Blake Flayton

2 weeks ago | futureofjewish.com | Blake Flayton

Future of Jewish is the ultimate newsletter by and for people passionate about Judaism and Israel. Subscribe to better understand and become smarter about the Jewish world. This is a guest essay written by Blake Flayton, a columnist living in Tel Aviv and co-founder of the New Zionist Congress. You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.

1 month ago | jewishjournal.com | Emily Schrader |Blake Flayton

As you read this, tens of thousands of Jewish students around the country will be receiving acceptance letters which will inform where they choose to attend university.

May 23, 2024 | bflayton.substack.com | Blake Flayton

The Russian word smirenie can best be translated into English as “humility,” “meekness,” or “submission,” but in the Russian context, the word means a great deal more: smirenie is a state of mind, the collective and persistent ideology of the Russian peasant class, serfs, which ultimately made life worth living. For it is from smirenie, the state of misery and of constantly being held down by forces more powerful than you,that one can find meaning, purpose, even pride.

Oct 8, 2023 | jewishjournal.com | Blake Flayton

MorningMy roommate and I are watching our friend’s dog, Finn. He often barks when construction, stereos and police sirens intrude from the outside, but in the young/gay/working class/refugee Tel Aviv neighborhood of Florentin, we’re used to noise. I didn’t pay much attention when he warned us in our sleep this morning, as there has yet to be a dull moment in the Jewish state’s bohemian borough anyway.

Sep 6, 2023 | jewishjournal.com | Blake Flayton

I was happy to see a letter published in The Times of Israel a few weeks ago from respected Israeli authors and thinkers Yossi Klein Halevi, Daniel Gordis, and Matti Friedman. All three names are giants in Jewish and Zionist circles, and their beseeching of American Jews to join the Israeli protest movement, to oppose Netanyahu and his government of extermists, was as necessary as it was persuasive.