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.
- 8 August 2025י״ד באב תשפ״הNote
Imperfect Vessels
Imperfect vessels containing overwhelming light... Alone they shatter, together they hold. How sacred are Your people, joining together below with the heavenly host above. Together, they carry the light into...
- 3 August 2025ט׳ באב תשפ״הNote
I Have a King
I don't want another king. I want the revival of the court. The rebuilding of the sanctuary. The return of prophecy. The resumption of our national mission. But I don't...
- 2 August 2025ח׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Morir Habemos
"Morir habemos" - we all have to die "Ya lo sabemos" - I know it And with that the Sabbath departs and 9 Ab begins. With the departure of our...
- 28 July 2025ג׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Ahabath Yisrael
I spoke with someone yesterday and the conversation has stayed with me. He is a Rambamist, a learned student of a great scholar who passed on to his world, and...
- 27 July 2025ב׳ באב תשפ״הNote
One National Law
There can be only one national law If every community splinters off into its own separate legal system, the nation is lost So there's gotta be a baseline, a law...
- 27 July 2025ב׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Reinterpret the Torah
"If it could be proven, I would reinterpret the Torah to resolve any contradiction with it" Bold words. Bold commitment. Even if what we know is contingent and limited -...
- 26 July 2025א׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Welcome to the Party
I would argue that far more observant Jewish people are a small step away from Neomaimonidean thought and practice than they are aware. If you're sure that there's an organic,...
- 26 July 2025א׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Two Men’s Words
On the one hand, there is this French politician who said some stuff about recognizing a state with no leadership, no funding, no borders, and probably no military. On the...
- 26 July 2025א׳ באב תשפ״הNote
Faur in the New Guide
Spent the afternoon with Rambam z"l.... Glad to see R Faur z"l getting his due in the new translation of the Guide.
- 24 July 2025כ״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
Pro-Israeli, Pro-Palestinian
The older I get and the deeper this country's ethos seeps into my bones, the more convinced I become of two things: - Socialism has a lot more going for...
- 24 July 2025כ״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
Living Under Unfair Conditions
Being Jewish in an unredeemed world means living under essentially unfair conditions stacked against you, where you are the least understood yet the most well-known in the international room. Where...
- 24 July 2025כ״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
I Pulled the Trigger
I pulled the trigger on the gun. Whom I shot and why I shot him doesn't change this fact or its consequences for those affected. I pulled the trigger on...
- 20 July 2025כ״ד בתמוז תשפ״הNote
The Ground of All Being
"For the world is not its place - but it is the place of the world" The ground of all being necessarily exists, is one, and is incorporeal. I worship...
- 19 July 2025כ״ג בתמוז תשפ״הNote
Gold from the Guide
Gold from the Guide for Us Perplexed Folk What is God? Do Rambam's Neoaristotelian premises and arguments still hold water in light of the subsequent scientific revolutions? Background: After dispensing...
- 15 July 2025י״ט בתמוז תשפ״הNote
MechaHitler Got a New Gig
Oh look MechaHitler got a new gig! "Driving the news: xAI said Monday that it secured the new contract with the Defense Department alongside its products being available to purchase....
- 14 July 2025י״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
A Transmission on an Alternative Frequency (Arabic)
بث على تردّد مختلف... مش كل الكلمات كلماتي، بس هذا أكيد هو #صهيونيّت ... صهيونيّتي "يا إخوتي، يا أخواتي، يا جيراني ما بحكي معكم بكلام فاضي، ولا بلسان دبلوماسي مصقول،...
- 14 July 2025י״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
A Transmission on an Alternative Frequency
A transmission on an alternative frequency... Not all my words, but definitely my #Zionism... "Brothers. Sisters. Neighbors. I speak to you not with empty words, not with the polished tongue...
- 14 July 2025י״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
Quiet Goodness
It takes courage to believe in the quiet goodness surrounding us in a world of loud wickedness threatening us. It's a narrow, fragile bridge to walk with your heart in...
- 14 July 2025י״ח בתמוז תשפ״הNote
Arabic in Our National Future
Tally Gotliv wants Arabic speakers to feel unwelcome in our country and in the halls of our government. Sorry Tally, Arabic is part of our national heritage as Jews and...
- 10 July 2025י״ד בתמוז תשפ״הNote
Don’t Get Boiled Alive
There's a famous experiment people like to bring up. The story goes, some researchers decided to test animals' sensitivity to a harmful environment. So they took some frogs and dumped...