Philosophy

I was recently called arrogant by a Shabbos guest. I didn’t object, because maybe I’m arrogant, but I have the humility to admit it. But here’s what else is arrogant: assuming you’re smart enough to not fall for a kiruv-style proof of God. Here’s one of the main ones:  Would the entire...

I opened my eyes for the first time, and saw from one end of the universe to the other. It was grossly overrated. For this? For this you dragged me into existence? Freshly born, in that first instant I had an understanding of all things. And I understood it was not worth...

On Purim, they almost killed us, but in the end they didn’t, we killed 75,000 of them instead.  And these weren’t normal enemies, mind you. These were descendants of Amalek, whom we are commanded to kill every last man woman and child of. You can’t cure an Amalekite baby of...

Most religions have a concept of the battle between good and evil. An epic conflict between satan and god, doing the right thing versus being a schmuck. The good news, we’re promised, is that good will ultimately prevail; in this world or the next. Islam has a word for it...

It’s hard to be compassionate when you’re afraid. And charedim are afraid of everything. Of God, of change, of novelty. Growing up, a healthy dose of compassion would have gone a long way, but there was none to be found. Yiras Shomayim, fear of God, is what it was...

“There are no atheists in a foxhole,” Noah Weinberg used to love to say, swiftly eradicating all actual atheists who undoubtedly have existed in foxholes. That statement further disregards all the individuals who became atheists in foxholes, like the blaspheming Rabbi in Elie Wiesel’s Night. From the moment I...

Judaism teaches that our interpersonal relationships are just a key to relating to God, especially our romantic ones. So, capitalizing on the bestselling book that opened people’s eyes to the fact that not all people are exactly the same, here’s our appropriation of this pop psychology masterpiece. The first...

My very first essay against Judaism, sparked by the story of Rabbi Meir Pogro's various follies. I am very angry right now. My frustration with Judaism lies in its lack inability to transform you as a person, no matter how much Torah you supposedly study. The recently exposed scandal of Rabbi...

In the beginning, man created God. And he thought it would provide him some answers. But bigger and better questions popped up instead.Me. If you think of God as means to explain so much of our the world that we don’t understand, you’ll find that it definitely creates some answers,...

I wrote God a letter. Dear God. I just want you to know how much you mean to me. I’ve felt things towards you that I haven’t felt in a long time. I feel giddy. I can’t eat or sleep. I’m constantly thinking about you. To be honest, I’m in awe...