I love the Hanukkah season—lights glowing in windows, the smell of fried latkes wafting through the air, and festive voices singing together. But this year, Hanukkah is about a lot of things. Most importantly, Hanukkah should be about reclaiming Zionism. Zionism is threatened by those who oppose it as a concept and see it as […]
Friday December 20, 2024 – י״ט כִּסְלֵו This week, we lost a giant in Israeli culture. On December 12, iconic Israeli singer and songwriter Corinne Allal breathed her last breath after a prolonged battle with cancer. Born in Tunisia in 1955, she immigrated to Israel at the age of 8. She began to make a […]
Are you passionate about Israel? Are you concerned about the next chapter of Israel’s future? Join us for a paid opportunity to fight for Israel’s democracy, safety, and the future of Reform and Secular Jews in the Jewish State. The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) is seeking applicants for our World Zionist Congress (WZC) Campaign […]
Friday December 13, 2024 – י״ב כִּסְלֵו תשפ”ה It’s often said that power is the only language that is truly understood in the Middle East. If so, this week manifested expressions of power and its abuse in three different yet interrelated ways. Assad’s “Trial” Six days ago, the half-century-long Assad family dynasty came to a […]
ה׳ כִּסְלֵו תשפ”ה – Friday December 6, 2024 חֶסֶד־וֶאֱמֶ֥ת נִפְגָּ֑שׁוּ צֶ֖דֶק וְשָׁל֣וֹם נָשָֽׁקוּ׃ (תהילים פה:יא) “Compassion and truth meet; justice and well-being kiss.” (Psalm 85:11) Is compassion a Jewish value? Too often, we hear from those in Jewish leadership through words and actions –both in Israel and North America – that the display of compassion […]
Friday November 22, 2024 – כ״א חֶשְׁוָן תשפ”ה Removing the Gatekeepers Upon entering Israel’s Knesset on a Monday, one is almost immediately met with a congregation of Israelis who have one thing in common: their family members were all kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and are still being held 413 days later. They hold […]
Friday November 15, 2024 – י״ד חֶשְׁוָן Landing in Israel this week, it was no longer a novelty to be greeted by the hostage posters adorning the arrival corridor as now the yellow ribbons and giant signs with the all too familiar faces of those abducted by Hamas and still rotting in a Gazan dungeon […]
Friday November 8, 2024 – ז׳ חֶשְׁוָן תשפ”ה On Tuesday, while much of our attention in the U.S. was focused on the elections, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired for the second time. The first time he was fired was in March 2023, at the height of pro-democracy protests. Citizens immediately took to the […]
Friday November 1, 2024 – ל׳ תִּשְׁרֵי תשפ”ה וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס׃ (בראישת ו:יא) “The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness.” Genesis 6:11 We have reached the second year of our Torah reading cycle since October 7, 2023, and the beginning of this war. Today is day […]
October 18, 2024 – ט״ז תִּשְׁרֵי תשפ”ה While much of the Jewish world sat in synagogue or out in their Sukkot, a routine IDF patrol in the Rafah area stumbled upon a building and identified a few Hamas terrorists there. After a firefight, the soldiers killed three of the terrorists. Upon closer look, the soldiers […]
