"Not A Jungle"

Multiple times now we have discussed how: * The world tries to build the inside from the outside , deduce the interior from the exterior; * Many falsely reason that from knowing the body we certainly know the soul, that from knowing brain, we must know mind, that there’s nothing else to soul and mind than body and brain in the first place; * In a way, the entire notion of interiority is ruled out...

I would never sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic . What’s more, I have come to appreciate the Star Spangled Banner more after visiting Fort McHenry and learning the story of the Battle of Baltimore. Nevertheless, the Battle Hymn should be the national anthem of the United States, and on a Jewish basis. The purely secular arguments for it are good. It is a better song, musically, than the Star-Sp...

Rabbis are often asked about the obsessive detail demanded by Mitzvah observance, about whether G-d really cares whether the string of an eruv touched the top or merely near the top of a pole. They answer, quite correctly, that G-d is obsessed with us to a degree it can be difficult to comprehend, that we are not in a mild platonic relationship but a Song of Songs life wrecker, and the Jew must ge...

Dear Readers, This newsletter is not dead, and work has not ceased on upcoming posts. In fact, the thing about Mount Sinai, the one that was next according to that incredibly optimistic schedule I published near the beginning of 2023 (this series of posts was meant to be finished by Shavuot last year), is at around the 3500-word mark. I will complete it soon, and then the next one, and then the ne...

Dear Listener, Episode ten of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substack...

Dear Listener, Episode nine of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substac...

Dear Listener, Episode eight of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substa...

Dear Listener, Episode seven of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substa...

Dear Listener, Episode six of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substack...

Dear Listener, Episode five of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substac...

Dear Listener, Episode four of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substac...

Dear Listener, Episode three of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at tzvi.substa...

Dear Listener, Here it is, episode two of “Repentance w/Tzvi”. Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d in the Jewish fashion Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Yours, Tzvi Get full access to "Not A Jungle" at t...

Dear Listener, It’s been forever. But I had an idea! Idea: "Repentance with Tzvi", one minute per day Elul vlog (until September 18) on the joys and subtleties of returning to G-d on the Jewish fashion So here it is. Listen in audio form like the regular podcast, or check out the video below. Feel free to share, subscribe, and, most importantly, enjoy. Wishing you a good month, Tzvi Get full acces...

Dear Listener, I write to you from the cold of winter, which surely parallels the cold detachment of worldly intellect. True, the mind is powerful enough to know that it cannot know everything, but in general, when not acting as a vessel for faith, the rational intellect is a teribly dangerous tool, able to find multiplicity in any unity, ego in any humility, separation in any togetherness. Trying...

Dear Listener, Has the whole world gone mad? Let me start over: The whole world is mad, as the Jews have often suspected. But has the illness grown so severe that the Jews themselves have started accepting it? Left and right, Jews bequeath Jewish identity upon gentiles and deny it to their brothers and sisters. I don’t like it one bit. Not just because the reasons are pathetic, obvious, bald attem...

Dear Listeners, It’s been a while! First, I was on vacation. And then, I wasn’t. But that’s neither here nor there. Just like the purpose of our universe’s creation. We’re not here to pick a side, nor to pretend that the sides are not separate, but rather to unite them. This is one of the central themes of the central Chassidic holiday, Yud Tes Kislev, that we celebrate this week. The infinite and...

Dear Listeners, It’s hard to zero in on what the soul is, despite being a soul. So much of our lives are spent pulling away from ourselves, investing our energies in things patently external to us, and, usually, in the aspects of those things external to them. Before we get into deep forms of worship in which we negate our own being, perhaps we can start simply, as Abraham did, thinking about the...

Dear Listeners, I hope the Fall finds you well! I myself have spiritually scraped my knee, which reminded me of something I wrote a few years ago that I decided to record for you. The Chassidic Masters teach that unity is a most fundamental principle in fixing this universe and represents the ultimate goal, the messianic truth underlying all reality. It is worth dwelling then, for an occasional mo...

Dear Listeners, For the third episode of this little enterprise, I present to you something truly different — a discussion on the nature of different-ness. This is an episode I recorded freestyle, as it were, with a little preparation but no notes or rigid structure. It’s longer than if I was reading an essay. As always, I yearn for your comments. Is this better than when I simply read pre-written...

Dearest listener, We have here another episode connected with the holiday of Sukkos. The connection this time is less explicit. It doesn’t talk about the Lulav or the Sukkah or even the book of Koheles. No, this episode is connected with Sukkos because for some reason this time of year I always feel like writing an essay on a teaching of the holy Baal Shem Tov. Something about the fresh fall air,...

Since I published the book, people have been asking for audio. “When will you turn your classes into a podcast?” “I don’t read, but I do listen.” “Your essays should publish in audio form for my commute.” Ladies and gentlemen, your prayers are answered. I am opening here on Substack a space for audio recordings on my usual topics: Judaism, the world, &c. Some of these recordings will be audio vers...