Philosophy

Cards against Humanity is one of my favorite games. It's funny, it's simple, and it's not very competitive. When it's my turn to judge, those who know me know that certain cards are automatic winners. Cards I deem so hilarious that everyone else can just give up and go home. Auschwitz....

Growing up, in school, we'd be reading the same page 40 times, when the Rabbi would stop the class for a spot check. If you had lost your place, you'd be publicly shamed - yelled out, or sent out of the classroom. We were reminded that in the olden...

My brother joins the Israeli military tomorrow. My main emotion is sadness, which is saying a lot because I don't usually let myself feel much sadness. Yosef is joining a special-forces unit, which means he'll be doing harder, more brutal training, get exposed to more dangerous situations, and do...

Overall Judaism doesn't concern itself as much with attitude. It's mostly about endless laws that you either did or didn't do. Usually the laws pertain to actions, sometimes to intention, like the obligation to concentrate fully during the first blessing of the Amida prayers. More rarely, it gets involved...

Hear me out. (No good idea ever started with that, did it?) What if the entire Zionist idea was just a first draft for an even more Final Solution? At the time, Zionism was revolutionary. And it has had its benefits, to a degree. (Although if World War II had broken...

Growing up, the narrative that Ultra Orthodox Jews (aka "Charedim") had as to why they weren't serving in the military was that they were actually performing their own crucial service - they were protecting the country spiritually. The harder they studied and prayed, the more protected the soldiers on the...

The barbarism displayed by Hamas on October 7th horrified, the world, as well it should. Who harms innocent non-combatants, women and children like that? Who takes innocents hostage? Who acts with such coarse brutality? It is scary to see where humans can end up when lose touch with their own...

For the most part, I identify as left-leaning. In many ways, I am more critical of Israel than the average Jew. But I have long been aware of the dangers that far left ideologies pose - the prioritization of minority rights above all else, the justification of violence when it's...

Even in this time of crisis, I am incredibly conflicted about the Israeli flag.  I completely support Israel’s right to defend itself. To strike, and strike first, at those who intend to kill Jews. The intentions of those who live in Israel’s own backyard have become crystal clear to many...

The bible, so full of contradictory statements, is a perfect setting for Rorschach tests. It’s all just spilled ink on the page. You see what you want to see. You want airy fairy hippy shit? You got it. “Sons you are, to the lord your God.” You want dogmatic, oppressive, hardline world views? You’ll...