Great writing about “our gypsies” (yeah, that was even more racist than expected).
I honestly have no idea what is happening with this whole Breslov thing, but even my father, yes; the same man who quotes Maimonides over dinner and has a library that smells like dust and respectability, now,somehow mixes Breslov with the good old “traditional”. And I keep thinking: maybe the real “glue” here is right-wing Zionism. Nothing else explains how you can get a Tel Aviv tech bro, a Moroccan grandma, a French baal teshuva, and a yeshiva dropout from Bnei Brak all dancing together to the same Rav Nachman remix at 3 a.m.
And did you see the stuff about the “angels” in Gaza and Iran? And how the masses reacted globally , whites, browns, all suddenly convinced we are living in a Marvel crossover episode? It felt like they took an Ayatollah sermon about djinn, flipped it, and said: Actually, these supernatural beings work for the IDF now. Classic Breslov: mystical, emotional, and politically turbocharged. Breslov is perfect for the Middle East right now. If you told me they were running rehearsals for Gog and Magog, I would believe you. Maybe I’m just being a hyper-rational German-European, demanding that every mystical eruption come with a sociological footnote. But I once heard, word for word, from a brilliant, slightly eccentric Kabbalah professor in Israel (the kind of guy whose living room has more Zohar editions than socks): “The Torah of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov has the power of revelation and is a kind of Kabbalah, but written for the age of psychology and the STATE. And we still don't fully understand its power.” And you know what? He might be right. Breslov is basically a psycho-social bomb wrapped in hitbodedut and techno music. It needs to be studied; preferably by anthropologists with helmets.Because Breslov isn’t just happy hippies going to Uman to scream in the woods. Their Jerusalem faction, Shuvu Banim, is basically the rave wing of the settler movement. They talk about Gaza and the West Bank not just as territories but as “spiritual chakras of the cosmos”. Which is honestly brilliant marketing: who is going to argue with someone who claims the redemption of the universe depends on them putting another caravan on a hilltop? And somewhere out there, Hannah Arendt is rolling in her grave, or maybe laughing. She warned that the Zionist “melting pot” might produce a half-mythical, half-political community rather than a rational republic. She probably never imagined the result would include trance music, ecstatic dancing, and livestreamed eschatology… 😂
"And did you see the stuff about the “angels” in Gaza and Iran? And how the masses reacted globally , whites, browns, all suddenly convinced we are living in a Marvel crossover episode?"
The videos I linked are in Spanish (aimed at a Ladino and Spanish speaking audience). I believe R. Shalom Arush and other Breslov rabbis have produced similar content in English, but I haven’t yet had time to track down the exact versions. What I do know is that there is already a whole English-language that has been running since the war began.
I brought in the Ayatollahs’ visions of israel sending “djinns” and invoking magical powers mainly to show how similar the eschatological frameworks are on both sides. The Islamic narrative of Ishmael versus Israel and the Jewish narrative of Israel against Amalek or Gog and Magog often reflect each other, almost like twins. Each side casts itself as the chosen people and the other as the cosmic enemy, drawing on mystical, apocalyptic imagery to frame the conflict.
No; it is not written by AI. First of all I am not a natural English Speaker and the extra info below the links is part of the copying links process if that is that is what annoys you. Although, I think AI would have found the whole thing in english and more and that could have been super helpful (just to prove my human too human side xD). However the point is the "demons and angels" thing and that wasn't made up by any AI: it is pure eschatology in action with deeply dramatic psychosocial consequences... and I am so sorry if those words sounds very AI... and honesty it is "sad" the best you have to say about it is that "it seems it was written by Chat GPT".
I don't take online stuff personally, so, no; it didn't feel like an insult but as plain trolling, and, I might add, due “ideological” or even religious reasons; הַסְבָּרָה trolling to prevent critiques on religious Zionism 🤔. I am glad it is not a hasbara trolling case.
If you don't like the AI style content I would recommend you to leave Substack; more than the 80% of content over here is AI edited or AI created: yeah, people are lazy these days. It doesn’t mean “the ideas” behind the writings aren't genuinely human.
I just checked and Israel's GDP per capital is the same as Canada's.
How bad can it be, some pockets of dysfunction notwithstanding?
"It will be the result of an attempt to build a common civilization in a gigantic displaced persons camp out of people with nothing much in common except they’re Jewish and they didn’t have anywhere else to go, in the centre of a warzone. "
By now they have a language and a hundred years or so of common history in common.
