Virus surges to over 7,500 daily cases as Israel set to enter full lockdown

The Health Ministry said Friday morning that a record high 7,527 new virus cases were diagnosed a day earlier, as Knesset lawmakers continued to...

Being Complete with G-d Doesn’t Mean Having to be Perfect

Que Sera Sera[i] was a popular song in the late 1950s that my mom and dad z”l would often sing to us when we were young, whenever we worried too...

Deplorable act

Firm response to the North's actions must follow The government gave a shocking announcement on Thursday that North Korea killed and burned the...

Haaretz Cartoon

Closer look called for before taking action to lower cellphone bills

When a market fails to function properly, the government may have to step in. But the decision to take such a step should be preceded by a careful...

Poets capture abnormality of daily life during the pandemic

A poem written back on April 12 brings back the sense of bewilderment and unease felt around the nation six months ago, when a state of emergency...

Ko ledeniki jočejo

September se še ni končal, končali pa so se septembri iz prejšnjih let. Od zadnjih desetih jih je bilo v Sloveniji kar šest pretoplih. Najbolj je...

Teze za strategijo zelene in digitalne prihodnosti

Od tiste strategije iz leta 2005 in izvedbenega paketa reform slovenska država praktično nima več strategije razvoja. Če seveda zanemarimo razne...

Italy’s ring-wing alliance blows up, with Salvini under fire

Analysis. Salvini is not budging. No self-criticism. No admission of wrongs. The Lega will create a secretariat. written by Andrea Colombo Topic...

Global climate strikers take on inactive leaders

In the first global strike of this pandemic year, citizens the world over will be shouting in unison for bold climate action. It's time for leaders...

IDF punishes officers, expels 2 cadets from course over virus outbreak on base

The Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday that a number of officers were disciplined and two cadets were expelled from a course over a...

Save Yourself

You need to write 500 words a day, six days a week, through December 31, 2020. You, yes you reading this right now. You ended up here because you...

Playing Hide and Seek on Yom Kippur

Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, describes the High Holidays as a game of hide and seek. It feels like God is hidden, so we seek.  We try...

Why Doctors Go To Gehinnom and What That Means For The Rest Of Us

Over the last six months the plight of medical professionals struggling against the coronavirus has been a tragically reoccurring headline....

Come and drink

In the opening passage of Haazinu, Moses compares his words with the different natural events, all somehow connected with water. He speaks about...

Parshat Ha’azinu: Finding the Right Torah

Rabbi David Aaron once shared a thought that was so radical, so profound, that it initially came as an alien concept; in truth, its depth describes...

Yom Kippur: The Delicate Dance Between Life & Death

Inherent in a rabbi’s job description is to provide pastoral care for those whose lives are at coming to an end. It is a solemn duty to attend to...

Ruth’s Song

In early 2016, I heard my colleague Cantor Sheera Ben-David sing a song. The song was about an unexpected, yet real fact regarding the life of...

The Idea of a Bridge

One August morning, anticipating the whirlwind of the high holidays and the return to school in our pandemic-altered world, I walked by myself along...

The Battle to Replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court

As most of you know, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing has left a vacancy on the Supreme Court to be filled. As I predicted in my last blog a fierce...

Teach me how to fail

The people of Israel have messed up awfully. Not long after hearing the 10 Commandments, they have built an exotic golden calf, an alluring idol...

A Zionist ‘Al Chet’

For the sin we have committed by diminishing the sanctity of Jewish lives And for the sin we have committed by diminishing the sanctity of Arab...

Present Tense

It is incredibly hard for me to remain present. I am constantly tempted by distractions, worrying about the future, trying to balance attention to...

Paradise Lost — The Ashkenazi-Mizrachi Fault Line

My childhood village is so far away these days, yet I never really left it. I’ve been aware of this notion, this conundrum for a long time, yet...

Normalizations Less Normal: Israel, Kosovo, UAE

The “Abraham Accords” among Israel, the UAE and Bahrain came hot on the heels of mutual diplomatic recognition between Israel and Kosovo earlier...

Trump said what???

Here are three questions one might ask former V-P Joe Biden: (1) Mr. Biden, after the election, will you be attending Trump’s inauguration? (2)...

