Monthly Archives: March 2023

Religion and Violence (Horror)

Posted on March 29, 2023 by zjb

It should be obvious that there is, of course, no single or linear-causal relation between religion and violence. As argued by Religious Studies scholars, this is a modern secular myth. Attentive to difference, one could note that there is civil … Continue reading →

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(Religious Dictatorship) Tikvah Funds Anti-Democratic Coup (Israel)

Posted on March 24, 2023 by zjb

I’m including below a notification sent to my email from the Tikvah Fund and this link here to an op-ed written by Elliot Abrams and Eric Cohen in the Jerusalem Post in support of the judicial coup in Israel. Long … Continue reading →

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(Secular Icons) Poster Protest Art (Liberal Israel)

Posted on March 23, 2023 by zjb

An article here at Ha’aretz about a group of graphic art and design people creating posters against the regime coup in Israel. The activists formed a group whose work is offer at this Hebrew language FB page: Democracy Will Win” … Continue reading →

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(Bnei Brak) Haredi Religion & Secular Protest (Israel)

Posted on March 21, 2023 by zjb

This thread in Hebrew by Alon-Lee-Green from Omdim b’Yahad contains a lot of negative pushback. But Green explains why going to demonstrate this coming Thursday in Bnei Brak and doing so under the banner “No Democracy, No Torah” might be … Continue reading →

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(Democracy) Red Line (Jerusalem)

Posted on March 16, 2023 by zjb

Artist-activists draw a red line in Jerusalem connecting the Russian Compoun and the Supreme Court The organizer released this startement in Hebrew which I google-translated: A red and pink stripe will be painted along the way, marking the inseparable connection … Continue reading →

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Red Tail Hawk Eats Squirrel in Central Park

Posted on March 12, 2023 by zjb

Not for the squeamish, these are closeup photos of a red tail eating a squirrel that M. and M. and I came across on a walk behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We stuck around for almost an hour. The … Continue reading →

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(Links) The Supreme Court and Legal Putsch in Israel (Overview & Background)

Posted on March 9, 2023 by zjb

In fact, the Supreme Court in Israel is not radical, and is deferential to state authority in regards to Basic Laws (including the 2018 rightwing Nation State Law), security, and the military occupation and settlements in the occupied West Bank. … Continue reading →

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(Megilat Esther) Purim Sameach (State of Nature)

Posted on March 6, 2023 by zjb

Read it! The neoclassical scroll of Esther is colorful and motley. Reader, beware. Purim is what happens when social contracts are violated by violent men and put right by the violence of dumb luck and cunning. [18th century scroll of … Continue reading →

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(Amalek) Regime Change in Israel (Note from the Liberal Pew)

Posted on March 5, 2023 by zjb

Last Shabbat was Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat before the commemoration of Purim. On this Shabbat Jews are enjoined to remember Amalek and to blot out his name. In the Bible, Amalek falls upon the camp of the Israelites, attacking those … Continue reading →

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(Bezalel Smotrich) American Jewish Mainstream Boycotts Religious Zionism

Posted on March 2, 2023 by zjb

If anyone was wondering about the power of taboo, it’s becoming clear that every society and every community is defined by red lines. Far right religious racist and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich is coming to the United States to meet … Continue reading →

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