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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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Silas Anastacio

Sep 26, 2026, 12:11 AM

Isabel Cohn: Belonging is Resisting – The Strength of the Jewish Community

A Yom Kippur reflection on community, tradition, and belonging. Isabel Cohn, President of the Congregação Israelita Paulista – Templo Beth-El in São Paulo, Brazil, shares a profound and inspiring reflection on the challenges and strengths of contemporary Jewish life. In...

Deborah K. Bravo

Sep 25, 2026, 11:53 PM

The Truth about Lobbying: AIPAC in Today’s World

AIPAC is small and mighty, but not the monsters they are painted to be. If you follow political debates on social media, you have probably seen claims that AIPAC is “the biggest lobby in Washington” or that it “spends more...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:52 PM

The Drone War: Produce, Saturate, Survive

From Ukraine to Israel, from the United States to Europe: Warfare Is Changing Scale The drone war has entered a new phase. The question is no longer simply who possesses the most advanced drone. It is now who can produce enough...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:52 PM

Nothing’s Serious Until It Is

It was 2010 and I had just started university in Bogotá, Colombia. At seventeen, I was just as opinionated as I am now but lacked the words to express myself. I had gotten great scores on the Colombian version...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:51 PM

What Does Torah Say About Artificial Intelligence?

What does the Torah say about artificial intelligence? Quite a lot—although, obviously, it says nothing directly about AI, computers or algorithms. What it does say is a great deal about human beings: our responsibility, our pursuit of knowledge, our...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:50 PM

The Netanyahu Bogeyman

Benjamin Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, Ghazi Hamad, Nabih Berri

The Netanyahu Bogeyman: How Israel's Enemies Hide Behind One Name There's a cynical playbook at work in the campaign against Israel, and it starts with two words: Benjamin Netanyahu. For those who seek to delegitimize the Jewish state, Netanyahu has...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:49 PM

Other Waze Around

Waze was born in Israel, which makes sense to anyone who has driven there, including me. Around 2006, software engineer Ehud Shabtai started a community project called FreeMap Israel. The idea was that the country's drivers, stuck in some...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:49 PM

Sweden’s Yiddish Story: How Sweden Became a Guardian of Yiddish

When travelers think about Sweden’s Jewish heritage, they may think first of Stockholm’s Great Synagogue, the rescue of Danish Jews during the Holocaust, or the remarkable story of Raoul Wallenberg. But there is another, less familiar chapter of Jewish...

Karen Reiss Medwed

Sep 25, 2026, 11:48 PM

Can I Build A Digital Sukkah on Facebook?

The Mishnah of Sukkah in Seder Moed offers an extensive and exhaustive list of what materials are allowed and are forbidden in the construction of a Sukkah. It provides seemingly never-ending examples of places where one might construct a Sukkah and where...

Sep 25, 2026, 11:48 PM

Shamati L’Libi: I Listened To My Heart

Grave of author's great-grandfather in Machpelah cemetary.

Photo by Zarachti Nur, July 2026.

Shamati L'Libi The air is thin up here It's too far to see Israel No matter how clear Still my heart knows East is the way home That my dreams show Staying put is dismal Only one place to be Endless stories to tell I've held back too long Now...

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