Ehud Barak likens compromise talks on judicial shakeup to appeasement of Nazis

Former prime minister Ehud Barak on Friday likened President Isaac Herzog’s reported proposal to host talks aimed at forging a compromise to the...

Netanyahu said to call global credit rating firms amid concern over judicial shakeup

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally called international credit ratings firms in an attempt to tamp down mounting concerns about the...

That sweet melody humming inside you

“I asked him: What was the turning-point for you?” Our close friend Chaim Peri asked this question of one former student, from among the tens...

Should We Celebrate the Suffering of Our Enemies?

אָז יָשִׁיר־מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לַיהֹוָה...

Who Are These ‘Liberal US Jewish Leaders’​ Trying To Impress?

Whenever there is something big going on with our government here in Israel, for some reason liberal Jewish leaders feel compelled to interfere....

Three cheers for hybrid work

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut – There is no shortage of hyperbole in the debate about whether companies should demand a full return to office work....

Putin’s Brezhnev Moment

Palestinian teenager dreamt of being a chef before attack, teachers say

In the middle of last week, 13-year-old Palestinian Mahmoud Aleiwat was pressing his teachers for the school report he needed so he could go to a...

Egyptian President El-Sisi’s Visit as Chief Guest on India’s Republic Day

The three-day state visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on India’s resplendent Republic Day as the chief guest speaks volumes about...

Man shot dead in Umm al-Fahm hours after brothers killed in Nazareth

A 26-year-old man was shot dead in the northern town of Umm al-Fahm on Friday, just hours after two other men were shot dead in nearby Nazareth, as...

Probe opened into lawyer who said he’d take up arms if legal overhaul implemented

The State Prosecutor’s Office on Friday approved the police opening an investigation into an attorney who declared at a conference this week that...

Woman allegedly raped in front of her kids during overnight break-in

A woman in the southern town of Gedera on Friday accused a man of breaking into her home in the middle of the night and raping her in front of her...

France nixes election of Jewish MP as Netanyahu said to consider him for ambassador

France’s Constitutional Council on Friday announced the invalidation of firebrand Jewish lawmaker Meyer Habib’s election, citing ballot “...

Israeli musicians head to Grammys with Indian ensemble

When the Grammy Awards are presented Sunday night ten Israeli musicians may walk the red carpet as part of the Berklee School of Music Indian...

What happens when a Holocaust denier moves into your cellar?

It’s a nightmare scenario: A Parisian couple sells storage space in its basement to a genial-seeming former history teacher, only to discover that...

Blinken’s focus on democracy could also be sign of US desire to cooperate on Iran

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn’t the first senior US official to take shots at Israeli democracy. Referencing gender segregation on...

Grim Report from a News Junkie

Diary of a news junkie: Being homebound with the flu for almost two weeks gave me plenty of opportunity to read, digest, analyze, and be ashamed of...

Iran cyber unit attacked Charlie Hebdo over Khamenei cartoon contest, Microsoft says

AP — After the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo launched a cartoon contest to mock Iran’s ruling cleric, a state-backed Iranian cyber...

Teddy bear heroes launch us into our 21st year

 ( I have been granted permission to share theses photos. ) Our most recent teddy bear heroes. We are so proud of their work. Erez brought 100s of...

The Problem with Israel’s Present Binance Ministry

No, that’s not a typo in the headline. Israel’s Treasury (Finance) Ministry has become disastrously bifurcated. In fact, that’s the case from...

The Battle with Amalek: Faith in the Deserts of our Life  

Often people tend to confuse confidence and arrogance.  Many understand arrogance as a state of being overly confident in oneself and their...

Israelis and Palestinians do what they do best, but for the wrong reasons

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has put Israel’s closest allies and some of his key partners on the spot. So has a generation of Palestinian...

Parshat Beshalach – There is great hope

Where were we as a People, a few thousand or even a hundred years ago, and where are we today? Parshat Beshalach – Shabbat Shira – comes after...

The Jewish calendar shows Jews are partial lunatics

The Christian calendar follows the sun, Islam follows the moon, but Jews follow the moon yet modified by a leap month to not ignore the sun fully....

An outstanding commentary on the biblical book Leviticus

Koren Press’ “The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel – Leviticus” follows its predecessors on the Biblical books Exodus and Samuel as a...

Celebrating Tu B’Shevat with Four Species Barley Pudding

I have no childhood memories of Tu B’Shevat . The holiday, celebrated on the 15th of Shevat (February 6, 2023) and known by many names, including...

On the New Gang on the Hill

I’ve attempted writing several blog posts since the Israeli elections with Bibi and his new gang  mounting the hill.  But each attempt has been...

Parashat Beshalach

This week, Israel’s Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, announced a new framework under which angels – early-stage tech investors – will...

Why February is the giving month – D’Var Hadassah

There’s an awful lot of dysfunction around us – it’s akin to global warming: political, factual, very man-made and so far, seemingly impossible...

VOX POPULI: Sad world we live in when children must say, ‘I’m home,’ for safety

About 20 years ago, a local edition of The Asahi Shimbun printed a poem by Yuki Mizumoto, who was an elementary school first-grader at the time. ...

Israel’s Diplomatic Own Goal

Israel’s Diplomatic Own Goal – Serbia and ‘Kosovo’ Banner in Belgrade saying ‘Serbia without Kosovo would be like a Human without a...

A Truly Complex Jew

Book Review: Kreisky, Israel, and Jewish Identity.  By Daniel Aschheim, Ph.D. A true story: A Jew fled his homeland one step ahead of the Nazis,...

The bones we carry

I walk through the world with the bones of my ancestors. I carry in my bones the stories—the life, the love, the death, the values of those who...

The forgotten story and why we need to know it

Then Moses caused Israel to set out from the Sea of Reeds. They went on into the wilderness of Shur; they traveled three days in the wilderness and...

If “He Gets Us,” Does He Get How Offensive His Billion Dollar Ad Campaign Is?

Get ready for a Super Bowl Jesus Blitz that just might put the December Dilemma to shame. The “He Gets Us” ads have been around for several months...

Now is the time to deepen your charitable support

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently formed a new government with several parties that are either Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) or on...

EDITORIAL: Redevelopment of Meiji Jingu Gaien calls for a serious rethink

The Japanese arm of an advisory body to UNESCO has called on the Tokyo metropolitan government to review a redevelopment project for the...

When to pivot

Every parent has had a toddler fling themselves to the ground and refuse to move. Our kids expertly choose places with maximum exposure to have...

Pounds of Prevention for an Ounce of Cure Nazir 11 & Emotional Holding Nazir 12

Nazir 11 Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses a scenario where a person was drinking, or even drunk and declared,”I am a Nazirite from this wine.”...

30

Thursday December 28, 2022 was a normal quiet winter vacation day. The news was the usual mix of jockeying for position in the formation of the new...

When the police ignore danger to women, terrible things happen

A man threatens to kill his ex-wife, not only in the hearing of others, but he is recorded saying the words. His wife had divorced him: the...