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...

Hamas charges Gaza peace activists for ‘normalizing’ with Israelis

Hamas military prosecutors on Thursday charged three Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip with “weakening revolutionary spirit” — a charge...

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...

‘The Buck Stops Here,’ Words That Don’t Connect for Netanyahu

A litmus test for the next Supreme Court justice

WASHINGTON – Courts’ rulings can shape national life. Judges’ dissents from courts’ rulings can persuade future judges, thereby shaping future...

Thailand’s leaders missing their teachable moment as education system falters

Thailand has been tinkering with its schools and universities for years, to little effect: It still overspends and under-delivers. Now Southeast...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

Steps to Healing

I always hate it when people preach forgiveness.  Don’t misunderstand me — I do think they’re right on every point. The main idea behind...

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 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...

As two calendars collide, there is hope for a better future

The Jewish holy days are now upon us. For religious Jews, none is more important than Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement. It is an intense day of...

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...

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)...

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...

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

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

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...

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...

When delaying burial honors the deceased: RBG and Jewish law

Many Jewish friends have been commenting  in social media  about the decision to allow Justice Ginsburg to lie in repose at the Supreme Court and...

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...

Will the latest reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas succeed?

Senior officials from Fatah and Hamas have been meeting in Istanbul for the past few days, and have reportedly reached a deal for elections within...

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...

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...

ANTIFA, Red Herrings and Fanning the Flames of Discord!

It should come as no surprise that there are many Red Herrings flying in the run up to the US presidential elections. Watching the spectrum of news...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The tick is nothing without the tock

My most vivid memory of my father’s parents, aside from their inability to eat spaghetti bolognaise, is the incessant tick-tock of the...

Our community faces more job losses – but together we can get through it

Like those all across the country, many in our community were glued to their screens yesterday lunchtime as the Chancellor set out the support the...

Being curious is better than being smart

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.” Duke Ellington makes it sound so simple. He is, of course, being exceedingly...

The Law for Declaring War on Protests