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Sep 14, 2022, 10:03 AM

Ben Gvir is treif, but Abbas is OK? Why?

MK Ben Gvir (Knesset Portrait)

There is a good chance that both MK Bezalel Smotrich and MK Itamar Ben Gvir will be part of the next Netanyahu government (if MK Benjamin Netanyahu forms the next government). Anyone who follows the news here knows that...

May 14, 2021, 11:34 AM

Dana and Shai: It Isn’t All About Us

Yesterday was the first time that I ever watched Amit Segal live in the Channel 12 News studio panel discussion. Segal is an extremely popular (right wing) journalist. I follow him on Twitter and Telegram. I have seen him...

Jul 29, 2019, 3:02 PM

Being a believer is not nearly enough

Israeli tourists, then suspected of raping a 19-year-old British girl in Ayia Napa, leave the court premises in the eastern Cypriot resort of Paralimni on July 26, 2019. The men have since been exonorated of rape, with the woman's admission that she lied. (Iakovos Hatzistavrou / AFP)

So God performs open miracles to clear you of group sex, filming it, and discarding the woman when you finished with her?

Apr 2, 2018, 2:42 PM

Gaza: A Few Thoughts

A few random thoughts with no clear conclusion. 1) I assume that the US Border Patrol doesn't have a shoot to kill policy about Mexicans trying to cross the border. 2) There is a huge, night and day difference between a...

Aug 4, 2017, 4:05 PM

Serious, fatal, moral flaws actually need attention

Rabbis should use their pulpits to speak out against real ills, instead of citing old lines that sound pat at best

Mar 23, 2017, 12:06 PM

Destroying the Mishkan, again

He can’t quite claim that Israel’s Rabbinate is rife with corruption, but it’s far from a model for Torah ethics

Jan 6, 2017, 4:13 PM

Stay out of the Abyss

In a Facebook conversation, a friend justified pardoning Elor Azaria because “this was a case of a soldier finishing of a neutralized (or not) terrorist”. The very reason given by my friend is one of the reasons I’d favor not...

Oct 2, 2016, 9:40 AM

A Funeral, a Concert, and the New Chareidim

Having gone the way of all flesh, Shimon Peres was eulogized (or attacked) by thousands of people from all over the world. While his life and achievements, failures, and numerous controversies were talked about ad infinitum (albeit his achievements...

Apr 7, 2016, 10:55 PM

Admission: I try to avoid discussing the Middle East, in particular the Israeli-Palestinian dispute with Americans/non-Israelis. On occasion I break down and do it, in particular if someone writes something that is simply factually wrong. However, for the most...

Feb 27, 2016, 11:51 PM

Take Pride in Our Fights

Over the past couple of years various fights have broken out in the American Modern Orthodox community as well as the Israeli Dati Leumi world. In the states, Rav Avrohom Gordimer and Rav Ysoscher Katz (as well as others)...

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About Me

Ben Waxman was born in the US and served as a Peace Corps volunteer. He lived in the Jerusalem area for decades and now resides in the Shomron.