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
This particular Holocaust survivor testimony tells of Nazi guards at Ravensbrück deliberately throwing an apple into the air and catching it in front of starving Jewish inmates, taunting them by reminding them that the guards had food and they did not. kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/szczercow/Sh...
February 13, 2026 at 11:33 PM
This particular Holocaust survivor testimony tells of Nazi guards at Ravensbrück deliberately throwing an apple into the air and catching it in front of starving Jewish inmates, taunting them by reminding them that the guards had food and they did not. kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/szczercow/Sh...
ICYMI: I wrote this past week about what it means that American Jews are now more likely to believe the state of Israel is guilty of genocide than they are to identify as Zionists. www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...
Gut Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom, everyone.
Gut Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom, everyone.
Zionism was never a single concept. We should be grateful to JFNA’s survey for the reminder. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A Jew can believe in a Jewish, democratic state and still doubt whether contemporary Zionism advances both of those commitments, writes a scholar of European Jewish intellectual history.
www.jta.org
February 13, 2026 at 11:16 PM
ICYMI: I wrote this past week about what it means that American Jews are now more likely to believe the state of Israel is guilty of genocide than they are to identify as Zionists. www.jta.org/2026/02/09/i...
Gut Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom, everyone.
Gut Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom, everyone.
Meanwhile, a rare recent attempt by pro-Israel Jewish institutions to engage Jewish non-Zionists on their own terms finds the exact opposite - that they are deeply engaged with Judaism, raised in Jewish communities, and simply pained by Israel's actions. cdn.prod.website-files.com/61dbcf7b99a1...
cdn.prod.website-files.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Meanwhile, a rare recent attempt by pro-Israel Jewish institutions to engage Jewish non-Zionists on their own terms finds the exact opposite - that they are deeply engaged with Judaism, raised in Jewish communities, and simply pained by Israel's actions. cdn.prod.website-files.com/61dbcf7b99a1...
Even when studies of Jews questioning Zionism finds the exact opposite, it does not stop the "Jewish Journal" from insisting without any evidence that Jews are abandoning Zionism simply because they are ignorant and do not care about being Jewish.
February 13, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Even when studies of Jews questioning Zionism finds the exact opposite, it does not stop the "Jewish Journal" from insisting without any evidence that Jews are abandoning Zionism simply because they are ignorant and do not care about being Jewish.
I don’t love using the term “blood libel” for anything other than the historical phenomenon, but if anything in modern politics resembles it, it is JD Vance lying that Haitian migrants eat pets. A totally baseless claim about the supposedly inhuman habits of a hated out-group, justifying violence.
February 13, 2026 at 7:06 PM
I don’t love using the term “blood libel” for anything other than the historical phenomenon, but if anything in modern politics resembles it, it is JD Vance lying that Haitian migrants eat pets. A totally baseless claim about the supposedly inhuman habits of a hated out-group, justifying violence.
I do think Yossi Klein Halevi is right about one thing: the state of Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza will affect Jewish life for years to come, even if it is not fair to attribute them to all Jews worldwide. But that has no bearing on the truth or falsehood of the claim.
February 13, 2026 at 6:46 PM
I do think Yossi Klein Halevi is right about one thing: the state of Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza will affect Jewish life for years to come, even if it is not fair to attribute them to all Jews worldwide. But that has no bearing on the truth or falsehood of the claim.
An essential part of the term “blood libel” is that it was an accusation made against Jews with no proof or evidence. Those accusing the state of Israel of committing genocide have marshaled extensive evidence. It demeans the term “blood libel” to compare them.
February 13, 2026 at 6:44 PM
An essential part of the term “blood libel” is that it was an accusation made against Jews with no proof or evidence. Those accusing the state of Israel of committing genocide have marshaled extensive evidence. It demeans the term “blood libel” to compare them.
"Gender studies... brought a critical lens to the biological determinism Trump invokes. And this critical lens extends to revealing how gender hierarchies enable the kind of abuses that some men in Epstein’s circle seemingly believed they had the right to commit." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:53 PM
"Gender studies... brought a critical lens to the biological determinism Trump invokes. And this critical lens extends to revealing how gender hierarchies enable the kind of abuses that some men in Epstein’s circle seemingly believed they had the right to commit." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The very idea that religion is a "choice" - and that one should choose the one that best represents one's conservative values - is reflective of the very modern idea of autonomous selfhood that these far-right figures supposedly disavow.
February 13, 2026 at 5:20 PM
The very idea that religion is a "choice" - and that one should choose the one that best represents one's conservative values - is reflective of the very modern idea of autonomous selfhood that these far-right figures supposedly disavow.
