by Ram ben Ze’ev Feeding the Algorithm: A Rebuke of the Social Media Cult of Contempt There was a time—not long ago—when a person’s name was their reputation, and their reputation was earned through deeds, not algorithms. Today, reputation is manufactured in the shadowy coliseum of social media, where gladiators of engagement battle for fleeting relevance, and morality is bartered for attention. We are witnessing the monetisation of cruelty. We are not merely drifting toward

by Ram ben Ze'ev Banning Sharia: A Slippery Slope Toward Banning Halakha It has been widely reported that the U.S. state of Texas is the first state to formally ban the application of Sharia (which, incidentally, means “law,” making the phrase “Sharia law” redundant). While there is a certain theatrical appeal in legislating against something that was never plausibly going to supersede American law, the deeper concern is not about Sharia itself, but rather about the precedent

by Ram ben Ze'ev When Steadfast Faith Is Called Simple: A Reflection on Emunah and Bitachon There is a trend today, even among some learned teachers, to speak about emunah (אמונה, emunah, faith) and bitachon (בטחון, bitachon, trust) as fragile qualities—measured in percentages and subject to the same doubts and anxieties that fill the secular mind. I recently listened to a popular Orthodox Rabbi who, in front of a large audience, confessed that he often feels no more than f

by Ram ben Ze’ev When Awareness Becomes Idolatry: A Call to Restrain Our Tongues and Our Feeds One might think that simply knowing about evil inoculates a person against it. That seeing depravity and cruelty on a screen somehow fortifies the spirit to resist. But the opposite is true. Each time we click, comment, share, and amplify content steeped in wickedness—even under the pious pretense of “awareness”—we energise the very forces we claim to oppose. We help weave the web

by Ram ben Ze’ev Speak the Language of the Soul Every time a Jew refers to פסח (Pesach) as “Passover,” to תהילים (Tehillim) as “Psalms,” or to ארץ ישראל (Eretz Yisrael – the Land of Israel) as the “Holy Land,” a subtle fracture opens in the collective soul of עם ישראל (Am Yisrael – the Nation of Israel). Words are not neutral. Words carry the shape of identity. When our language is replaced by foreign terminology—coined in the halls of idolatry and shaped by tongues that have

by Ram ben Ze’ev Zionism Is Judaism: The Cowardice of Cloaked Antisemitism There is a growing trend among those who oppose the existence of מדינת ישראל to claim that their views are not antisemitic, because they “only” oppose Zionism. They insist that being “anti-Zionist” is not the same as being “anti-Jewish.” But this is a falsehood — not just politically, but theologically. The separation of Jews from Zionism is not only a modern invention; it is a distortion that is funda

by Ram b en Ze’ev When Commentary Becomes Collusion: A Rebuke to the Unrestrained Among Us It is an unfortunate necessity that I find myself writing a follow-up to my earlier piece, How Public Talk of Terror Strengthens Our Enemies . That article warned against the harm done by those who, often with the best of intentions, amplify the horror of our enemies’ attacks by turning tragedy into content. Today, I must now address a different but related behaviour: the incessant play

by Ram ben Ze’ev The Final War: Understanding the Mystery of Gog uMagog The war of Gog uMagog (גוג ומגוג) is a term that stirs the imagination, conjuring visions of epic battles, divine intervention, and the unfolding of the ultimate redemption. Yet for all its dramatic imagery, the war is not merely a geopolitical struggle—it is the culmination of human history and the final confrontation between truth and falsehood, purity and impurity, holiness and spiritual contamination.

by Ram ben Ze’ev Even When It Seems G-D Has Turned Away In every generation, we are reminded of the bitter truth: the hatred of the Nations is not circumstantial, not political, and not born of misunderstanding—but spiritual in nature. The continued attacks upon our people—the humiliation, the lies, the violence and bloodshed—are not new phenomena. They are echoes of millennia of abuse at the hands of the Nations. And today, as in times past, the question is raised: Where is