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Ben Waxman

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Apr 2, 2018, 2:42 PM

Gaza: A Few Thoughts

A few random thoughts with no clear conclusion. 1) I assume that the US Border Patrol doesn't have a shoot to kill policy about Mexicans trying to cross the border. 2) There is a huge, night and day difference between a...

Aug 4, 2017, 4:05 PM

Serious, fatal, moral flaws actually need attention

Rabbis should use their pulpits to speak out against real ills, instead of citing old lines that sound pat at best

Mar 23, 2017, 12:06 PM

Destroying the Mishkan, again

He can’t quite claim that Israel’s Rabbinate is rife with corruption, but it’s far from a model for Torah ethics

Jan 6, 2017, 4:13 PM

Stay out of the Abyss

In a Facebook conversation, a friend justified pardoning Elor Azaria because “this was a case of a soldier finishing of a neutralized (or not) terrorist”. The very reason given by my friend is one of the reasons I’d favor not...

Oct 2, 2016, 9:40 AM

A Funeral, a Concert, and the New Chareidim

Having gone the way of all flesh, Shimon Peres was eulogized (or attacked) by thousands of people from all over the world. While his life and achievements, failures, and numerous controversies were talked about ad infinitum (albeit his achievements...

Apr 7, 2016, 10:55 PM

Admission: I try to avoid discussing the Middle East, in particular the Israeli-Palestinian dispute with Americans/non-Israelis. On occasion I break down and do it, in particular if someone writes something that is simply factually wrong. However, for the most...

Feb 27, 2016, 11:51 PM

Take Pride in Our Fights

Over the past couple of years various fights have broken out in the American Modern Orthodox community as well as the Israeli Dati Leumi world. In the states, Rav Avrohom Gordimer and Rav Ysoscher Katz (as well as others)...

Jan 20, 2016, 12:16 PM

A Guide to the Politically Confused

Confused about the region's political establishments' varying approaches to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Here is a quick guide for the confused. The far right (parts of the Likud/Bayit Yehudi) is calling for annexation of the West Bank while not being too...

Dec 27, 2015, 12:16 PM

Stop Deluding Ourselves

“In parts of the West Bank roams a group of lawless people, about whom we can generalize and say that they have a low level of morality, whose twisted religious beliefs are free of any restrictions, and most importantly,...

Nov 23, 2015, 10:04 AM

Staying Focused

A story: At the height of the second intifada, I was walking through Mattersdorf, a chareidi (ultra-orthodox) neighborhood in Jerusalem. Chareidi neighborhoods are often plastered with wall posters, their primary method of getting a message out. One wall poster...

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About Me

Ben Waxman was born in the US and served as a Peace Corps volunteer. He lived in the Jerusalem area for decades and now resides in the Shomron.