Imagine a national army that serves not just to defend a country but to shape its very identity—welcome to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). We promise to unravel the reasons behind the Haredim's refusal to serve in the IDF, exploring the army's role in promoting Zionist ideology and its mission to culturally and ideologically reform its soldiers. …

Join us on a thought-provoking journey through the 10 Commandments alongside esteemed guest, Bruce Fine, a distinguished Washington D.C. lawyer. As we navigate through the intricacies of interpreting the Torah and the law, I explain that it's not even possible to fathom the full reasoning behind commandments. The conversation takes an introspective…

By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Fighting Israel's actions without denying the driving ideology behind them is futile. That ideology is Zionism, which claims that Israel is not the country of its citizens but of all Jews. Thus, any association between Jews and Israel strengthens Zionism, including when Jews feel obligated to protest Israel as Jews . The only effective way to defea…

Israel: Jewish and democratic state 1953 Education law and etc. ADL "deeply disappointed" in John Kerry's statementBy Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Also important on this topic: https://www.committinghighreason.com/why-israel-has-so-many-elections/By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

At this week's gala WZO 125th Anniversary soiree in Basel, Switzerland, Israel's "Minister of Diaspora Affairs" made mentioned a "deal" between Ben Gurion and Jacob Blaustein regarding the relationship between American Jewry and Israel. He called for a renewed such "agreement" to be made today. But the way the story was described is fiction. Americ…

SInce 1996, Israel has had elections more often than any democratic country in the world, according to a report by the Israel Democracy Institute. What is ti about the state of Israel that makes its government so unstable? Episode Photo by Laliv g - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77887884…

By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Why the terrorists will not win, and how Zionism prevents Israelis from stopping it. Links: Officials expect terror wave to last all year Killing Sinwar is not a solutionBy Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

"It's worse than the McCarthy era". Veteran Ambassador Chas Freeman discusses the astounding and unprecedented level of disinformation and propaganda produced today by our politicians and the media, especially as it relates to what he learned in his many years as a US diplomat.By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Boruch Mordechai was an Orthodox Jewish USAF airman who was constantly asked why he is serving in his own country's military and not Israel's. That is, until he served in Qatar.By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Journalist Lee Stranahan posted this on Twitter: Dear @yaakov_shapiro Do you think it's fair to call the state of Israel a "Psuedo theocracy?"It seems to use The APPEARANCE of being a religious government, but in reality it only has all the authoritarian bigotry and none of the actual reverence of religion. Great question, Lee. The answer is no. He…

Zionist lore says Herzl became a Zionist after witnessing the Dreyfus Affair and hearing the crowd chant "Kill the Jews." But historical evidence shows that's not what made Herzl into a Zionist, (and also the crowd did not chant "Death to the Jews"). Links to Sources Cited The Jews' state, Theodor Herzl; translated, and with an introduction by Henk…

Many Judaic Studies instructors have been found to harbor a disdain for ultra-Orthodox Jews, which skews their academic portrayals of them and their ideology. Prof. Norton Mezvinsky explains. Episode photo: In the 18th century, as interest in the "curiosities" of the Jewish religion rose, some non-Jews had models of synagogues erected, furnished wi…

In denigrating the Rebitzen of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar chasidim, a professor writes of a story involving a wedding that took place 40 years ago. That was Rabbi Shapiro's wedding. In this podcast, he sets the record straight. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-time-seem-to-speed-up-with-age/…

One of the country's foremost experts on missile defense systems evaluates the Iron DOme's capabilities against the claims of the Israeli government. The results are surprising.By Dr. Theodore Postol

In 1967, in order to garner US support for their attack on Egypt, Israel falsely claimed to have been under existential threat by Egypt, who was planning on attacking Israel, perpetrating another Holocaust. The truth was quite different. Miko Peled, son of IDF General Matityahu Peled, is my guest.By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Portraying Jews as if they are nationals of the state of Israel puts Jews in danger, as the enemies of Israel will automatically become the enemies of all Jews. The state of Israel itself has been doing this since its inception, and Zionists have been doing it for over a century. But history - and the data - shows that this anti-semitism can be red…

