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Remembering to cherish: From Station Eleven to Jerusalem

Rising to the moment

Rooted in darkness, reaching for the sun

TU B'SHEVAT THOUGHTS Jews who grew up in the Southern Hemisphere, as I did, have something in common: We are used to Jewish holidays...

A Maimonides for the Age of AI

The situation we face today will require us to go beyond a legal response into theological, anthropological, and philosophical territory,...

Plural Unity: The Antidote to Fragility

Sukkot 5784 The holiday of Sukkot is supposed to be the merriest day in the Jewish calendar. It is also the holiday of togetherness and...

Confronting Our True Selves in the Mirror

Rosh Hashana 5784 Anosognosia is one of the most perplexing mental conditions. The term was first used in 1914 by French neurologist...

Extremism and Catastrophe – the Lesson of Tisha B’Av

Tisha B'Av 5783 I grew up on a myth: that the Jewish Revolt against Rome was virtuous and heroic; a fight for freedom led by saintly men....

Shavuot, or Why Sinatra Was Wrong

Shavuot 5783 The famous song “My Way”, popularized by Frank Sinatra, is problematic. For starters, the music belongs to a 1967 French...

After the Siren: Yom Hazikaron 5783

Israel has two major memorial days: Yom Hazikaron—the remembrance day for fallen soldiers of Israel and Israeli terror victims—and Yom...

Overcoming Learned Helplessness (Passover 5783)

Passover 5783 The concept of “learned helplessness,” coined by psychologist Martin Seligman, became the cornerstone of his groundbreaking...

The Story of the Diaspora in a Nutshell

Let’s face it, on Purim we Jews look pathetic. Yeah, I know, it’s supposed to be a happy holiday in which we were miraculously saved, but...

Climate Change, Delayed Gratification and Tu Bishvat

Tu Bishvat 5783 At this time of the year, three years ago, I wrote about Stav Harari and Dean Shoshani. They were both 25 and had just...

Andres Spokoiny responds to ‘We’re all Just Waiting to Get Fired’

To the Editors: Like all issues of SAPIR, the cancellation issue sparked many thoughts and ideas. All the articles are incredibly...

Building Permanence Among the Temporary

Sukkot 5783 While generally not a fan of dystopian fiction, I recently fell for one such book: “The Second Sleep” by Robert Harris. A...

When Believing Is 'Seeing'

Rosh Hashanah 5783 The Anton-Babinsky Syndrome has puzzled doctors since antiquity. It’s a rare condition in which the patient has lost...

Teaming Up with Our Past and Future Selves

Rosh Hashanah 5782 Who would we be if we had made different choices? If we’d told that secret, left that relationship, written that book?...

Mourn the Past, But Build a Better Future

Tisha B'Av 5782 I thought about Tisha B’Av recently, as I stood in Jerusalem’s Davidson Archeological Park (thank you, William Davidson...

Shavuot Made Me a Zionist. Here's Why.

Shavuot made me a Zionist. Well, maybe it wasn’t just Shavuot, but that holiday played an important role. Why? Because when you grow up...

Israel Is Our Positive Psychology

The concept of “learned helplessness,” coined by psychologist Martin Seligman, became the cornerstone of his groundbreaking “positive...

Robots at the Seder Table? Training Ourselves to Be in Community Again

Passover 5782 Tell me honestly: Are you anticipating your Passover seder with excitement or dread? Do you really want to meet all your...

Being Decisive in the Face of Uncertainty

JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny's presidential address at the JFN 2022 International Conference, delivered in Palm Beach, Fla., on...

The Problem with Kings

Purim 5782 The synagogue of “El Tránsito” in Toledo, Spain is among the oldest and most beautiful in the world, with a sanctuary...

Universal Jewish Literacy

Published on January 26, 2022 in Sapir Journal Articles John F. Kennedy’s original “moonshot” idea—to land a man on the moon before the...

Z3 Project Presents: Andrés Spokoiny