Tag Archives: anti-Zionism
Why Choose the Jews?
It feels like forever – so changed are the times! – but it’s only been two days at this writing. Starting in the early hours of October 7, Hamas operatives surprised and overwhelmed Israeli surveillance and defenses at the Gaza … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, Idealism-, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, science, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged accepting the historical condition, anti-semitism, anti-semitism on campus, anti-Zionism, asymmetrical relations between siblings, asymmetrical relations between the sexes, Biblical insights, biblical Israel, Biblical narratives and history, blaming the Jews, book of Genesis, Cain and Abel, casus belli, choosing the Jews, competitve victimhood, curing anti-semitism, curing sibling rivalry, defending the oppressed, deliberate targeting of civilians, escaping history, explaining anti-semitism, expulsion from Eden, families under siege, fashionable oppression, fashionable victimhood, Genesis as a theory of history, Genesis as an introduction to history, gnostic escapism, Hamas operatives, Hegel, Hegel’s theory of history, history’s cost, ill-timed visit to Israel, incurable human relations, incurable situations, inheriting the human situation, Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, Israeli defenses, Israeli surveillance, James Baldwin, Jewish students and professors, Jews and philosophy of history, Jews and theories of history, killing your brother, knowing when to run, Kojeve, Kojeve’s theory of history, living in history, living with God in history, Marx, Marx’s theory of history, no place is safe, oppression of women, origin of history, philosphers of history, privileging the underdog, public war crimes, purpose of higher education, refusing history, selective anti-oppression, selective condemnations, selective outrage, sibling rivalry, suffering of mortality, surprise attack, the chosen people, the fall into history, the Jewish homeland, The Longest Hatred, the mark of Cain, the reality of living in history, the suffering of the human condition, the suffering of work, theology and history, theories of history, undermining higher education, unfashionable oppression, vulnerability of women, why Cain kills Abel, Yom Kippur attack
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The Family Laundry
A cousin just told me that the Israeli branch of the family is putting out a book that she has seen in advance of publication. It’s about the immediate forebears of that branch, who are people of large consequence in … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, books, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, glitterati, guilt and innocence, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, medieval, memoir, memory, mind control, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, oppression, past and future, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public facade, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, secular, seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Uncategorized, victimhood, victims, violence, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged anti-semitism, anti-Zionism, biblical Israel, Biblical narrative, book projects, Commemorative volume, Coulda been a contender, El Al flight, Eminent families, Exclusivism in religion, Family flaws, Family lineage, family prestige, Family pride, Family secrets, Family shame, family tree, Flaws and virtues, Generational change, God and Abraham, going along to get along, Grammatical competence, Holy envy, Identity reinforced, Identity undermined, Jerusalem, Jungian thought-forms, Kibbutznik, Krister Stendahl, lech, lecha, Life summonses, Medieval Jerusalem, modern Israel, moral courage, Objective case, opportunism, Passing the buck, Personal truthfulness, Political dynasties, pride and shame, promised land, Reclaiming desert, Religious pluralism, Reproving transgression, Self-betrayal, selling out, Sense of identity, Skeletons in the closet, Speaking Hebrew, Taking a stand, The cost of taking a stand, The navel of the world, truth unvarnished, Visiting Israel, Washing family laundry, Wedding on the Jordan
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Wickedness and Suffering
Wickedness and Suffering Does that heading about cover it? Eugene Ionesco, the brilliant Franco-Romanian playwright, wrote Tueur sans gages [Killer without wages], a play that opens with his characters marveling over the great neighborhood to which they feel fortunate to … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a beautiful neighborhood, alligator attack, anti-Zionism, autobiographical book, C-Span, career pinnacle, coping with grief, delegitimation of Israel, dystopia, earthly paradise, Elaine Pagels’ The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels’ Why Religion? A Personal Story, enlightenment ideals, Eugene Ionesco, fear and denial, fleeing for one’s life, fragile heart, Franco-Romanian playwright, genocidal preparations, God’s grief, God’s master plan, God’s suffering, green card, haves and have nots, Helen Zia’s Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution, hiking accident, human fragility, ideal places, immigration benefits, immigration dangers, Ionesco’s Killer without wages, Ionesco’s Tueur sans gages, losing America, love at risk, mad killer, moral equations, moral equations unbalanced, opportunistic progressives, perfecting the world, plight of refugees, political narratives, power of unreason, problem of evil, refugees worldwide, repairing the world, selective reporting, sheep and wolves, successes and losses, suffering and malice, suffering in nature, the beautiful people, The New York Review of Books, the suffering world, the world’s grief, true love, un beau quartier, utopian community, virtue signaling, wickedness in man, world-shattering grief
