Joel S.
@joelhs.bsky.social
Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies, Sarah Lawrence College. PhD in Religious Studies, University of Chicago. Globalist elite and Thing-in-Itself-hating Jew. Husband of @petticoatshrink.bsky.social. He/Him/הוא/ער
"The idea that because drugs are coming from a country it justifies an invasion and a change of administration in that country basically gets rid of any kind of limits on the use of force." www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
The Brazen Illegality of Trump’s Venezuela Operation
A scholar of international law on the implications of the U.S. arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
www.newyorker.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:05 PM
"The idea that because drugs are coming from a country it justifies an invasion and a change of administration in that country basically gets rid of any kind of limits on the use of force." www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
Compare the statements of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Hakeem Jeffries to the Trump administration's illegal war on Venezuela.
I do not want the fascist right to stake out a clearer antiwar position than the nominal small-d democratic opposition. But that is on the opposition party to ensure.
I do not want the fascist right to stake out a clearer antiwar position than the nominal small-d democratic opposition. But that is on the opposition party to ensure.
January 3, 2026 at 9:11 PM
Compare the statements of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Hakeem Jeffries to the Trump administration's illegal war on Venezuela.
I do not want the fascist right to stake out a clearer antiwar position than the nominal small-d democratic opposition. But that is on the opposition party to ensure.
I do not want the fascist right to stake out a clearer antiwar position than the nominal small-d democratic opposition. But that is on the opposition party to ensure.
This interview is worth reading: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
Gaza After the Ceasefire
A Palestinian businessman on the persistent humanitarian crisis in the territory, and what he hopes might change.
www.newyorker.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:05 PM
This interview is worth reading: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
Say what you will about the Bush administration; they at least understood you have to mouth some platitudes about democracy and freedom and not just openly get up there and brag about occupying countries to steal their oil.
Trump: "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country. And we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so."
January 3, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Say what you will about the Bush administration; they at least understood you have to mouth some platitudes about democracy and freedom and not just openly get up there and brag about occupying countries to steal their oil.
The first wave of fascists in the early twentieth century were not exactly the greatest intellectual luminaries of their age, but these ones really are the stupidest fascists alive.
Trump: "All the way back it dated to the Monroe Doctrines. And the Monroe Doctrine is a big deal. But we've superseded it by a lot. By a real lot. They now call it the Donroe Document. I don't know. It's Monroe Doctrine. We sort of forgot about it."
January 3, 2026 at 5:02 PM
The first wave of fascists in the early twentieth century were not exactly the greatest intellectual luminaries of their age, but these ones really are the stupidest fascists alive.
Baudrillard's "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place" feels like essential reading right about now.
January 3, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Baudrillard's "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place" feels like essential reading right about now.
An important background to what happened today is that Donald Trump apparently earnestly believes that Venezuela was responsible for rigging the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden. We really are governed by the stupidest possible conspiracists. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump hints support for fringe theory that Venezuela rigged 2020 election
President’s comment implies hostility to Venezuela may be based on unfounded election-rigging conspiracy theory
www.theguardian.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:25 PM
An important background to what happened today is that Donald Trump apparently earnestly believes that Venezuela was responsible for rigging the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden. We really are governed by the stupidest possible conspiracists. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The Iraq War was a horrible idea, but it had overwhelming US support post-9/11/01, and the Bush admin did the work to win a substantial portion of the US to its side. Today, suspicion of US interventionism is shared across the political spectrum. This is not going to go how Trump thinks it will.
January 3, 2026 at 2:15 PM
The Iraq War was a horrible idea, but it had overwhelming US support post-9/11/01, and the Bush admin did the work to win a substantial portion of the US to its side. Today, suspicion of US interventionism is shared across the political spectrum. This is not going to go how Trump thinks it will.
Even by the standards of this terrible age, I can still be shocked by how awful the news I wake up to manages to be. Not an auspicious start to 2026.
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Even by the standards of this terrible age, I can still be shocked by how awful the news I wake up to manages to be. Not an auspicious start to 2026.
Gut first Shabbos of Gregorian year 2026, everyone. May this year bring us all a little closer to liberation.
