Philosophy

How Netanyahu's Israel is a betrayal of early Zionism - opinion

The contrast between Ahad Ha’am and Netanyahu is not between idealism and realism. It is between moral realism and political cynicism.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 15, 2026.
Statue of Spinoza by Nicolas Dings in Zwanenburgwal, Amsterdam, with the inscription ‘The objective of the state is freedom,’ quoted from his ‘Tractatus Theologico-Politicus.’

'Why Am I a Jew?' A sincere attempt at addressing big questions about Judaism - book review

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Josh Adler on whether creativity is a choice or is simply biology

Black Hole Blues

Black Hole Blues: At the Edge of Time, Space, and No Return


Advice on how to put things in perspective

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when the COVID pandemic or the political turmoil is driving you to despair, remember the large jar and the two cups of coffee.

Friends enjoy coffee at a cafe in Jerusalem.

‘Democracy’s Future’ focus of Night of Philosophy

Former French justice minister Robert Badinter, famous for abolishing the guillotine in 1981, is among the 25 scheduled speakers who will address questions of common values.

Yoel Boltvinik and Ari Ben Arie

Indifference, hatred are symptoms of madness gripping the world - opinion

There is a way to argue that is civil and humble. Sadly, it is too often abandoned or ignored because each side thinks that it is the arbiter of truth and the other is the enemy

Statue of Rumi (1207-1273) in Buca, Turkey. Photograph by Faik Sarıkaya/wowTURKEY.com.

Dutch philosopher calls Diaspora ‘blessing’, prevented Jews to have power

Hans Achterhuis, the first recipient of the prestigious and royally recognized title of “thinker of the Fatherland,” made the remarks in an interview on the role of religion in the modern state.

A church in Middlesboro, Kentucky, prays to a Star of David in a still from Maya Zinshtein's documentary "'Til Kingdom Come."

Education and democracy in crisis - opinion

In Israel, which is rife with disagreement over what might count as a good life and with those who seek to impose their concepts of the good on others, education should oppose the threat of tyranny.

Democracy, illustrative

Remembering Rabbi Dr. Isidore Epstein, Jewish philosopher and thinker

He wrote voluminously. When he retired and we wanted to honor him by means of a bibliography of his writings, he couldn’t remember all that he had written.

Yahrzeit candle

Hebraicizing Oedipus

I have become convinced that Freud hijacked the story of Oedipus for his own purposes.

The cover of the author’s commentary on his Oedipus plays

Time to examine the relationship between kabbalah and modern science

The existing literature on science and religion often talks about them contradicting each other, or the necessity to reconcile them. I consider this approach wrong.

A scientist looks through a microscope

'Heaven and Hell': New history of the afterlife shows origins of the idea

Our view of the afterlife isn't from Jews, Christians, but from Homer, Plato, Virgil.

Heaven and Hell

Making sense of Passover (from a non-Jewish point of view)

The Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz described Jewish practices in ways that made sense to me.

The Israelites leaving Egypt. From the Haggadah for Passover, 14th Century (the ‘Sister Haggadah’).