Category: Other

“You shall be an Israeli, you shall be a soldier” — Borges, Israel, 1969

This poem reads like a prophecy. It was something older — a vocation encoded in a name.

In 1969, Jorge Luis Borges visited Israel for the first time. He arrived…

The president’s political opponents and their media cohorts have done everything to paint a grim picture of America’s war against Iran. They characterize the administration as being trapped neck-deep in a quagmire. That, despite the fact…

Friends in the U.S. are consistently amazed by Israelis’ “fortitude” (in Hebrew: “Khosen”). Despite having to deal with periodic but incessant warfare – especially these past few years – Israelis keep on plugging and living life…

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In the spring, the poet tells us, a young man’s fancy turns to love, right?

WRONG!

As the sharp, biting winds of winter give way to the balmy breezes of spring, the fancy of young men – and, frankly, men not so…

In January 2016, just a bit over 10 years ago, I submitted an unsolicited, over-the-transom column to the Jewish Standard, titled “Remembering Rabbi Eugene Borowitz.” It was an appreciation that I, a lifelong member of the Modern Orthodox…

Over the years, I’ve started to accept that I have amazing time management skills, at least in theory.

I take the 4:46 train pretty often, and if you look at it simply, it’s a 26-minute commute, which means leaving at 4:20 should be more…

War, Peace, and Life in Three Faiths

If you look at Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three traditions most often pulled into debate, you find something striking. At their core, all three begin from the same uncomfortable truth. The world…

I have spent much of my career studying what happens when governments overleverage — when leaders borrow against institutional credibility, judicial tolerance, and public patience simultaneously, assuming the bill will never come due. I…

One of the most important problems confronting American civilization currently—one not getting the attention it should locally, nationally, and internationally—is nitrogen hypoxia.

Nitrogen hypoxia is an abominable method of execution…

It has become increasingly difficult to make sense of the current war in the Middle East and predict where events are heading. Beyond the debate over who is right or wrong, there are deeper questions about whether the conflict was inevitable,…