And this is always the hypocrisy of the far-right, which they lack the self-awareness to recognize: They want to self-select and self-segregate into environments that supposedly make the very act of self-selection impossible.
February 13, 2026 at 5:16 PM
And this is always the hypocrisy of the far-right, which they lack the self-awareness to recognize: They want to self-select and self-segregate into environments that supposedly make the very act of self-selection impossible.
The funny thing about Rod Dreher is that he argues that the Enlightenment was a mistake, but the kind of pre-Enlightenment world he supposedly lionizes would have made switching around religious traditions (Catholic to Orthodox) in the way he has done much harder.
rod dreher is not that interesting. he is a guy very clearly filled with self hatred tied to repressed feelings related to his gender and sexuality, and rather than deal with them, he blames “modernity” and “secularism” for why he’s unhappy. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Rod Dreher Thinks the Enlightenment Was a Mistake
The influential author derides secularism and the modern world. Conservatives—including the vice president—are joining him on a march back to the Middle Ages.
www.theatlantic.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:15 PM
The funny thing about Rod Dreher is that he argues that the Enlightenment was a mistake, but the kind of pre-Enlightenment world he supposedly lionizes would have made switching around religious traditions (Catholic to Orthodox) in the way he has done much harder.
Key point: "To insist on the Holocaust’s uniqueness as a shield against comparison risks turning it into an exception that cannot illuminate anything beyond itself, and that cannot, therefore, speak meaningfully to the present." lithub.com/translating-...
Translating Holocaust Literature in Times of Genocide
While designing a poster for a lecture on our new book, In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union (Stanford University Press), one of the event’s organiz…
lithub.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Key point: "To insist on the Holocaust’s uniqueness as a shield against comparison risks turning it into an exception that cannot illuminate anything beyond itself, and that cannot, therefore, speak meaningfully to the present." lithub.com/translating-...
Great essay by @returnstosender.bsky.social on translating Yiddish and Russian Holocaust literature during times of ongoing genocide. lithub.com/translating-...
Translating Holocaust Literature in Times of Genocide
While designing a poster for a lecture on our new book, In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union (Stanford University Press), one of the event’s organiz…
lithub.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Great essay by @returnstosender.bsky.social on translating Yiddish and Russian Holocaust literature during times of ongoing genocide. lithub.com/translating-...
This is a big reason why I said during the 2025 NYC mayoral election that the only thing the organized American Jewish community would hate more than Zohran Mamdani winning, is the world that would have been unleashed by Zohran Mamdani narrowly losing.
I also blame the scarcity of prominent pro-Palestine voices within mainstream America for the rise of antisemites like Candace Owens because people like her are maliciously filling up an urgent moral vacuum with their bogus pro-Palestine advocacy.
February 13, 2026 at 4:46 PM
This is a big reason why I said during the 2025 NYC mayoral election that the only thing the organized American Jewish community would hate more than Zohran Mamdani winning, is the world that would have been unleashed by Zohran Mamdani narrowly losing.
I do not think Jews are at fault at all for rising antisemitism but I do think the way groups like the ADL have gone all in on "All anti-Zionism is always and forever antisemitism, and anti-Zionism is the main form antisemitism takes today" have left us singularly unprepared to meet this moment.
"Candace Owens is an anti-Zionist, not an antisemite" is the final form of the way in which the true statement "Anti-Zionism is not inherently antisemitism" has been taken by all too many to mean "All antisemitism is actually anti-Zionism." (www.jta.org/2026/02/11/u...)
February 13, 2026 at 4:25 PM
I do not think Jews are at fault at all for rising antisemitism but I do think the way groups like the ADL have gone all in on "All anti-Zionism is always and forever antisemitism, and anti-Zionism is the main form antisemitism takes today" have left us singularly unprepared to meet this moment.
"Candace Owens is an anti-Zionist, not an antisemite" is the final form of the way in which the true statement "Anti-Zionism is not inherently antisemitism" has been taken by all too many to mean "All antisemitism is actually anti-Zionism." (www.jta.org/2026/02/11/u...)
February 13, 2026 at 4:03 PM
"Candace Owens is an anti-Zionist, not an antisemite" is the final form of the way in which the true statement "Anti-Zionism is not inherently antisemitism" has been taken by all too many to mean "All antisemitism is actually anti-Zionism." (www.jta.org/2026/02/11/u...)