Violet fatalities make the news, but are quite low in number, even including 7/10.
It's a country/society with pros and cons, and some specific idiosyncrasies. It wouldn't be on my top 10 destinations to raise a family list, but to a first approximation at least, GDP tells a story of a rather prosperous society.
what good can this possibly do? Sometimes your opinions, while extreme, seem at the very least based on a measure of intelligence. At other times I am forced to conclude that your ways of thinking are astonishingly juvenile. You certainly contain multitudes!
I haven't been to Uman (although I do want to visit), but your assessment of the demographics of attendees is inconsistent with other significant and anecdotal reports I've read/heard over the years. I don't know who's right, but I wanted to flag this.
My view is that while there are many different kinds of "Breslov," at a high level, its movement is unique within Judaism. It's not really a sect at this point, but a way to tap into a mindset that's appealing to many—in the same way that going to Burning Man is, or a silent meditation retreat, is for many in the West, or for me, going to a Phish concert.
As an extension of this, and relevant to your last point, I don't find it surprising to see Mizrahim gravitating towards Uman. In general, Mizrahi people have a much more fluid connection with Judaism (like, my Ashkenazi brain struggles to comprehend what it really means to follow/believe in "traditional Judaism") than most of the more dogmatic and clearly-identified Ashkenazi groups.
"My view is that while there are many different kinds of "Breslov," at a high level, its movement is unique within Judaism. It's not really a sect at this point, but a way to tap into a mindset that's appealing to many—in the same way that going to Burning Man is, or a silent meditation retreat, is for many in the West, or for me, going to a Phish concert."
It's that. but also a sect, or rather dozens. This is a very powerful combo.
I just have to ask, and I’m being serious, is there literally ANY good news to look towards at all? Any at all? Everything I read about the state of the Jewish community is just demoralizing.
I'm not Jewish but; the Haredi are basically the only high IQ group today with an impressive birth rate. Currently they don't seem to bothered about using their impressive craniums to do actually anything useful. But if they do ever develop an interest in the outside world and somehow both AGI and genetic engineering/embryo selection are busts they may end up ruling the 22nd century.
Holy crap, the last part of the article (starting from “Pro-Palestinian” all the way to the end) gave me the best laugh I’ve had in a while.
Can I still get a free subscription if my explanation for the video is “two hordes of crazy meet in the dungeon of insanity to do battle to determine, once and for all, who is the craziest of them all”?
It's weird to see a whole article about how Israel is so much browner and middle-easterner in contrast to the Ashkenazi places it's culture comes from, that doesn't mention the holocaust.
The reason why Israel is mostly brown and not Ashkanazi is that Germany and Poland killed more Ashkanazim then they exiled whereas middleeastern countries exiled more Jews than they killed.
That's it.
It has nothing to do with the fact that Israel is geographically in the middle east or anything like that.
Quite a different view…, however, in on of your last few paragraphs, you italicized “will be”, which so reminded me of G*D’s answer to R. Moshe, “I will be what I will be.”
Lol you share a quote from Hannah where it’s literally her describing the place as “it’s da Middle East east!” when describing everyone expect the imported German and Galician Jews
here is the full story of the 770 video
https://col.org.il/news/172034
Great writing about “our gypsies” (yeah, that was even more racist than expected).
I honestly have no idea what is happening with this whole Breslov thing, but even my father, yes; the same man who quotes Maimonides over dinner and has a library that smells like dust and respectability, now,somehow mixes Breslov with the good old “traditional”. And I keep thinking: maybe the real “glue” here is right-wing Zionism. Nothing else explains how you can get a Tel Aviv tech bro, a Moroccan grandma, a French baal teshuva, and a yeshiva dropout from Bnei Brak all dancing together to the same Rav Nachman remix at 3 a.m.
