How Europe Handed Hamas a Diplomatic Victory
The terrorist group has responded rationally to the incentives placed before it.
August 4, 2025
Shamanism and the Human Religious Impulse
The universal desire for ritual and otherworldly meaning.
The book of Leviticus strictly forbids consulting “those that have familiar spirits” or “wizards.” I’m not sure if these ancient diviners would meet the anthropologist Manvir Singh’s definition of a shaman, but there is little doubt that shamanism has something in common with the sort of primeval paganism that figures so prominently in ancient Jewish texts. In this conversation with Razib Khan, Singh argues that similar shamanic practices and beliefs emerged, and continue to emerge, separately in various cultures across the world, and thus represent something fundamental and universal about the human religious impulse. (Audio, 63 minutes.)
August 4, 2025
The Tragedy of Israel’s Disengagement from Gaza
Messianic fantasies, left and right.
In Fighting Zohran Mamdani, New York Jews Should Follow the Example of Their British Brethren
But they would have to learn to work together.
Shamanism and the Human Religious Impulse
The universal desire for ritual and otherworldly meaning.
When the U.S. Navy Saved the Jews of the Holy Land
A World War I-era humanitarian intervention.