Jews are in the somewhat strange position on today’s right where they find it convenient to pose as defenders of Jews against the supposed threats of Muslims and college students, but that very fact means the right is hyper-aware of Jewish difference and can turn on us at any moment.
Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...
February 13, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Jews are in the somewhat strange position on today’s right where they find it convenient to pose as defenders of Jews against the supposed threats of Muslims and college students, but that very fact means the right is hyper-aware of Jewish difference and can turn on us at any moment.
I really do not love the undisguised antisemitism that the genuine monster Epstein is now awakening across the political spectrum.
Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...
February 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
I really do not love the undisguised antisemitism that the genuine monster Epstein is now awakening across the political spectrum.
"We have a lot of clarity that Jews are safer in a multiracial democracy, and that we don't want to be used as an excuse to enact these types of draconian policies. It feels extra important to speak out." www.bendthearc.us/haaretz_jewi...
[Haaretz] 'Jewish Clergy Against ICE': Hundreds of U.S. Jews Rally Against Trump Administration's Immigration Crackdown
"We are demonstrating that American Jews are opposed to the horrific policies of this administration that are harming immigrants"
www.bendthearc.us
February 13, 2026 at 2:15 PM
"We have a lot of clarity that Jews are safer in a multiracial democracy, and that we don't want to be used as an excuse to enact these types of draconian policies. It feels extra important to speak out." www.bendthearc.us/haaretz_jewi...
"Candace Owens, who has a top 10 podcast on Spotify, responded to the Epstein files by accusing Jews of “ritualistic murder” — a reference to the blood libel. “We are ruled by satanic pedophiles who work for Israel,” she told her audience." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | How the Epstein files are fueling antisemitic conspiracy theories
Antisemites on the left and right have seized on the Epstein files.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:01 PM
"Candace Owens, who has a top 10 podcast on Spotify, responded to the Epstein files by accusing Jews of “ritualistic murder” — a reference to the blood libel. “We are ruled by satanic pedophiles who work for Israel,” she told her audience." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
This new report on Jewish anti-Zionists, despite being produced by people who disagree with them, is one of the first produced by a Jewish organization I have seen that does not dismiss them as ignorant, brainwashed, or self-hating. Worth reading: cdn.prod.website-files.com/61dbcf7b99a1...
cdn.prod.website-files.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:31 PM
This new report on Jewish anti-Zionists, despite being produced by people who disagree with them, is one of the first produced by a Jewish organization I have seen that does not dismiss them as ignorant, brainwashed, or self-hating. Worth reading: cdn.prod.website-files.com/61dbcf7b99a1...
This is the kind of thing that happened in dystopian fiction to warn us about what kind of society we were supposed to work to avoid becoming: www.kut.org/politics/202...
Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to South Texas shelter flagged as medically inadequate
Government sources and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.
www.kut.org
February 12, 2026 at 10:11 PM
This is the kind of thing that happened in dystopian fiction to warn us about what kind of society we were supposed to work to avoid becoming: www.kut.org/politics/202...
It is, in fact, a white supremacist (www.theguardian.com/technology/2...)
February 12, 2026 at 10:01 PM
It is, in fact, a white supremacist (www.theguardian.com/technology/2...)
Part of the problem is also that some people hear "anti-Zionism is not antisemitism" as meaning, "It is possible to oppose Zionism as an ideology without being antisemitic," and others hear it as meaning, "My antisemitism becomes acceptable if I brand it as anti-Zionism."
The problem is that some on the left know one fact about antisemitism, which is that “anti-zionism is not antisemitism.”
This is like if the only thing you knew about racism was “it’s not racist to criticize Liberia.”
It is true in most cases but you’re not actually anti-racist if you stop there
This is like if the only thing you knew about racism was “it’s not racist to criticize Liberia.”
It is true in most cases but you’re not actually anti-racist if you stop there
Pointing out antisemitism on the left is one of the most annoying experiences one can have on Bluesky, not only do you get actual antisemites in your replies but also other leftists who are reflexively defensive and who bristle at the slightest critique.
February 12, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Part of the problem is also that some people hear "anti-Zionism is not antisemitism" as meaning, "It is possible to oppose Zionism as an ideology without being antisemitic," and others hear it as meaning, "My antisemitism becomes acceptable if I brand it as anti-Zionism."
Schrödinger's humanities: Simultaneously too weak to fight for our own survival as a field, but also powerful enough to convert our students into full believers in gender theory and cultural Marxism.
February 12, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Schrödinger's humanities: Simultaneously too weak to fight for our own survival as a field, but also powerful enough to convert our students into full believers in gender theory and cultural Marxism.