Benjamin Kerstein

1 week ago | benjaminkerstein.substack.com | Benjamin Kerstein

Clouds darken the sky,The stars rain down,The constellations stagger,The bones of the hell-hounds tremble,The porters are silent,When they see the king’s soul ariseAs the dawn— Pyramid Texts, 2300 BCI leave this brief memoir in the hope that whoever finds it—if anyone remains to find it—will comprehend the desperate act I now intend to undertake. Perhaps they will sympathize with the immensity of the fear that compels me to it.

2 weeks ago | benjaminkerstein.substack.com | Benjamin Kerstein

I always find it difficult to write about murder. To some extent, atrocity is an abyss. It has its own terrible and inexplicable logic. It is a void into which language cannot enter. To some extent, the rest is always silence. I can only offer these thoughts:In some ways, the horrific murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim z”l at a Jewish event in Washington, DC by a Free Palestine Nazi is an exception to the rule. It is explicable in its logic, and its cause can be easily traced.

2 weeks ago | benjaminkerstein.substack.com | Benjamin Kerstein

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2 weeks ago | benjaminkerstein.substack.com | Benjamin Kerstein

In an irreligious age, people tend to seek alternatives to orthodox faith. At the very least, there appears to be an inherent human need for belief in some organizing principle of existence. There is a constant desire to believe in a motive force, an engine that drives human life and human history. At its most deracinated, this manifests itself in faith in some kind of astrological “energy” that influences events and even physical well-being.

2 weeks ago | benjaminkerstein.substack.com | Benjamin Kerstein

A glib but ironically revelatory question sometimes posed by haters of Israel is “Do you think Israel has ever done anything wrong?”Of course, the person asking this question has no genuine interest in receiving an actual answer. The question is a rhetorical device employed in obvious bad faith, a tactic aimed at undermining an opponent’s credibility. Even if we take the query seriously for a moment, it is no more edifying. The obvious answer is that Israel has, of course, done some things wrong.