News
Why I can’t live without Shabbat
48+ min ago (790+ words) I read a fascinating article recently about the co-founder of Netflix who, for 30 years straight, has turned off completely at 5 p.m. every Tuesday. Every single week, no exceptions. No checking emails, no putting out fires, no "just one quick thing." He…...
Rebranding Zionism, unifying Jews: Rabbi Doron Perez on his plans as WZO president - interview
17+ hour, 4+ min ago (796+ words) Perez became president of the WZO after a lengthy and tumultuous World Zionist Congress negotiation process that culminated in November, with one of his goals in office being the "reimagining and the rebranding of Zionism." "No mark of identity is…...
Inside the unexpected cultural renaissance happening in Beit Shemesh
18+ hour, 44+ min ago (828+ words) You went to a Shlock Rock concert? In Beit Shemesh?" When I informed my inquisitive friend that the legendary Jewish rock-and-roll parody band had reunited for a 40th anniversary concert, she was agog." "Did they play 'Achashverosh"? she asked, referring to…...
From pop stars to tefillin pop-ups, Oct. 7 changed how some Israelis practice Judaism
1+ day, 4+ hour ago (1681+ words) In the weeks after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, religiously charged videos started circulating on social media. Dozens of young women posted videos of themselves cutting up their "immodest" clothing, jeans, crop tops, minidresses, vowing to replace them with modest skirts and…...
Parashat Shemot The continuity of the world
1+ day, 19+ hour ago (819+ words) The Book of Exodus opens with one of the central challenges of any people seeking to survive: establishing its existence and ensuring continuity. The Torah tells us that when the Israelites went down to Egypt, they numbered only 70 souls, but…...
Editor's Notes: Israel, Diaspora Jews need to be on same page
2+ day, 3+ hour ago (1122+ words) I learned about the Israel'Diaspora gap before I learned the words for it. My Savta (grandmother) used to record episodes of Sesame Street on VHS cassettes in the US and bring them back to Israel when I was a kid....
Cameron Kasky: Jewish progressive running for Congress after West Bank solidarity mission
2+ day, 3+ hour ago (1796+ words) He's running for Congress on Manhattan's West Side, but lately Cameron Kasky has been focused on the West Bank. Kasky, a 25-year-old Jewish progressive, recently went on a solidarity mission to the West Bank. He has shared experiences from the…...
Peter Beinart, Elliot Cosgrove and other Jewish leaders face off over the future of liberal Zionism
3+ day, 5+ hour ago (943+ words) For decades, liberal Zionism served the American Jewish majority as the ideological bridge between democratic and Jewish values: Support for Israel was based in, and justified by, a commitment to Jewish self-determination anchored in democracy, and animated by the promise…...
Audio bench bearing testimony of Holocaust survivor destroyed, thrown in lake in Manchester park
3+ day, 11+ hour ago (247+ words) An audio bench, bearing the testimony of Holocaust survivor Chaim Ferster, was smashed to pieces and dumped in a frozen lake at Salford's Clowes Park on Wednesday. Chaim Forsten cheated death at eight concentration camps before moving to Manchester. He…...
Israeli wounded confronting terrorists in Bondi Beach to continue treatment in Israel
3+ day, 14+ hour ago (452+ words) Geffen Bitton, a 30-year-old Israeli who was wounded attempting to neutralize terrorists in the deadly Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack last month, will return to Israel on Wednesday for further treatment. Bitton, an Israeli who was living in Sydney, Australia, during…...