Natan Slifkin's Blog, page 2

Flat Earth reaches Israel

Eighteen years ago, I started researching how the Sages of the Talmud understood the shape of the world, and realized that (at least in Babylonia) they believed it to be a flat disc, slightly elevated in the center (at Jerusalem), and covered with the dome of the firmament. I elaborated upon this in my essay on “The Sun’s Path at Night,” which I published in my book Rationalism vs. Mysticism, available on the museum website.

Fifteen years ago, I wrote a post about a fascinating book that discusse...

The Key is the Key

In his speech to the UN, where he professed a desire to reach a peaceful settlement with Israel, Abbas is wearing a pin of a key. The key is a prominent symbol in Palestinian culture. It recalls how Palestinians hope to return to their homes that they left during the 1948 war, locking their doors and taking the key with them. (The creation of the refugee problem is what is today referred to as the Nakba, though the term originally referred to the humiliation of the Arab defeat.)

Yet the key, worn...

The Crazies On All Sides

So, thanks to Hamas’ attacks and Israel’s response, England, Canada and Australia have recognized the existence of a State of Palestine for the Palestinian People, in their historic homeland. Well, in part of their historic homeland. Not in the eastern part, because that’s under the colonial control of the Hashemites, installed by the British. And that’s the type of colonial control that must never be challenged, because it’s not white or Jewish.

Also, Australia insists that the State of Palesti...

Venom against the Gedolim?

My last post ended with a stinging barb involving a stinging barb.

After seeing my first live bullet ant on Sunday at an insect show in England, I had described the painful sting that it can inflict. (For those who asked, this is not from fangs, but rather from venom emitted by a barb-like projection sticking out of the end of their abdomen.)

I then segued to discussing how I (and many others) have cried a lot over the past two years, due to the various horrors that Israel has experienced, along...

Crazy Bugs and Crying Rabbis

Ah, what a wonderful weekend in England. Aside from speaking to lots of Jews in London, I also got to attend a very special event at which my friend and I were probably the only Jews: the Eastern Invertebrate Show!

England has an extraordinary community of exotic insect enthusiasts, perhaps the best in the world. (Being a cold island, there is no risk of the insects escaping and becoming dangerous invasive species.) The people were a mixed bunch; nerdy scientific types, heavily tattooed and abun...

Why I hate "Zionism"

I hate “Zionism.” Not Zionism. But “Zionism” - the word. It’s such a misleading distraction!

This past week’s haftorah, from the book of Yeshaya, was about the final redemption. The return of the Jewish People to their homeland. The rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash. Peace, justice, wellbeing and prosperity. “And you shall be called, City of God, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”

Is Zionism bringing this about? Is it reishit tzmichat ge’ulateinu, the first flowering of redemption?

A lot would appear...

Getting Someone's Ear

Last night, I was at the new Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, which was hosting the delayed US Embassy celebration of American Independence Day. (I’m British, but my wife is American, so they let me in.) We were invited to the VIP reception and so I got to chat with Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who is an exceptionally friendly and down-to-earth person. (At his speech later in the evening, he said that the first thing that he does every morning is check Twitter to see if President Trump has fired ...

Messages from God

The charedi world tends to be passionate about proclaiming that disastrous events are messages from God. Fortuitously, these just so happen to always be messages supporting the charedi worldview.

There were many who made such declarations after October 7th. Rabbi Moshe Meiselman, rosh yeshiva of Toras Moshe, declared that since only secular towns were attacked, it was clearly a punishment for secularism and a demonstration of how it’s Torah that protects (see my post Theodicy or Idiocy). Another...

Diverting the Gravy Train

In the ongoing struggle to try to get charedim to help relieve the appalling suffering and strain upon the reservists, there is a significant new development. A fascinating large advertisement appeared in The Jerusalem Post this weekend. It was a letter addressed to 27 wealthy philanthropists, who are invited this week to a special retreat to raise funds for the charedi yeshiva world:

In case you’re reading this on your phone and can’t make out the text, here it is:

To the hosts of the Internation...

A Defense of Charedim

London readers - I’m coming to London next week, and I am thinking of doing a RationalistJudaism get-together. If you’re interested in joining, please be in touch!

When the charedi leadership banned my books twenty years ago as being heretical, most people thought that it was the most ridiculous thing. Consequently, several charedi apologists rushed to defend the “Gedolim.” Yet their contorted attempts to justify why it was heretical for me to voice positions that had been stated by such greats a...