According to the Effort is the Reward

Embed from Getty Images Growing up in the Diaspora, the dread of a looming Yom Kippur settled in as our Rosh Hashanah celebrations dissipated into...

Tokyo women see silver lining in Covid-19 as commuter train molesters disappear

Before the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year turned Tokyo into a completely different city, one used to see a very strange phenomenon: male...

How Trump fell out of love with his generals, and why the feeling is mutual

U.S. President Donald Trump picked retired generals for some of his most senior national security posts when he took office and boasts of heavy...

Why Do Google and Apple Map Illegal Israeli Settlements, but Not Palestine?

Despite their claims, the two tech giants' ubiquitous, influential maps and navigation tools aren't value-neutral at all. Just ask a Palestinian

For the sins you have committed: What the press is saying on September 25

1. For the sins committed against the healthcare system: Israel is set to enter a tightened nationwide lockdown at 2 p.m. Friday, as the number of...

Fearing Death, Choosing Life

“It is fitting for every person who has fear of Heaven to be anguished and concerned regarding the destruction of the Temple.”  So goes the...

Lately, I’ve been in this weird place where I’m crying in the supermarket

Lately, I’ve been in this weird place where I’m crying in the supermarket. Like, emotionally I’m in a weird place, and also, I’m LITERALLY in...

Why I Won’t Be Going to Shul This Yom Kippur

In Israel, indoor synagogues will be allowed to meet for Yom Kippur, however, many medical experts are opposed to any type of indoor prayer...

A DIY Sightseeing Tour Along Israel’s Borders

Just before Israel’s second lockdown began last week, I had the opportunity to take a trip up north for some peace and quiet before being confined...

Virus czar: Reopening schools with older kids was ‘failure’ on my watch

AP — When Dr. Ronni Gamzu, one of Israel’s leading public health experts, was named the country’s coronavirus czar in mid-July, he was hailed...

Inside the Jewish Fundamentalists’ Joyous, Deadly Strategy for COVID-19

Praying as usual, playing with death: Ultra-Orthodox Jews will shape the Jewish future. That’s why their response to coronavirus is our problem too

The economic impacts of the coronavirus are devastating communities in the world’s poorest places.

In March, we predicted that the 70 million people fleeing violence and persecution across the world would be hit hardest by the coronavirus...

With misogyny now a hate crime, we’re criminalising what people think. We’ll soon have thought police exploring our private lives

Welcome to an Orwellian world where what you think about women, gays or Muslims may now be criminalised under hate crime legislation proposed by...

The continuing crackdown on press freedom in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is threatening its democratic future.

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has long enjoyed a reputation as a safe haven for the persecuted from all over Iraq and a place...

Israel goes into full lockdown amid confusion over protests, prayers

A sweeping new lockdown went into effect at in Israel at 2 p.m. on Friday, as lawmakers continued to argue over possible restrictions for protests...

US slaps sanctions on Iranians over execution of wrestler

WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on an Iranian judge who sentenced a wrestler to death over his role in protests —...

Orthodox NYC chat group warns not to test kids for COVID or risk school closings

JTA — Parents of students attending orthodox Jewish schools in New York City are being encouraged not to have their children tested for COVID-19...

The Vise Tightens on the Dollar

NEW HAVEN – The US dollar has now entered the early stages of what looks to be a sharp descent. The dollar’s real effective exchange rate (REER)...

Will Multilateralism Survive?

China’s Inevitable Low-Carbon Future

BEIJING – In mid-January, a group of senior Chinese officials and executives representing 28 influential industry associations gathered at an...

Where the streets have no (female) names

I have been a Beit Shemesh resident for 13 years. I came here to raise my children in Israel. To be part of Israeli society and to live as a Jew in...

China is paying a high price for provoking India

New Delhi – China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, recently declared that aggression and expansionism have never been in the Chinese nation’s...

Netanyahu mulls using emergency regulations to limit protests; Gantz, AG opposed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering using national emergency regulations to prevent a demonstration against him from going ahead if...

Science minister backtracks on plans to quit over lockdown

Science and Technology Minister Izhar Shay backtracked from plans to quit the government in protest over lockdown rules late Thursday. The Blue and...