January 2, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Gut first Shabbos of Gregorian year 2026, everyone. May this year bring us all a little closer to liberation.
The IHRA definition of antisemitism is a case where there is a real split between the Jewish advocacy world, which sees it as the gold standard, and Jewish Studies scholars, who, with few exceptions, find it conceptually problematic. Even the scholar who wrote it opposes using it this way.
January 2, 2026 at 10:04 PM
The IHRA definition of antisemitism is a case where there is a real split between the Jewish advocacy world, which sees it as the gold standard, and Jewish Studies scholars, who, with few exceptions, find it conceptually problematic. Even the scholar who wrote it opposes using it this way.
"Fascism was “over there.” America was the bulwark of democracy “over here.” This is one way forgetting works." theconversation.com/america-face...
America faced domestic fascists before and buried that history
Although thousands of Americans embraced fascist ideas during the interwar years, a new study examines why the US has had little appetite to remember that past.
theconversation.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:38 PM
"Fascism was “over there.” America was the bulwark of democracy “over here.” This is one way forgetting works." theconversation.com/america-face...
This is a very good piece on why the American Jewish establishment's strategy to fight antisemitism is doomed to fail unless they rethink some fundamental assumptions: forward.com/news/antisem...
Things are only going to get worse for Jews from here
Nobody seems to be making a dent in antisemitism — even as problematic beliefs about Jews continue to grow.
forward.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:53 PM
This is a very good piece on why the American Jewish establishment's strategy to fight antisemitism is doomed to fail unless they rethink some fundamental assumptions: forward.com/news/antisem...
The editors of “Tablet” seem to think that they can mainstream this sort of white nationalist rhetoric and still allow American Jews to fall on the “good, real Americans” side of the divide. I think the lesson of the past few months of far-right rhetoric pretty clearly demonstrates that they cannot.
Here is the editor of Tablet agreeably reposting someone calling nonwhite NYC immigrants "worthless biotrash." It's astonishing how quickly this stuff has escaped containment
January 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM
The editors of “Tablet” seem to think that they can mainstream this sort of white nationalist rhetoric and still allow American Jews to fall on the “good, real Americans” side of the divide. I think the lesson of the past few months of far-right rhetoric pretty clearly demonstrates that they cannot.
It's pretty much the story of whiteness in America that in two generations, the very Ashkenazi Jews who would have been described using this exact sort of dehumanizing anti-immigrant language are now leveling it at other groups of immigrants.
Here is the editor of Tablet agreeably reposting someone calling nonwhite NYC immigrants "worthless biotrash." It's astonishing how quickly this stuff has escaped containment
January 2, 2026 at 6:11 PM
It's pretty much the story of whiteness in America that in two generations, the very Ashkenazi Jews who would have been described using this exact sort of dehumanizing anti-immigrant language are now leveling it at other groups of immigrants.
At a time when genuine antisemitism is rising to truly frightening levels, especially among the young, probably not great that the self-described Jewish State is giving people easy ammunition to dismiss all allegations of antisemitism as simply politically-motivated attacks.
January 2, 2026 at 4:21 PM
At a time when genuine antisemitism is rising to truly frightening levels, especially among the young, probably not great that the self-described Jewish State is giving people easy ammunition to dismiss all allegations of antisemitism as simply politically-motivated attacks.
The effect of this sort of rhetoric is going to be that an entire generation, on both left and right, thinks antisemitism is not a legitimate issue but simply a cudgel to wield in political arguments against one's opponents. This sort of rhetoric makes Diaspora Jews less safe.
January 2, 2026 at 4:18 PM
The effect of this sort of rhetoric is going to be that an entire generation, on both left and right, thinks antisemitism is not a legitimate issue but simply a cudgel to wield in political arguments against one's opponents. This sort of rhetoric makes Diaspora Jews less safe.
It’s quite telling that so many right-wing dealers in nostalgia are embracing the aesthetics of modern AI-generated art. Can’t actually find real images of the imagined past to which you want us to return? No problem; just generate it with AI.
January 2, 2026 at 3:22 PM
It’s quite telling that so many right-wing dealers in nostalgia are embracing the aesthetics of modern AI-generated art. Can’t actually find real images of the imagined past to which you want us to return? No problem; just generate it with AI.
