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Tel Aviv’s Proudest Day

כ"ט בתמוז ה'תש"ע (11 July 2010)

I’ve lived in Tel Aviv already more than a few years, and I long ago learned to hide what I believe about any issue from the people I meet here. More than half of the girls I’ve dated in Tel Aviv have been draft dodgers, not including the one draft resister I fucked after I [...]

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Water Shortage

כ"ז בטבת ה'תש"ע (13 January 2010)

The notion of there being a “water shortage” calls to mind the old observation that countries with relatively good governments experience drought, while countries with relatively terrible governments experience famine. In effect drought and famine are caused by the same thing, or they are the same thing: a lack of rain. But in one case, [...]

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Hanukah

כ"ה בכסלו ה'תש"ע (12 December 2009)

I’ve noticed that a lot of the readers here are coming from places in the world where there are not a lot of Jews. Consequently, there may be people reading DoG who don’t know what Hanukah is and what it’s all about. Hanukah (rhymes with Monica) is the Jewish Christmas. It celebrates the birth of [...]

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Conversion to Judaism

כ"ח במרחשון ה'תש"ע (15 November 2009)

For purposes of what I consider to be Jewish unity, even though I don’t accept Rabbinic authority to impose an interpretation of the Torah, to legislate or to enforce their interpretation or legislation, I have spent many years believing that all conversions must follow a strict “orthodox” approach: the prospective convert is (1) discouraged, then [...]

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Ancestor worship is idolatry

י"ב במרחשון ה'תש"ע (30 October 2009)

While reading the recent article in Slate about gravers, I got to think that one of the things that genuinely and independently appeals to me about Judaism, and even appealed to me when I was a child and hadn’t yet learned anything, is the way Judaism approaches death and mourning. My parents, who both grew [...]

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