Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Cassirer and Walter Benjamin… All four thinkers shout up at us from their own dark days: just look, really look, at what’s there in front of you, they say. Read, observe, describe, follow your mind, be fearless, critical, creative, wondrous and above all don’t be fooled by easy habits, commonplace clichés, orthodoxies, ideologies, cults, or obscurantist nonsense.

I am not trying to suggest in that snide, media-academic way that “We need to talk about Love Actually” or that the film’s central problem is that it is problematic. Its central problem is that it is not good. The film is a structural mess, at turns cringe-y and painful, and it lacks adequate closure or any meaningful lessons or clues about its characters.

Play is so important that nature invented it long before it invented us. Almost all young mammals play, as do birds like parrots and crows. Play has been reported in reptiles, fish, and even spiders… But the world champion of animal play may be the bottlenose dolphin, with 37 different reported types of play. Captive dolphins will play untiringly with balls and other toys, and wild dolphins play with objects like feathers, sponges, and “smoke rings” of air bubbles that they extrude from their blowholes.

…despite its promise, the digital revolution has collapsed into the three paradoxes: It is divisive, not inclusive; it is constraining, not liberating; and it spreads lies, not the truth. Tikkun Olam means being able to proactively fight back against these negative phenomena. Judaism has long recognized how vulnerable our minds are to subconscious influence — no matter how learned or righteous we are.

The Psalmist shares that God is close to the broken-hearted. Master of the Universe, do you hear the cries of humanity? The Psalmist ventures that God delivers the righteous from their troubles. Holy One, haven’t the righteous suffered enough? Dear God, reveal the purpose behind our tears, the meaning behind the sharing of woes.

Daniel Bral, a 27-year-old Angeleno whose parents emigrated to the United States from Iran, isn’t content with being a stagnant “couch critic” during a time of both unrest and opportunity in the United States… Bral is running as a member of the Grassroots Slate, which describes itself on its website as “a diverse and dynamic group of progressive activists committed to building the California Democratic Party from the bottom-up.”

“The Torah is very complicated by design. If everything was normal and expected, it would be a boring story. There wouldn’t be the same conflict resolution narratives that we see.”

And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and they acquired property in it, and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly. – Gen 47:27

Romain Hini-Szlos: Like their namesake, Israel (which means “to wrestle”), Jews outside the land of Israel have wrestled with the dual challenges of assimilation and anti-Semitism for thousands of years.

Like Joseph who wept when his
long-lost brothers stood before him.
His finger on the pit.

Instead of revenge, he chose tears. Or, does one ever choose whether
or not water flows from our eyes?

Our sadness reminds us we are human
subject to the emotional weight
of right and wrong.

Click here to read more.

Leukemia patient Michael Silberstein tells the story of the miracle that saved his life.

“What does it feel like to get a new life? This story is the antidote to 2020. The darkest aspect of the pandemic is that humans get other humans sick. The idea that a 20-year-old girl on the east coast donates her bone marrow stem cells to a 50-year-old man in L.A. to save his life… it’s the exact opposite of humans making other humans sick. This is a human giving life to another human.”

Shmuel Rosner and Ohad Hemo discuss the views of the Palestinian people and their hope for the future.

“There is a trust crisis between the Palestinian people and its leadership. The Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza don’t believe that their leaders can lead them to a good place.”

In their year-end episode, the Bagels puzzle over advent calendars, debate the difference between diners and delis and muddle through the confusion over when “Shtisel’s” third season will arrive on Netflix. Erin shares a rundown of new Hanukkah music (including two stars of the original production of ‘Hamilton’) and late-night sketches; meanwhile Esther “grinches” all over holiday content.