There is a core to the Israel/Palestinian conflict. And it has virtually nothing to do with the lands that Israel controls since 1967 (though that obviously exarcebates things), and a lot to do with 1948, and even more to do with the preceding years. It’s a historical core which remains very relevant today. For two thousand years, Jewish communities had faced persecution wherever they were - including in Muslim lands. Beginning at the end of the 19th century, as persecution even in enlightened Europe got worse, many Jews realized that a refuge was needed, since no country would take in larg ..read more

In a year when a mini-Holocaust took place in Israel, and countless people around the world are calling for the genocide of Israel and even of the Jewish people as a whole, Yom HaShoah takes on particular significance. The relationship between the Holocaust and Israel is profound. But it’s not necessarily what people think. The Holocaust certainly helped the formation of Israel receive international support. After the horrors of the destruction of European Jewry, many people realized that perhaps it was important for the Jews to have a homeland. Had Israel been created just a few years earlier ..read more

On the Shabbos following Pesach, there is a custom of some to bake "Shlissel Challah" - challah with the design of a key, or challah with a real key actually baked into it. It is alleged to be a segulah for parnassah (sustenance). There's a debate about the origins of this custom, with some claiming that it is rooted in Christian and/or pagan practices, while others defend it as having Jewish origins. Yet, unlike certain hyper-rationalists, I'm usually not so fervently opposed to such things even if their origins are questionable. There's lots of things in Judaism that originated in foreig ..read more

There’s a frenzy of talk about the legitimacy of Zionism. On the extreme left of the political spectrum, which has almost fully infiltrated academia, the standard line is that Israel is an illegitimate settler-colonial project (ignoring the fundamental differences between Israel and genuine settler-colonial projects). Meanwhile, on the right of the religious spectrum, many charedi Jews claim that the establishment of Israel was a secular and even anti-religious move, and that it therefore has no authority or religious legitimacy, and thus they have no obligation to serve in the IDF. The ori ..read more

Introduction Charedi polemicists often claim that Rambam legitimizes and even idealizes the charedi lifestyle, both with regard to the financial support of the kollel system and the community-wide exemption from army service. Although this topic is of the gravest national importance, it is not presented with a comprehensive scholarly analysis; even when prominent Talmudists present this argument, they do so in a polemical and superficial manner. A careful analysis shows that Rambam, unsurprisingly, legitimizes no such thing and is in fact strongly opposed to it. The claim comes from Rambam ..read more

Here’s a catalogue of my Pesach posts over the years. First, the non-kezayis ones: Seder Historical Realities versus Seder Traditions - A discussion of how several controversies relate to the same basic issue. Why do we eat Matza on Pesach? - It’s not what you think. My Big Fat Greek Pesach - When Israelis go to a Chutz L’Aretz program. The Haggadah You Have to Have - A review of the Koren Graphic Novel Haggadah. Bentleys, Matzas, and the Chumra Machine - Which is better, machine or hand-made? Now, the kezayis ones! My monograph on the kezayis is no longer available online, but you can read ..read more

One of the strange aspects of modern society is that it has become possible to interact with aliens. Yes, that’s right, aliens. Beings from a different planet! They are appearing here on our planet, disguised as regular people. But when you speak to them, it’s clear that they are from a different planet. (There seem to be, broadly speaking, two races of aliens, with some similarities and some differences.) Life on their planet is very different from life on mine, here in Israel. There’s no war with Hamas, no threat of massive rocket attacks from Hezbollah, no fear of Iran, no concern about ..read more

I don’t think that anyone in Israel will ever forget last night. To be in fear of attack is one thing; to actually know that hundreds of UAVs and missiles are already in the air, on their way over to you, is another. I doubt that anyone outside of Israel can fully grasp the surreal feeling of dread and helplessness that we experienced. Almost nobody went to sleep. We readied our emergency rooms and obsessively checked the news as aircraft endlessly flew overhead. We all figured that today would be a day of chaos. Somehow, despite all the booms and explosions, in the early morning eventually ..read more

Although several brigades have been pulled out of Gaza, many thousands of soldiers still remain, fighting to defeat Hamas and get the hostages out. Meanwhile, thousands of other soldiers are defending the northern border and preparing for war with Hezbollah. Then there’s the Iranian threat, which has gotten significantly more serious, and which the IDF is preparing for. And it was also revealed that an enormous amount of weapons have been smuggled into the West Bank. With conflict and the potential for further conflict on so many fronts, the IDF has to very carefully plan how to allocate it ..read more

There’s a popular slogan in Israel that appears on car stickers, jewellry and suchlike: Ein Li Eretz Acheret, “I have no other country.” The phrase comes from the title of an iconic and extremely moving song written by Ehud Manor, with music composed by Corinne Allal, and originally recorded in 1986 by Gali Atari; we will mention those names again later. Its opening lines and chorus are Ain li eretz acharet, gam im admati bo’eret, “I have no other country, even if my land is burning.” A neighbor of mine, who was experiencing considerable war anxiety about the land burning, told me that he d ..read more