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Members of the "Star Trek" crew, from left, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, and Nichelle Nichols, toast the newest "Star Trek" film at Paramount Studios on Dec. 28, 1988. (AP Photo/Bob Galbraith, File)

Leah Stern

Live long and prosper: The Jewish boys who imagined a better galaxy

Walter Koenig’s death sent me back to the Starship Enterprise, where the sons and grandsons of Jewish immigrants offered hope in a perilous time

Hiking in nature in the Lower Galilee, northern Israel, December 20, 2025. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Noah Efron

These elections are not a fork in the road

As we fret that the wrong outcome could spell catastrophe for Israel, it’s worth remembering what has happened here over the past 3 years

Samaritan pilgrimage on Mount Gerizim. (all photos, courtesy)

A midnight adventure into antiquity

PHOTO ESSAY: My wife and I joined the Samaritans for their 8-station pilgrimage on Mt. Gerizim, finding spirituality in the mist, amid white robes and silver-clad Torah scrolls

Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks from the podium, right, and opposition members shout at him from the side, in the Knesset, on March 22, 2023. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset)

Keith Brooks

Happy Election Day. May the best coalition you hate win

Staying sane through Israel’s political chaos means accepting that no party is going to govern the way you want. Not even close

Selfie courtesy of Eli and the author

Sarah Tuttle-Singer

Four secular teens, a Haredi family, and a place at the table

The disagreements over religion and military service didn’t disappear, but for one holiday meal, they simply mattered less

Rebuilding Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, two years after the October 7th massacre, on August 7, 2025. (Tsafrir Abayov/ FLASH90)

Not just a vote against: What a Zionist government must stand for

Five priorities for a Zionist government that aims beyond correcting this coalition’s failures to securing Israel’s long-term future

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to supporters during a campaign appearance at a market in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 22, 2026. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Ted Sasson

Netanyahu’s cryptocurrency gambit is really about the West Bank

The PM is signaling that, unlike his opponents, he will defy international pressure and keep building settlements, even at the risk of economic sanctions

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Oct 29, 2026, 6:16 AM

The Change Bloc must accept the Arab parties, and vice versa

A pamphlet handed out by an activist at a Joint List stand in Haifa on the day of the elections reads: “The ministers and generals lied to us, claiming that war was necessary for security. After three years of...

Oct 29, 2026, 6:07 AM

Creation, Property, and the Social Purpose of Goods

LOVE MADE SOCIAL — COLUMN 4 OF 16 Modern economic arguments often begin with ownership. Who holds legal title, who controls the asset, and what may the owner do without interference? Christian theology begins one step earlier: “The earth is...

Oct 29, 2026, 6:05 AM

The relationship between Sara Imeinu and Hagar, was strained from the start. It was actually her idea that Avraham take her as a wife when it was clear that Sara was barren. It appeared that Hagar was a good choice....

Oct 29, 2026, 6:01 AM

We All Want to Live. What Do We Owe One Another?

My wife and I went to a traditional boutique restaurant after seeing a video of it on Instagram. The food looked appealing. The presentation had done its job. Then we opened the menu. We chose two starters. One arrived nicely presented...

Oct 29, 2026, 5:37 AM

Test Your Assumptions, You Schmoes!

There are a lot of well-meaning people who believe terrible things about Israel, and it’s hard to blame them. (But don’t worry, I blame them anyway.) A few weeks ago, I wrote about the magnitude of the media problem...

Oct 29, 2026, 4:53 AM

Democratic Breakthrough or Status Quo Obstinacy?

Tuesday’s Israeli Election: What’s Going On? There are various legitimate ways to understand Tuesday’s election in Israel. This is being written as the votes are being counted but the general outlines seem clear. A few seats may shift by the...

Oct 29, 2026, 3:39 AM

Is It Good For The Yidden?

Voting in Austria was never an option for me. Too young to cast a ballot, and by the age of twenty, already married, I had left Vienna. I remember my parents voting for whoever seemed least sympathetic to the Nazis,...

Isaac Steven Herschkopf

Oct 29, 2026, 1:23 AM

The Broken Glass: Letting Go of Their Hands

"Any who have heard that sound will shrink at the recollection of it; it is the sound of English county families baying for broken glass." - Decline and Fall, Evelyn Waugh (1928) The sound of glass breaking can be terrifying, evoking...

Oct 29, 2026, 1:22 AM

Yahrzeit: Louis B. Mayer

A remembrance of the man who was the driving force behind Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and of a Jew who lived the American dream to its fullest Six years after he was forced out of the gargantuan moviemaking factory that he had lorded...

Ibrahim Mukherjee

Oct 29, 2026, 1:20 AM

The Cola your mind consumes daily.

The Carbonated Mind: Sports, State News, Tech Hype and the Dopamine Loop You open your phone for the football score. A government headline interrupts. Below it, a technology founder announces that everything is about to change. Within seconds, you have...

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