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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, 11:29 AM

Avraham and Sarah: 10 Secrets to a Loving Marriage

In the current series of Torah portions, including Vayera, we read about the marriage of Avraham and his beloved wife Sarah. What made our patriarch Avraham and matriarch Sarah such an extraordinary couple? Their marriage was certainly not without challenges....

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Oct 29, 2026, 11:29 AM

The Right to be a Refugee

(courtesy)

The word ‘refugee’ has become something that arouses intense emotions, whether positive or negative, in the hearts of those using or hearing it. That word has been part of my existence since I first learned to speak. My parents...

Oct 29, 2026, 11:27 AM

‘Hospitality’ Parashat Vayera 5787

Abraham, visited by three strangers, springs into action derives from this episode the principle that welcoming guests is greater than receiving the Divine Presence. Hospitality is not a peripheral expression of religious life. It is a way in...

Oct 29, 2026, 11:26 AM

Netanyahu’s next move to block cooperation with Arab parties: War on all fronts

The emerging results of the 2026 elections are in line with what I anticipated in my most recent commentary published in the days and weeks before the vote, here, here and here, Likud would emerge as the largest party,...

Oct 29, 2026, 11:24 AM

Israel’s Arab Parties Hold the Balance of Power. Now What?

Israel may be heading toward another election, but the real question is whether its political leaders are prepared to accept what the voters have told them. Israel has voted. And somehow, we may be right back where we started. Neither Benjamin...

Vincent James Hooper

Oct 29, 2026, 11:19 AM

The Hotel of the Good Name

On the Parade in Plymouth's old Barbican, close to the steps from which tradition says the Mayflower sailed in 1620, there is a wall that is slowly forgetting what it was told. In 1971 a young painter began covering...

Oct 29, 2026, 11:03 AM

Parashat Vayera – A Little White Lie

A friend recently shared a painful dilemma. His sister is facing serious medical complications, including surgery and life-altering changes. She and the wider family want to keep the news from their elderly mother to spare her the distress it...

Richard H. Schwartz

Oct 29, 2026, 11:01 AM

Will Israel Act Like the Democracy It Claims to Be?

Israel’s democratic character will be tested not by its declarations, but by whether its leaders are willing to include Arab citizens in a government capable of ending political paralysis and pursuing a more secure future. Israel faces a defining democratic...

Lawrence Maximo

Oct 29, 2026, 11:00 AM

Love: Hamas congratulates Lula on his reelection, as it did in 2022

The Hamas terror group has congratulated Lula on his 2026 reelection. The statement was issued on Monday, October 26, one day after the runoff. Confirmation comes from outlets linked to the movement itself and from aggregators that republished the...

Oct 29, 2026, 10:59 AM

You Can’t Have It Both Ways

On October 27, Amnesty International UK declared that Israel’s election exposed “apartheid at the ballot box.” Image: Ra’am (Arab) party leader Mansour Abbas and other party members stand on stage following the release of exit poll results in Sakhnin, Israel, on October 27, 2026. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

When “Palestine” Is a State, Except When Israel Holds Elections Israel has just held another national election. Israelis voted for the 120 members of the Knesset who will decide who governs the State of Israel. And, predictably, the international commentary has...

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