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Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah I really hadn’t wanted to go this time. It’s the night for commemorating/remembering the Shoah, the Holocaust, which my temple observes annually. Christian clergy sit on the raised platform at the front of the sanctuary and read, taking … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bureaucracy, chivalry, Christianity, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, femininity, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, medieval, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, seduction, self-deception, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged a past life, annihilation of the Jews, anti-Jewish imagery, anti-Zionism, Augustine's Jewish problem, Bishop Ambrose, board of trustees, burning synagogues, ceremony, choir, Christian clergy, Christian factions, commemoration, crazy history, David Nirenberg's Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition, diaspora, Divine Presence, divine/human partnership, empathy, empathy with victims, enemies of God, Evil, ex-terrorist, factional disputes, genocide, graciousness, Hebrew revival, Hebrew Scriptures, historian, historicity, Holocaust, Kasim Hafeez, mass murder, mass persecution, meditative silence, memory, mercilessness, new Covenant, New Israel, nice guys, normalized history, norms of decency, old Covenant, Old Testament, past life memory, pitilessness, promised land, Reform temple, reincarnation, remembering, resistence songs, saints, sanctuary, school spirit, Shekinah, Shoah, showing the flag, sincere clergy, spiritual victory, St. Augustine, supersessionism, Swedish incarnation, temple, The Bible, The Longest Hatred, theology of contempt, truthful sermon, victims, wandering Jew, warm bodies, witnessing, Yom HaShoah
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The Ex-Terrorist Comes to Town
The Ex-Terrorist Comes to Town Yesterday our temple sponsored a lecture by Kasim Hafeez, a Brit of Pakistani origin who had seriously resolved to give his life for jihad and then changed his mind. Everybody on the planet has an … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, Bible, Biblical God, childhood, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, seduction, self-deception, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, terror, terrorism, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Never Again", Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel, Amalekites, anti-semitism, anti-Zionism, BDS, Ben Gurion airport, biblical foundation, Bosnia genocide, British urbanity, Canannites, chariots of Israel, Christianity, dead Jews, demagogue, devout Muslim, Elijah, Elisha, extremism, First Temple, genocide prevention, good Jews, Greek Civilization, Hamas, hating Israel, Herodian structure, Hezbollah, Hittites, Holocaust, identity crisis, IDF, Islam, Israel as foundation, Israel's contributions to the world, Israeli Arabs, Israeli Druse, Israeli security, Jebusites, Jewish anti-Zionism, Jewish Federation, Jewish Israelis, Jewish self-defense, Jews outnumbered, Jihad, Josephus, Kasim Hafeez, King Solomon's Temple, lost dignity, Muslim militants, Pakistan, Pakistani immigrant, Peace Center, Perrizites, Philistines, political agitation, political science, political status, preaching to the choir, prejudice, Presbyterians, questioning assumptions, radicalization, retreat from Gaza, retreat from Lebanon, righteous hatred, Roman Civilization, Rwanda genocide, Second Temple, spirituality, story of humanity, terrorism, theism, victimization, Western Civilization, Western religion, Western Wall, Yom ha Shoah
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The Gift of the Jews
Unwrapping the Gift of the Jews What’s the gift of the Jews? It’s to live with God chronologically. Is that all? Is that anything? Well, I don’t know if it’s anything, but it’s the reasoning behind the Bible. Keep track … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Christianity, class, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, Jews, journalism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modernism, mortality, nineteenth-century, non-violence, oppression, past and future, peace, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romanticism, seduction, sex appeal, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "God is my witness", 19th century thought, anti-semitism, anti-Zionism, appeasement, atrocities, Australian Outback, bad people, beheadings, Bible, biblical studies, Charles Dickens, Christians, crucifixions, defamation, Emmanuel Lévinas' "A Religion for Adults" in Difficult Freedom, Emmanuel Lévinas' Difficile Liberté, genocide, good people, good people and bad people, grace, gratitude, Hans Castorp, ISIS, Israel, Joseph Puder, literary criticism, living historically, malice, Malmo, Middle East, Modernity, narrative criticism, non-fiction lives, normality, novelistic lives, novels of ideas, Oliver Twist, pacificism, Peace, Philosophical fiction, Quakers, Roger Sandall's documentary films, salt of the earth, sanatoriums, sanity, sentimentality, StandWithUs, Sweden, Swedish Anti-Semitism, thankfulness, The Covenant, the face of The Covenant, The Face of the Other, the gift, the Other, Thomas Cahill's The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, World War I, Yazidis, Zionism
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“Things in Their Right Places”
“Things in Their Right Places” The editing of my to-be-reissued memoir has its own life rhythms. The version that appeared a decade ago included a scaffolding of explanations. At that point, I was trying to do something that received opinion, … Continue reading
Posted in academe, action, alienation, autonomy, contemplation, cool, culture, desire, ethics, evil, faith, freedom, health, history of ideas, identity, institutional power, Jews, life and death struggle, memoir, philosophy, political, political movements, power, psychology, relationships, roles, social conventions, spirituality, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of woman, twentieth century, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged anti-Israel, anti-semitism, anti-Zionism, argument, Ariadne, bigotry, biochemical, Brooklyn College, brownshirts, cause, diagnosis, doctors, editing, Freud, Germany in the 30s, Greek mythology, handicap, holistic treatment, horses, infamy, intimidation, labyrinths, memoir, Minotaur, MRI, muscular, narrative, neurologist, physiatrist, physical therapy, post modernism, purposefulness, resignation, stoicism, the unconscious, theory, therapeutic riding, Theseus, university campuses, Western medicine
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