Lineages & Influences

These thinkers, writers, and creators have shaped the interpretive and methodological foundations of my work.

Note on Intellectual Engagement:
Inclusion does not imply full agreement.¹ In cases where frameworks erase Jewish self-determination — particularly through anti-Zionist narratives, BDS advocacy, or reductive colonial paradigms — I diverge clearly and without compromise.

Cultural & Media Theory

Stuart Hall · Dick Hebdige · Raymond Williams · Paul Willis · Myria Georgiou · Angela McRobbie · Sadie Wearing · Richard Dyer · Michel de Certeau · David Harvey · Henri Lefebvre · Doreen Massey · Lev Manovich · Sara Ahmed¹ · Pierre Bourdieu · Jean Baudrillard · Anthony Giddens · Zygmunt Bauman · Manuel Castells

Psychoanalysis, Archetypes & Inner Life

Donald Winnicott · Marion Milner · Adam Phillips · Nancy Chodorow · Jessica Benjamin · Patrick Casement · Thomas Ogden · Julia Kristeva · James Hillman · Carl Jung · Clarissa Pinkola Estés · Karen Horney · Abraham Maslow · Erich Fromm · Alice Miller · Bessel van der Kolk · Stephen Porges · Tara Brach · Rebbe Nachman · Abraham Joshua Heschel · Avital Ronell · Gabor Maté¹

Narrative, Myth & Symbolic Meaning

Victor Turner · Gloria Anzaldúa¹ · Carolyn Dinshaw · Aviva Zornberg · Jonathan Lear · Dan McAdams · Laurel Richardson · Hélène Cixous · Sylvia Wynter¹ · Anne Carson · Rachel Cusk · Clarice Lispector · James Baldwin · Susan Howe · Rainer Maria Rilke · Rebecca Solnit · Maggie Nelson · Elena Ferrante · Dani Shapiro

Embodiment, Illness & Spiritual Inquiry

Arthur Frank · Susan Sontag · Rita Charon · Alison Kafer · Lennard J. Davis · Julie Livingston · Cheryl Mattingly · Tobin Siebers · Thomas Hübl · Johanna Hedva · Eli Clare · Gabor Maté¹ · Sharon Gillerman (z”l — my professor at USC, who shaped my understanding of antisemitism, cultural trauma, and the psychology of mass violence)

Zionist Thinkers & Democratic Vision

Einat Wilf · Gadi Taub · Yossi Klein Halevi · Micah Goodman · Tal Becker · Shany Mor · Adi Schwartz · Daniel Gordis · Amichai Magen · Matti Friedman · Gidi Grinstein

I hold the view that Israel’s existence as both a Jewish and democratic state is not only legitimate, but vital — and that its sovereignty remains its greatest legal, moral, and political strength.
Efforts to frame Israel as a colonial project are not merely false; they erase the historical reality of Jewish refugees, indigenous return, and national self-determination — and in doing so, perpetuate a form of symbolic violence.

These thinkers engage critically and unapologetically with Zionism, combining historical analysis, democratic theory, and narrative strategy to reframe global mischaracterizations. Their work affirms Israel’s pluralistic foundations while exposing the distortions advanced in symbolic and academic arenas.

Adjacent Thinkers & Symbolic Counterpoints

Brian Massumi · Erin Manning · Eli Clare · Johanna Hedva · Avital Ronell · Lauren Berlant¹ · David Grossman · Dani Shapiro · Maggie Nelson · John Fowles · Elena Ferrante · Susan Howe · Dani Karavan · Hadar Galron · Ruth Gavison · Eva Illouz · Rachel Elior · Rachel Adler · Tamar Hermann · Galia Golan · Shulamit Almog

¹ Divergence noted regarding Israel/Zionism.