confused by the opposition to gay rabbis. To my limited knowledge as someone who is not gay, it would seem obvious that being gay - or even being...
- 9 August 2025ט״ו באב תשפ״הNote
Tradition That Calcifies
There's something about the whole polemic against liberal values and institutions in the name of "tradition" that unnerves me on a biological level. In this age of chaos and change,...