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Michelle Philippon

What this former evangelical found in a Reform synagogue

After growing up in megachurches, I took a job at a Reform synagogue and discovered a very different way of thinking about God, sin, belonging — and myself

(Image by author)

Talyah Ginsberg

The year is new. Israel is already double-booked.

The High Holidays promise renewal, but family, romance, travel plans and life in Israel have apparently declined to clear their calendars

Sukkah roofs. (Wikimedia Commons)

Adam S. Ferziger

Life is a fragile booth: The ‘falling sukkah’ redemption

Even when the walls shake, in times of personal and national crisis, internal division, and real exposure, we seek comfort in the sukkah’s ‘shade of faith’

In Kfar Aza, after October 7th. (Tzipora Lifchitz)

Sharon Weiss-Greenberg

I thought a sukkah was fragile; the border kibbutzim proved me wrong

Rain cancels the mitzvah, but grief does not: You must come out and sit under the thatched roof – not to rejoice, but to show up. That is resilience

Alon Tal

They tried to destroy Temple Israel. Six months later, it stands tall

Back in their restored sanctuary for Yom Kippur, Michigan Jews had a message for those who would have them lower their voices: ‘We are Zionists. Full stop.’

Etrog. (Wikipedia)

Yaakov Chaliotis

The etrog’s long journey: How one fruit crosses the world before Sukkot

From the orchard to your sukkah, a lot could go wrong, so the growers, rabbis, freight companies, and border inspectors work small miracles to ensure timely delivery

Ethiopian Jews paying inside a sukkah. (via Facebook)

Sharon Shalom

Ethiopian Jewish wisdom: A sukkah creates community

Bete Israel’s spiritual tradition focuses not on the sukkah’s details or those of the 4 species, but on a sense of belonging and being guests in God’s world

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Irina Velitskaya

Sep 26, 2026, 10:18 PM

The Jews who hide in little rooms

A Meeting. Jewish Youth and Two Women in the Town Alley: Painting by Bruno Schulz

Bruno Schulz lived as a Jew, died as a Jew of his time — executed for no reason — and was buried in a Jewish cemetery. Yet his name, and his works, will live on for generations, while that...

Sep 26, 2026, 10:13 PM

Whoever Wins on October 27 Inherits the Same Six Problems

Israel's election is being presented and fought as a referendum on one man, his policies, actions, leadership, and history especially with respect to October 7. It is also fought as a personality contest between Netanyahu, Eisenkot, Bennet, Gantz and...

Tzeela Lifshitz

Sep 26, 2026, 10:13 PM

From New Jersey to Northern Israel

Tzeela standing facing mountains at sunset (image by Odeya)

Ping, I look down at my phone and see yet another notification from the official Kiryat Shmona update WhatsApp group. “In the coming hours the IDF is expected to carry out a wave of strikes… routine continues, and there...

Sep 26, 2026, 10:11 PM

Beyond the Finish Line: An Ultra Runner’s Torah

There is a strange, hollow sensation that often greets an ultra-marathoner right after crossing the finish line. You have spent months waking up before dawn, tracking splits, nursing black toenails, and pushing through miles of isolated trail where your...

Nassir Hussein Kahin

Sep 26, 2026, 10:09 PM

Somaliland’s Strategic Moment: Geography Is Not Enough

Somaliland's Strategic Moment: Berbera, maritime security and the changing geopolitical order of the Red Sea. HOASR Original Infographic.

The Red Sea’s changing security order has brought Somaliland new diplomatic attention. President Irro’s challenge is to turn that attention into lasting economic, political and security relationships before regional competition determines the terms. For much of its modern history, Berbera...

Sep 26, 2026, 10:08 PM

Family Estrangement and Communal Life

Americans are now seeing a significant increase in family estrangement. Recent data tells us that fully 34-37% of us have at least one family relationship we have ended, and these numbers are much greater for younger Americans. While 20%...

Hande Gençünal

Sep 26, 2026, 10:07 PM

A House With One Side Always Left Open on Sukkot

Where I live, unfortunately, building a sukkah simply isn't possible. But I came to understand, later than I would have liked, that this impossibility doesn't mean I can never step beneath that fragile roof, because certain houses can be...

Robert Huebscher

Sep 26, 2026, 8:38 PM

The Day the Missiles Got Through

All events in this article through Sept. 26, 2026, are historically accurate. Everything that follows is a hypothetical – and, hopefully, unlikely – scenario. It is Jan. 5, 2029, three days after Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Tel...

George Papasimakis

Sep 26, 2026, 8:37 PM

Why Israel Needs the Greek Navy in the Levant

An Israeli Navy Sa'ar 6-class corvette during maritime operations. (Photo: IDF)

For decades, Israel’s strategic doctrine has rested on an unquestioned axiom: total air superiority guarantees national survival. From the preemptive strikes of 1967 to the surgical precision of modern fifth-generation operations over complex battlefields, the Israeli Air Force (IAF)...

Grant Arthur Gochin

Sep 26, 2026, 8:33 PM

Lithuania Got Its Photographs. Where Are the Answers?

Source: https://www.urm.lt/naujienos/141/niujorke-ministras-k.-budrys-su-jav-zydu-organizaciju-atstovais-aptare-veiksmu-plano-kovai-su-antisemitizmu-igyvendinima:46509

Lithuania's Foreign Ministry has published another photograph with Jewish leaders. On September 23 in New York, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys met representatives of what the Ministry called the “main U.S. Jewish organizations.” According to the Ministry’s account, they discussed Lithuania’s...

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