Shai Landesman

Apply for a Blog

Jun 5, 2016, 11:44 PM

On the Alleged Collapse of Haredism: Part II

Channel 10 'Haredi affairs' correspondent Avishai Ben-Chaim is at it again. After his series of reports on the collapse of Haredi society made waves several months ago, he's back with a more in-depth look at the demographic trends behind...

May 10, 2016, 9:49 PM

Holocaust Denial Might Have a Bright Future in Europe

I know Yom Hashoah was last week, but we're still within the time frame that I heard R. Benny Lau call "עשרת ימי מדינה"-- "the ten days of state", on the awesome Tanach-themed radio show he hosts with Gal...

May 4, 2016, 6:39 PM

Reflections on Racism from Beitar Jerusalem vs. B’nei Sakhnin

I walked into Teddy stadium on Sunday night as the players from Beitar Jerusalem, my hometown team, were taking the field. The fans were serenading the squad with their customary welcoming chant: "הנה היא עולה, הקבוצה הגזענית של המדינה", which can be roughly translated...

Mar 28, 2016, 4:59 PM

Ashkenazi Jews and White Privilege–A Brief(er) Rebuttal

This article by fellow TOI blogger Eiron Mizrachi has received a lot of attention due to its provocative title and thought-provoking nature. The central claims made in the article are of a piece with the standard stated opinions of large...

Mar 27, 2016, 8:42 PM

Israel’s Great Political Raproachment

In a March 1st piece for the Jerusalem Post entitled: "Why Palestinian Incitement Doesn't Matter", Zionist Union MK Ksenia Svetlova makes a pragmatist's case against allowing the undeniable reality of virulent Anti-Jewish sentiment in Palestinian society affect Israel's practical...

Mar 24, 2016, 7:38 PM

Esther, Divine Providence, and the Problem of Evil

Part 1 Much has been made of the fact that Megillat Esther is one of only two books in Tanach that do not contain any explicit mention of God. The standard explanation for this is that it is meant to...

Mar 20, 2016, 3:15 PM

Trumpism & Idolatry

No. I'm not saying the Trump supporters are actually guilty of idol worship. That would be silly. I am, however, saying that there is a central aspect in the runaway Trump train that mirrors a central aspect of Idolatry,...

Mar 1, 2016, 11:20 PM

Louis Farrakhan Reminds me of a Mashgiach

Sometimes familiar patterns pop up in the funniest of places. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan recently made an unfortunate comparison between the NBA and slavery. He started this contention by saying that putting more basketball courts in black neighborhoods...

Feb 17, 2016, 3:39 PM

Black Lives Matter and Kanye West vs. Martin Luther King

Black Lives Matter (henceforth BLM) is the movement that arose after the police killings of young blacks in the US became a huge issue, particularly in response to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. This...

Feb 11, 2016, 6:40 PM

CBS, BDS, and Israel’s Neo-Progressive Nightmare, or In Partial Defense (!) of the Media and a Despised President

By now everyone's seen the CBS headline so grossly misrepresenting last week's shooting attack near Jerusalem's old city: "3 Palestinians killed as daily violence grinds on". The curious thing is, the main content of the piece was a report contributed...

Load more

About Me

Born in the US, made Aliyah at 3 years old. Going to Hebrew U to study law in October. Was in Yeshiva for 7 years. interested in basically everything. Aspiring writer, somewhat-more-than-amateur musician, armchair philosopher, and connoisseur of human folly (including, hopefully, my own).