And did you see the stuff about the “angels” in Gaza and Iran? And how the masses reacted globally , whites, browns, all suddenly convinced we are living in a Marvel crossover episode? It felt like they took an Ayatollah sermon about djinn, flipped it, and said: Actually, these supernatural beings work for the IDF now. Classic Breslov: mystical, emotional, and politically turbocharged. Breslov is perfect for the Middle East right now. If you told me they were running rehearsals for Gog and Magog, I would believe you. Maybe I’m just being a hyper-rational German-European, demanding that every mystical eruption come with a sociological footnote. But I once heard, word for word, from a brilliant, slightly eccentric Kabbalah professor in Israel (the kind of guy whose living room has more Zohar editions than socks): “The Torah of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov has the power of revelation and is a kind of Kabbalah, but written for the age of psychology and the STATE. And we still don't fully understand its power.” And you know what? He might be right. Breslov is basically a psycho-social bomb wrapped in hitbodedut and techno music. It needs to be studied; preferably by anthropologists with helmets.Because Breslov isn’t just happy hippies going to Uman to scream in the woods. Their Jerusalem faction, Shuvu Banim, is basically the rave wing of the settler movement. They talk about Gaza and the West Bank not just as territories but as “spiritual chakras of the cosmos”. Which is honestly brilliant marketing: who is going to argue with someone who claims the redemption of the universe depends on them putting another caravan on a hilltop? And somewhere out there, Hannah Arendt is rolling in her grave, or maybe laughing. She warned that the Zionist “melting pot” might produce a half-mythical, half-political community rather than a rational republic. She probably never imagined the result would include trance music, ecstatic dancing, and livestreamed eschatology… 😂
"And did you see the stuff about the “angels” in Gaza and Iran? And how the masses reacted globally , whites, browns, all suddenly convinced we are living in a Marvel crossover episode?"
Unfortunately, I did.
Can you link any of the stuff you refer to about “angels” for people who don’t follow this as closely and don’t read Hebrew?
Iranian Officials Claim Israel Uses Jinns and Talismans in War
https://share.google/nMtE9eFembaSR3XPe
Angels in Gaza.
https://www.youtube.com/live/gsymulZQukM?si=lqxPKbhNjPC_Zfol
Saladin and the wonderful lamp: Why Iran really believes Israel is using Djinns to fight Hezbollah https://share.google/eXXEdpaXWONYkcULe
Iran vs Israel
https://www.youtube.com/live/IZ7JxzBroE8?si=GvkNcSXLdzhgJXCp
The videos I linked are in Spanish (aimed at a Ladino and Spanish speaking audience). I believe R. Shalom Arush and other Breslov rabbis have produced similar content in English, but I haven’t yet had time to track down the exact versions. What I do know is that there is already a whole English-language that has been running since the war began.
https://youtube.com/shorts/cTa8QFUt76g?si=CwudtSh_d8tlbpTI 😄😄😄
I brought in the Ayatollahs’ visions of israel sending “djinns” and invoking magical powers mainly to show how similar the eschatological frameworks are on both sides. The Islamic narrative of Ishmael versus Israel and the Jewish narrative of Israel against Amalek or Gog and Magog often reflect each other, almost like twins. Each side casts itself as the chosen people and the other as the cosmic enemy, drawing on mystical, apocalyptic imagery to frame the conflict.
No; it is not written by AI. First of all I am not a natural English Speaker and the extra info below the links is part of the copying links process if that is that is what annoys you. Although, I think AI would have found the whole thing in english and more and that could have been super helpful (just to prove my human too human side xD). However the point is the "demons and angels" thing and that wasn't made up by any AI: it is pure eschatology in action with deeply dramatic psychosocial consequences... and I am so sorry if those words sounds very AI... and honesty it is "sad" the best you have to say about it is that "it seems it was written by Chat GPT".
Have a beautiful day.
I don't take online stuff personally, so, no; it didn't feel like an insult but as plain trolling, and, I might add, due “ideological” or even religious reasons; הַסְבָּרָה trolling to prevent critiques on religious Zionism 🤔. I am glad it is not a hasbara trolling case.
If you don't like the AI style content I would recommend you to leave Substack; more than the 80% of content over here is AI edited or AI created: yeah, people are lazy these days. It doesn’t mean “the ideas” behind the writings aren't genuinely human.
Have a nice day.
You seem too pessimistic.
I just checked and Israel's GDP per capital is the same as Canada's.
How bad can it be, some pockets of dysfunction notwithstanding?
"It will be the result of an attempt to build a common civilization in a gigantic displaced persons camp out of people with nothing much in common except they’re Jewish and they didn’t have anywhere else to go, in the centre of a warzone. "
By now they have a language and a hundred years or so of common history in common.
Violet fatalities make the news, but are quite low in number, even including 7/10.
