Society

Spiritual Infantility

Last Friday, Jan 31, 2025, Nahum Barnea, not some fringe “influencer,” but the senior columnist in the country’s largest newspaper, wrote an opinion piece echoing something I wrote many posts ago about “no innocent bystanders,” as well as my reaction to the spectacle of the hostages’ return. Here is a translation of the relevant part: …

Spiritual Infantility Read More »

The Center Cannot Hold

For some time now, I’ve been feeling like this first half of Yeats’ famous poem perfectly encapsulates where we are as a society:   Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony …

The Center Cannot Hold Read More »

Collective Awareness

Recently, I heard a religious woman describe how she has more of a collective consciousness than secular people, that for secular people it’s “every man for himself,” or at most for his family. As an example, she said that if she wants to cross a street on Shabbat and a car is just coming, she …

Collective Awareness Read More »

The Misconception

October 7 convinced the majority in Israel that there really is no alternative to “living by our sword” forever, making absolutely sure that we will always be the victors.   What idiocy. If there’s one thing the history of this place can teach, it’s that every wall and every empire eventually falls. There is no …

The Misconception Read More »

The Right Question

Original post from Nov 7, 2020   We are a fairly brilliant species. I have no doubt that if we direct our efforts correctly, we can find effective and humane solutions (more on that term later) to the climate crisis and the massive extinction of biodiversity taking place. Instead, we direct our collective efforts primarily …

The Right Question Read More »