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East of Eden. Promotional still courtesy of Netflix. Used for illustrative review and commentary purposes under Fair Use.

Sarah Ansbacher

East of Eden and north of Jaffa: John Steinbeck’s hope

The author’s 19th century ancestors moved to the holy land to help teach the Jewish community to farm. I found traces of them in Tel Aviv – and on Netflix

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, September 16, 2025. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)

Barak Seener

Netanyahu has changed the Middle East. Will Israel ensure it lasts?

After Oct. 7, the Jewish state dramatically weakened its enemies, but Israel’s leaders must have the resolve to protect those hard-won gains

A boy observes police as they patrol the streets of Tarabin al-Sana, a Bedouin town in southern Israel, on December 31, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Yardena Bagantz

The Negev’s future cannot be secured by police cruisers alone

The Shin Bet warns of terrorist cells forming in the south — but tackling the threat means addressing the root causes that draw young Bedouins toward crime and extremism

Students at Beth El Temple in West Hartford, Connecticut add to a communal art piece marking the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Oct. 7, 2024. (Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)

Dena Klein

Oct. 7 made it impossible to ignore what’s missing from Israel education

We need to help Diaspora Jews build a relationship with the country that can hold the weight of reality – even in difficult times

Illustrative. A segment of an eruv, including the plastic white pipe on the pole, as a 'lechi,' in Airmont, New York, on February 6, 2018. (Wehwalt/ Gary Greenbaum/ Wikipedia

Amy Handlin

What an ‘eruv’ taught me about fighting antisemitism

Getting to know your local leadership now means you can turn to them later (I know; I was the politician tapped to help a NJ Jewish community)

Illustration. (J Studios via Getty Images)

Arnie Draiman

When did $650,000 become a reasonable Jewish nonprofit salary?

We need talented people leading our charities. But does paying a CEO twice as much deliver twice the impact, or simply leave less money for the mission?

(iStock)

Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler

ChatGPT was on my medical team

I made my own decision, of course, but the machine’s influence far exceeds its data, depending on how we relate to it: tool, team-member, or authority

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Oct 15, 2026, 12:05 AM

Somaliland and Somalia: Two Divergent Realities and the Recognition Paradox

Somaliland and Somalia share language, religion, culture, and geography, yet they have followed sharply different political paths. Somalia has international recognition, a United Nations seat, and African Union membership. The Republic of Somaliland has governed itself since 1991 with...

Allen S. Maller

Oct 14, 2026, 11:17 PM

Tahrif and the Number of Prophet Jacob’s Descendants

Tahrif is an Arabic term meaning "distortion" or "alteration" as a concept spanning interfaith relations, textual history, and religious pluralism across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While commonly understood in polemical contexts as the intentional physical falsification of scripture (such...

Oct 14, 2026, 11:16 PM

I Was Never an Activist. Then People Showed up!

I was never an activist. I cared about causes. I signed petitions, occasionally shared a social media post, and felt terrible when something awful happened in the world. But that was usually where my involvement ended. I had never organized...

Oct 14, 2026, 11:12 PM

What a Nobel Prize Just Revealed About the Soul

On October 6, 2026, the Nobel Committee awarded the Prize in Physiology or Medicine for optogenetics — the ability to control individual neurons using precisely targeted light. It is one of the most significant neuroscience breakthroughs in decades. Most of...

Gulaid Yusuf Idaan

Oct 14, 2026, 11:09 PM

Beyond Trump: Somaliland’s Path to Recognition

For Somaliland, international recognition remains a central question of historical legitimacy, international law, diplomatic strategy, and national security. Since restoring its independence on 18 May 1991, Somaliland has developed its own political institutions, security structures, electoral processes, and administrative...

Oct 14, 2026, 11:03 PM

The Facts Between the Headlines

I was listening to a radio news bulletin in Johannesburg when I heard that South African jurist Navi Pillay had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. The bulletin also mentioned that Israel had objected. What struck me was not what...

Oct 14, 2026, 11:00 PM

The Nobel Peace Prize offensive

On 9 October 2026 the Norwegian Nobel Committee ("the committee") awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem (Navi) Pillay "for her efforts to promote peace and international law," and announced that "Peace requires justice." In Nuremberg, ironically, Pillay told a crowd...

Oct 14, 2026, 9:55 PM

Thank You Metallica

Metallica has always been my favorite band of all time for as long as I can remember. I've been to two of their shows, own all their music, and have several Metallica shirts. I even play a variety of...

Nassir Hussein Kahin

Oct 14, 2026, 9:53 PM

Somaliland Leaders Built A Democracy. The World Keeps It Waiting

From dictatorship and destruction to reconciliation and constitutional government, Somaliland’s journey spans thirty-five years of self-government. Egal and the six presidents represent that institutional history, while the diplomatic metaphor challenges praise without recognition and reunion without consent. Credit: HOASR Original Infographics.

Egal’s legacy and the cost of praising self-government while withholding political standing Somaliland has spent thirty-five years building the institutions international diplomacy says it wants Africans to build. Its people negotiated peace, restored public administration and developed competitive elections. Governing...

Oct 14, 2026, 9:52 PM

Goodbye to Marven!

Perhaps this story is just a short, isolated personal anecdote. Or perhaps it is a bit more reflective of the superficial veneer of the American exile... Good Morning!!! I had just walked out the front door of my apartment building...

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