It's a country/society with pros and cons, and some specific idiosyncrasies. It wouldn't be on my top 10 destinations to raise a family list, but to a first approximation at least, GDP tells a story of a rather prosperous society.
"However, since this a racist blog"
what good can this possibly do? Sometimes your opinions, while extreme, seem at the very least based on a measure of intelligence. At other times I am forced to conclude that your ways of thinking are astonishingly juvenile. You certainly contain multitudes!
I haven't been to Uman (although I do want to visit), but your assessment of the demographics of attendees is inconsistent with other significant and anecdotal reports I've read/heard over the years. I don't know who's right, but I wanted to flag this.
My view is that while there are many different kinds of "Breslov," at a high level, its movement is unique within Judaism. It's not really a sect at this point, but a way to tap into a mindset that's appealing to many—in the same way that going to Burning Man is, or a silent meditation retreat, is for many in the West, or for me, going to a Phish concert.
As an extension of this, and relevant to your last point, I don't find it surprising to see Mizrahim gravitating towards Uman. In general, Mizrahi people have a much more fluid connection with Judaism (like, my Ashkenazi brain struggles to comprehend what it really means to follow/believe in "traditional Judaism") than most of the more dogmatic and clearly-identified Ashkenazi groups.
"My view is that while there are many different kinds of "Breslov," at a high level, its movement is unique within Judaism. It's not really a sect at this point, but a way to tap into a mindset that's appealing to many—in the same way that going to Burning Man is, or a silent meditation retreat, is for many in the West, or for me, going to a Phish concert."
It's that. but also a sect, or rather dozens. This is a very powerful combo.
I just have to ask, and I’m being serious, is there literally ANY good news to look towards at all? Any at all? Everything I read about the state of the Jewish community is just demoralizing.
Having no hope that anything will improve is a classic Jewish feeling
A Franz Kafka once observed, "There is infinite hope, but not for us."
I'm not Jewish but; the Haredi are basically the only high IQ group today with an impressive birth rate. Currently they don't seem to bothered about using their impressive craniums to do actually anything useful. But if they do ever develop an interest in the outside world and somehow both AGI and genetic engineering/embryo selection are busts they may end up ruling the 22nd century.
Not in this mini substrata.
Holy crap, the last part of the article (starting from “Pro-Palestinian” all the way to the end) gave me the best laugh I’ve had in a while.
Can I still get a free subscription if my explanation for the video is “two hordes of crazy meet in the dungeon of insanity to do battle to determine, once and for all, who is the craziest of them all”?
No
Unfortunate
Anyway the matzav is very unfortunate with the breslev nonsense.
What sorts of Israelis are these?
https://x.com/ireallyhateyou/status/1978579570333757891
Any idea if the ones in the vid the same as the guy posting it?
"The relationship between Chassidim and Sabbateans is a bit of a thorny issue that won’t overly detain us here." Please write more on this point.
It's weird to see a whole article about how Israel is so much browner and middle-easterner in contrast to the Ashkenazi places it's culture comes from, that doesn't mention the holocaust.
The reason why Israel is mostly brown and not Ashkanazi is that Germany and Poland killed more Ashkanazim then they exiled whereas middleeastern countries exiled more Jews than they killed.
That's it.
It has nothing to do with the fact that Israel is geographically in the middle east or anything like that.
The article isn't about that, it's about mutant Israeli culture.
You have correctly described an issue with Chasidus, yet you miss a much deeper Straussian point maybe I’ll write a full response.
Quite a different view…, however, in on of your last few paragraphs, you italicized “will be”, which so reminded me of G*D’s answer to R. Moshe, “I will be what I will be.”
Lol you share a quote from Hannah where it’s literally her describing the place as “it’s da Middle East east!” when describing everyone expect the imported German and Galician Jews
Maybe the only real solution to this problem is NonJudaism?
It’s very easy to see how other communities distorted fanatical principles in the name of religion.
But who says we haven’t done the same?
Who says many of the principles of the YESHIVA community aren’t extremely distorted ?
Regarding 770🙄
Shvartzes being shvartzes🤦🏾
If that's only the first invasion they've had of that sort I'd be amazed and what pathetic security they have.
They got lucky the homeboys didn't open up the cans of womp ass
Have those communities in New York endorsed Curtis Sliwa?
Beyond bizarre how he's been thrown under the bus, & NYC handed off without a fight.