During and after the Gaza war, Jews in America have been subject to anti-Semitic attacks by pro-Palestinian activists who think of all Jews as connected to the state of Israel. Astoundingly, Zionists are responding by flaunting their Zionism, which just provokes more anti-Semitism.By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Once, Eli had no interest in Judaism because he thought it meant being a Zionist. Today he is a rabbi. This is his story.By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

The students of Rabbi Abraham and Zvi Yehuda Kook incorporated into their Judaism large doses of organic nationalism, pagan land worship, militarism, and end-of-days Messianism, combining them into a new, autonomous philosophy that they call Dati Leumi ("National Religious") Judaism. Photo by SoWhAt249 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wiki…

Hume claimed the fact we can conceive of something coming into existence without a cause shows it is possible. He's wrong not only about his conclusion but his premise as well. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43301996?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents (Note: Wolfson is incorrect about the argument from design not being used in Jewish philosophy as an i…

There are many reasos Orthodox Jews oppose Zionism: It is the antithesis of Judaism, and encourages anti-Semitism. Here are the 3 of many reasons to be anti-Zionist.By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Israeli human rights activist, Ronnie Barkan, explains how both right-wing and left-wing Zionists are both equally Zionist at bottom, the only difference being the right-wing is open about their policies. The left-wing profess to be liberal but are really anything but.By Ronnie Barkan

There is no "new anti-Semitism." Anti-Semitism has not mutated to include anti-Zionism. Instead, accepting the unintelligible Zionist definition of Jewish identity has caused Zionists to be defined out of the protected classes of minorities that society has created laws to protect. The IHRA definition is a misguided and destructive attempt to recti…

Theodor Herzl (d. 1904) is a Zionist hero, described in Israel's Declaration of Independence as the "spiritual father" of Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu referred to him as the "Moses of our time." But Herzl was notorious for horrific anti-Semitism particularly against religious and Eastern European Jews (read this, for example) and his delusions about …

Miko Peled needs no introduction - he's a famous guy. But if you want, you can check out his website or podcast. If you really want to know what kind of guy he is, though, the most emblematic snippet I can think of offhand is this: Miko Peled followed his father’s footsteps at first, joining Israel’s Special Forces after high school and earning the…

The January 6th insurrection at the nation's capital that resulted in the impeachment of Donald Trump depicted the characteristics of a religion more than a political position. Prof. Gloria Moran discusses American civic religion from a legal and historical perspective, tracing its roots to its the Roman Empire.…

By Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro

Lee Stranahan, Republican radio host, journalist and former Breitbart reporter once thought that his peers at Breitbart - Joel Pollak and Ben Shapiro - are typical of observant Jews’ attitude toward Israel, and that anti-Zionism was “a leftist thing,” directly tied to one’s position in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Then one day, Lee watched a vi…

Studies have discovered surprising weaknesses in our decision-making process that make us vulnerable to manipulators. We may think we are making rational decisions based on clear data when in reality we are looking at the numbers through the prism of our own biases. These biases are exploited by people who want us to make certain decisions. We do s…

Reuven and Esther Guttman of Long Island arrived in Egypt for what they expected to be a routine vacation. But when the border guards ran Esther's passport, which had her maiden name, Maimon, on it, they discovered that she was a descendent of Maimonides (1135-1204), the revered rabbinic head of the Egyptian Jewish community in the 12th century, an…

In February 2020 an anonymous article appeared in the Forward by a teacher in several Zionist Hebrew Day Schools, claiming they teach dual loyalty to Israel and that they need to stop. The article was met with derision, condemnation, and even denial of the author's existence. Meet the author, who no longer teaches in such schools and is safe from r…