Michael Berkowitz

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Feb 25, 2024, 12:20 AM

Things I haven’t Heard About Israel – Part 4

Given the flurry of interest in Palestinian statehood, it makes sense to examine what exactly that would look like and what effects it might have. The starting point should be the current situation, and we’ll take Gaza and the West...

Jan 26, 2023, 9:44 AM

Some thoughts on confronting opposing opinions on campus

Preface This is not a list of arguments to make, rejoinders to employ or judo-techniques for winning arguments (though I may throw one in here or there). It’s about one’s general attitude and demeanor in approaching campus discussions, arguments, rants...

Apr 18, 2022, 2:08 PM

Things I haven’t heard about Israel: Part 3

In earlier posts I made clear my opinion that the Jews have a right to sovereignty in their homeland. I now turn to the matter of the Arabs who share the territory with us. I suppose I could begin with...

Feb 20, 2022, 6:09 AM

Civil Servants and Elected Officials — a PSA

I’m going to tell a little story as a Public Service. It’s a true story, but I am virtually 100% sure that the other people involved remember it differently (if they remember it at all), and I should say...

Aug 10, 2021, 12:39 PM

Things I Haven’t Heard about Israel – Part 2

“Settlements are illegal.” So that’s something I have heard, of course. We all have. What I haven’t heard is a discussion of how this is a stand-in for “Settlements are wrong.” Which it clearly is. Why would people demonstrate –...

Jul 23, 2021, 12:54 PM

Things I Haven’t Heard about Israel – Part 1

Although the most overheated rhetoric about Israel is often based on pure fiction (and pretty wooly fiction at that – think stories of Mossad-trained sharks sent to attack swimmers at Egyptian resorts), some of it is just taking more-or-less...

Jul 20, 2021, 3:25 AM

Things I haven’t heard about Israel: Part 0

This is the zeroth installment in what may be a series of several essays. Zeroth because, belying the title, this is something that I have heard about Israel. As such, I wouldn’t expect to add anything fresh to the...

Oct 25, 2020, 2:50 PM

A Response to R. Kornblau’s ‘Why (Orthodox) Jews Must Vote for Joe Biden’

Rabbi Barry Kornblau just published an essay called Why (Orthodox) Jews Must Vote for Joe Biden. Ordinarily, I’d simply respond on the Facebook thread where he posted the link, but I have a feeling this may end up being...

Jun 28, 2020, 11:25 PM

Be Careful What You Wish For

In a feature on Orit Farkash-HaCohen in Makor Rishon (14-6-2020), Ms. Farkash-HaCohen, who interned with Justice Dalia Dorner, describes the members of the Supreme Court as the crème-de-la-crème, and wonders why it is that the national-religious community from which...

Jan 24, 2020, 12:52 AM

Church, State and Other Stuff

Yesterday I read the NY Times review of Christopher Caldwell’s The Age of Entitlement. According to the review (I haven’t yet read the book), Caldwell’s thesis is that America since the ‘60s has been in a tug-of-war between the...

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About Me

Michael and family moved from NYC to Alon Shvut in 1986. He works in Software; blogs sporadically on education, public policy and whatever else comes to mind; chairs the boards of two educational institutions and practices philosophy in the ancient tradition of corrupting the minds of youth.