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Asaf Rajuan, one of the Israeli passengers who intervened in a terror attack on the pilot by his first officer on a flydubai flight, hugs another passenger from the same flight, as they arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, September 30, 2026. (AP Photo/ Ariel Schalit)
Michael Oren
Michael Oren
Flydubai Flight FZ1073 and the indomitability of the Jews
We love life in ways that will always outpace the death-cult of those who would destroy us and we will always rise up to defend it – even if we had somewhere else to go
Image by the author and her AI friends
Shira Pasternak Be'eri
Shira Pasternak Be'eri
Simchat Torah: Where there’s change, I find hope
Dancing with the Torah was once a hard sell for many Orthodox women, but it’s the default for the next generation in my shul – a quiet revolution on the women’s side
Ari Applbaum
Ari Applbaum
What Sukkot knows about the mental load
Despite our egalitarian ideals, my wife runs our home for 51 weeks a year. And then, for one long holiday, Jewish law gives men like me that experience
David Harbater
David Harbater
After death, creation: Simchat Torah in the shadow of October 7
We finish the Torah with mourning and immediately go back to the beginning, refusing to let destruction have the final word
A group of Kfar Aza evacuees gathered in a group hug for the Priestly Blessing (Oct. 19, 2023)
Yonatan Cohen
Yonatan Cohen
A blessing of love: Recalled
I raised my hands in the Priestly Blessing countless times, but I felt like a fraud. I didn’t feel blessed myself, until a friend restored the love underneath it all
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, March 19, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yair Zivan
Yair Zivan
The coming storm
The country’s global standing has never been worse. Without a change in government, Israelis will soon feel it in their wallets, travel and security
(Art by Sefira Lightstone, www.sefiracreative.com)
Judy Klitsner
Judy Klitsner
Our new delicate Simchat Torah dance: A time to weep, a time to rejoice
When our feet move in rhythm, but in heavy steps, and our voices rise in song, but crack with the weight of memory, the community will help warm the chill of absence
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Randall Fried
Randall Fried
Oct 2, 2026, 10:58 PM
Los Angeles City Hall Is Not The Hague
Los Angeles needs change. Anyone who has watched housing costs climb, struggled to navigate city services or wondered whether our leaders are prepared for the next emergency understands that. But change deserves scrutiny. At the September 29 mayoral forum...
Kenneth Jacobson
Kenneth Jacobson
Oct 2, 2026, 10:58 PM
The Dark Appeal of NAZA
The hysteria surrounding the global showings of the film NAZA speaks volumes about the times we are living in and the challenges facing Israel and Jews worldwide. What is so notable about the event was not only the fact...
Silas Anastacio
Silas Anastacio
Oct 2, 2026, 10:57 PM
Postdoctoral Fellowship for Brazilians at Weizmann Institute
Applications are now open for the Paulo Pinheiro de Andrade Fellowship, a postdoctoral scholarship offered by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and dedicated to Brazilian researchers. Candidates may apply until October 20, 2026. Established by Marcos Pinheiro de...
Ben Herman
Ben Herman
Oct 2, 2026, 10:57 PM
A Great Miracle Happened This Week
FlyDubai 1073 almost ended in tragedy. The copilot stabbed the pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar from India. The plane plunged down more than 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds. Thankfully Captain Machchhar, while fighting his attacker, managed to open the...
Adam O. Goldstein
Adam O. Goldstein
Oct 2, 2026, 10:54 PM
A Plumber, a Dentist, 67 Minutes, and the Miracle of Survival
Tell your children
There is an old joke that if you put two Jews in a room, you get three opinions. Apparently, if you put a plane full of people headed to Israel in an emergency, you discover a plumber who can...
Jonathan Jacoby
Jonathan Jacoby
Oct 2, 2026, 10:53 PM
An Open Letter to Jonathan Greenblatt: This Time, Choose Engagement
New York City Hall
Dear Jonathan: Within hours of Zohran Mamdani’s election as Mayor of New York City last November, you responded by launching a “Mamdani Monitor” to track his administration and its impact on Jewish safety across the city. Your message was clear:...
Beth G. Kopin
Beth G. Kopin
Oct 2, 2026, 10:52 PM
Inches to Metric: The Clique
Camp is a social incubator We are a Camp Ramah family and have been involved with camp for decades. However anyone who ever attended camp or middle school and survived/thrived knows, social dynamics are tricky. Not easy to navigate. Often...
Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman
Oct 2, 2026, 10:51 PM
INTO THE FRAY: Resolving Gaza – The only way forward
By MARTIN SHERMAN  Any policy proposal for Gaza that does not entail large-scale population removal is merely a variant of previously tried and failed formulas of autonomy and/or Oslo. Ever since Israel’s injudicious abandonment in 2005 of Gaza to Palestinian-Arab control,...
Eli Kowaz
Eli Kowaz
Oct 2, 2026, 9:15 PM
Flight 1073 Heroes Didn’t Ask Who Anyone Votes For
A FlyDubai Boeing 737-8 MAX. (Wikimedia)
Wednesday was one of those days that you won’t forget. One of those moments you remember for the rest of your life. We just passed the 25th anniversary of 9/11. I remember September 11, 2001 well. I was 11 years...
Benjamin Folkinshteyn
Benjamin Folkinshteyn
Oct 2, 2026, 8:34 PM
When Worldviews Crumble
Searching for a "logical" explanation for Antisemitism is a futile endeavor. To the preceding generations of America’s liberal Jews that saw the successes of the Civil Rights movement, the elimination of Jew quotas in college admissions, the rise of...
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