An entire wing of a major American political party bought into a wild conspiracy theory about child sex trafficking in pizza parlors and online furniture warehouses. Meanwhile, the world's wealthiest person is building a sexual abuse device, and politicians do nothing.
Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of 'minors in minimal clothing' on X reut.rs/498SoUk
Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of 'minors in minimal clothing' on X
Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence chatbot Grok said on Friday lapses in safeguards had resulted in "images depicting minors in minimal clothing" on social media platform X and that improvements were being made to prevent this.
reut.rs
January 2, 2026 at 2:51 PM
An entire wing of a major American political party bought into a wild conspiracy theory about child sex trafficking in pizza parlors and online furniture warehouses. Meanwhile, the world's wealthiest person is building a sexual abuse device, and politicians do nothing.
Good piece by the great @abesilbe.bsky.social on Mamdani and New York City Jews. www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026...
Mamdani is now Mayor. It's time for New York's liberal Jews to adjust | Opinion
***
www.haaretz.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Good piece by the great @abesilbe.bsky.social on Mamdani and New York City Jews. www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026...
Not only is this not something that any protestor should have any faith that the US would actually follow through and do, but I cannot imagine a better way to delegitimize the homegrown Iranian protest movement and feed into the Iranian government's attempt to portray them as a Western plot.
January 2, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Not only is this not something that any protestor should have any faith that the US would actually follow through and do, but I cannot imagine a better way to delegitimize the homegrown Iranian protest movement and feed into the Iranian government's attempt to portray them as a Western plot.
Obviously part of this is simply due to growing historical distance from WWII, but part of it also have to do to traditional gatekeepers of knowledge breaking down, and also to the strong social taboo against praising Hitler paradoxically making this the line that an "edgy" thinker now has to cross.
Ugh! How did we go from a universal consensus that Hitler was the literal definition of evil incarnate to large swaths of the internet going "well, he did have some good points actually..." in less than a decade?😭
January 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Obviously part of this is simply due to growing historical distance from WWII, but part of it also have to do to traditional gatekeepers of knowledge breaking down, and also to the strong social taboo against praising Hitler paradoxically making this the line that an "edgy" thinker now has to cross.
Reminder that any concept of "Western Civilization" that tries to claim that Christianity (or sometimes Christianity and Judaism, in the name of "Judeo-Christianity") are the heirs to ancient Greek thought, while excluding Islam from that heritage, is fundamentally incoherent.
This is not true at all; Harvard has dozens of people teaching the subjects broadly defined as constituting "Western Civ," in departments as broad as History, Philosophy, Classics, Art History, and more. But more than that, it is shameful to see a rabbi engaging in this anti-intellectual nonsense.
January 2, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reminder that any concept of "Western Civilization" that tries to claim that Christianity (or sometimes Christianity and Judaism, in the name of "Judeo-Christianity") are the heirs to ancient Greek thought, while excluding Islam from that heritage, is fundamentally incoherent.
"Solidarity politics and a commitment to dignity for all demands that we think in relation. We are called to break those rules that cordon off one story, like the history of the Holocaust, from another, like the Nakba, or ICE detentions." www.972mag.com/fascism-amer...
Fighting fascism in America during a genocide in Palestine
We must insist on drawing connections across time and place — from the Holocaust to Gaza, or ICE detention to Israeli prisons — to disrupt the normalization of authoritarianism at every turn.
www.972mag.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:05 AM
"Solidarity politics and a commitment to dignity for all demands that we think in relation. We are called to break those rules that cordon off one story, like the history of the Holocaust, from another, like the Nakba, or ICE detentions." www.972mag.com/fascism-amer...
If you truly believe "Jewish history teaches us that Jews cannot be safe without being having majority political sovereignty in their own territory," that position should lead you to vociferously oppose West Bank settlements. But how many people who say the former believe the latter?
January 2, 2026 at 1:31 AM
If you truly believe "Jewish history teaches us that Jews cannot be safe without being having majority political sovereignty in their own territory," that position should lead you to vociferously oppose West Bank settlements. But how many people who say the former believe the latter?