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![]() David-Seth KirshnerThe Times of Israel (Blogs) |
In a few minutes I am boarding a plane to Israel. I have never been more frightened. I do not scare easily. If you are reading this and have never met...
Much of my life and education has been shaped by cinema. One of the great classics for me is the Godfather. Two ideas from this movie have been on my...
My family asked me when I would stop writing these Streams. I replied, when I no longer have something to share. Thus, I continue. I know it helps me...
Hamas has been cooking up a pot of hypocrisy and lies and the world is eating up all they are serving. When did society develop an appetite for crap...
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hizbollah’s long anticipated speech was more valuable than on face value. It was a blustery rant and fearful admission...
A fantastic video has been circulating the air waves. It is a must-watch clip! A young “good trouble” maker walked around New York City holding a...
They got him. The violence inciter on the campus of Cornell threatening to gruesomely kill Jewish students and causing students to convert dorm rooms...
Shortly after the October 7th attack, I published three succinct talking points that I believed every major Jewish organization should have been...
SOAC 24 I am penning this note from Poland. To be here now is in and of itself, surreal. To visit a painful Jewish memory while we have large and...
Today I am sharing three disparate thoughts which are indeed streams of consciousness that have me quite anxious. I will start with a controversial...
My definition of fanaticism is when people manipulate words or weaponize religion for unintended intent. Fanatics are running rampant and co-opting...
As I start the 21st episode of Streams of Anxious Consciousness, I have lost track of what I have already said, or maybe I just thought it and never...
I marveled at colleagues who hours after October 7th turned to text and tradition for solace and answers. I was not there. I was too filled with rage,...
These streams of anxious consciousness are really an expression of my feelings. They are raw, sometimes undigested, but sincere and authentic. I...
The scariest scene in the movie Schindler’s List, for me, was when the Jewish residents of Krakow were forced from their homes with only what they...
I try and write these Streams of Anxious Consciousness each day. I do not use canned materials or pen them days in advance. Like a good chef, I want...
There is a curious case of dissonance when it comes to antisemitism in the Western world. Much of today’s Stream of Anxious Consciousness is...
As the sun sets marking another week since the tragedy of October 7th, my anxiety and fatigue are wrestling with one another. One thing I am becoming...
Albert Einstein once defined the Jewish people as having a fanatical pursuit of justice. It was a great characterization of our tribe. Meanwhile, our...
There is a fantastic paradox brewing. As one congregant told me, “Rabbi, I am so worried about antisemitism. It is going to skyrocket. It already...
On the day they appointed Rabbi Elazar, they removed the guard from the study hall and allowed anyone who wished to enter. When Rabban Gamliel was in...
In football parlance it is said, ‘Offense wins games, defense wins Super Bowls.’ The idea being that the better the defense, the better the...
The sheer confusion for so many educated people about if and how they can take a stand on this issue, is mind blowing. We are not adding integers...
It only took eight days for the keyboard commandos to come forward in full force, hiding under the shelter of a screen and a camouflaged name, and...
The Shabbat has come and gone. With the sun setting, a new moon has waxed. It is called a bitter moon because of the deflation we experience after the...
One of the challenges with an overly saturated Jewish Communal Network is that messaging gets muddy. Yes, we are ALL on the same page, but we do not...
As we enter a Shabbat of immense pain, a word to congregants and community members, worldwide. Please indulge me to share this lesson with you in a...
I wish I could say that reality is getting easier. In fact, it is quite harder. The names surfacing are attached to pictures which are connected to...
My “rabbi” on most things Israel, Yossi Klein HaLevi, wrote a reminder in the Atlantic this week about the tragedy masterminded by Samir Kunta...
My mind is racing. It won’t settle down. So many feelings all bubble to the surface. Anger. Pain. Frustration. Revenge. Hatred. Disgust. Sadness....
The numbers on our side are more than we can bear. Each person represents a family, grieving parents, siblings, community, friends, significant others...
Eventually, Israel will regulate its breathing and start to metabolize the indigestible. Questions will fester about failures and security breakdowns...
Bob Menendez should step down from his Senate seat. To be clear, I voted for Menendez twice. Few people in the history of the Senate have been better...
As a mourner, attending synagogue with a minyan has been a priority. This Shabbat afternoon, when attending services for the close of the Sabbath, a...