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.
- 1 April 2025ג׳ בניסן תשפ״הNote
The Reasonable Cosmos
The universe is a mysterious place to us but the odds are that it's teeming with life spread across vast distances; or are we all closer in some ways than...
- 28 March 2025כ״ח באדר תשפ״הNote
Bochurim Out of Touch
#קול_קורא We have a problem of bochurim who've spent too much time in front of a book, and not enough time listening to their elders, or in a soup kitchen...
- 22 March 2025כ״ב באדר תשפ״הNote
One State, Equal Citizenship
Fear and suspicion aside, I think it's safe to say: - the status quo is untenable - two states are unimplementable - an apartheid state is unlikely Now some have...
- 21 March 2025כ״א באדר תשפ״הNote
The Lubavitcher Rebbe on Education
". . . I am certain that you will agree that the state of education in this country (as in many others) leaves much to be desired; that the status...
- 21 March 2025כ״א באדר תשפ״הNote
Trans People Are People
Thoughts to disturb groupthinking reactionaries on all sides: Human sex is a generally binary biological fact. It's dependent on the scientific construction of the idea of sex but it's still...
- 17 March 2025י״ז באדר תשפ״הNote
The Chapter 9 Project
Belated, but: I've been catching references to the "Chapter 9 Project," which seems to have become linked by some pundits to a modern blood libel, accusations of genocide committed by...
- 16 March 2025ט״ז באדר תשפ״הNote
Jerusalem Purim
Essentially (and intentionally fwiw) we dined at the Purim Meal yesterday, Shushan Purim. Not many cities in the world observe Shushan Purim. Jerusalem is obviously one of those cities. Yet...
- 14 March 2025י״ד באדר תשפ״הNote
Shushan Purim
You see, there were still some three hundred lingering members of the plotting movement in the capital, who were so convinced that we were a threat to national security that,...
- 13 March 2025י״ג באדר תשפ״הNote
Masks On
The masks are a new thing. They're not how our ancestors celebrated the holiday. But they feel appropriate to the mood of the holiday: the truth and the salvation are...
- 12 March 2025י״ב באדר תשפ״הNote
The Limits of Self-Determination
The thing about self-determination is that it requires that one not lose or abdicate the responsibility to determine one's self. This means participating in a robustly democratic civil society, not...
- 10 March 2025י׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
On Mahmoud Khalil
I think that Mahmoud Khalil is pretty clearly a tool of the Russo-Iranian propaganda and influence machine and its support of fascist proxies in the Levant and Gulf, But That...
- 10 March 2025י׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
Hamas Is Not the Resistance
Hamas is a fascist organization working with and for fascist states, that ruled Gazans with an iron fist for 17 years and has exploited them as human shields in their...
- 9 March 2025ט׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
Collective Punishment Plays Into Hamas
Why can't we be targeted in Gaza like we are in Lebanon? What is with the collective punishment as a negotiation tactic? Since when did collective punishment not play into...
- 9 March 2025ט׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
A People That Dwells Alone
#Facts: I'd rather be alone and friendless than dependent on bullies for their "protection." (Thankfully I'm neither 🙏 Barukh Hashem) But as it is with one, so it is with...
- 9 March 2025ט׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
Know Your Tools
Based on over a year of premium-level usage, it is my considered opinion that while Chat-GPT is good at translating, summarizing, explaining and discussing sources that you provide, it is...
- 7 March 2025ז׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
Imagine a Native Nation
Imagine a timeline where one of the native nations of Turtle Island developed a survival strategy that allowed them to retain their society and identity intact despite destruction, disenfranchisement, and...
- 5 March 2025ה׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
On Roman and Islamic Conquest
Compounded controversial opinion: I don't think the State of Israel should recognize the legitimacy of Roman or Islamic conquest and colonization, in resolving the conflict with Palestinians. I think we...
- 4 March 2025ד׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
How Dare You Film Me at My Worst
Apparently there is a movie that shows people what life is like under military administration in the Yehuda and Shomron, and it's got some people upset. 🤷 Sorry not sorry...
- 3 March 2025ג׳ באדר תשפ״הNote
Restore the Monarchy
Monarchy should be consigned to the dustbin of dead-ends in human history, along with human sacrifice, slavery, and dumping your sewage in the street. The righteous leadership of a single,...
- 2 March 2025ב׳ באדר תשפ״הPoem
The Land of Peace
All I'm asking for is One state In charge of protecting the land and the people Offering education, healthcare, and stability From the river to the sea Equal citizenship and...