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(Starting Over Sanctuary via Facebook)

Sharon Cohen

When animals save people

Stand beside a donkey (or a sheep) and you’ll breathe differently – and that’s just one way structured time with animals helps heal soldiers’ trauma (Noah)

Omer Shem Tov. (social media)

Erica Brown

Invest in love: An evening with Omer Shem Tov

When the former hostage sets rage aside, he teaches the rest of us to refocus on the best of humanity and to internalize expectations of goodness

Opposition Leader and Beyachad party member Yair Lapid speaks at the 'Law and Lies' conference, on October 12, 2026, in Israel. (Avshalom Sassoni/ FLASH90)

Yair Lapid

What makes countries successful

Until four years ago, Israel met every criterion of a successful country. That’s no longer the case. But since the damage came from the top, the repair can come from the top, too. And it will

Elchanan Poupko

Religious Zionism’s dangerous euphoria

As Israelis leave, allies lose patience and the Jewish world faces mounting threats, too many members of the community insist they are living in a time of miracles

Aron Schoenfeld

It takes 10 minutes to return a gun

After five months of reserve duty, turning in my rifle was easy. Finding my place again in a life that had learned to carry on without me is another matter

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

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Oct 16, 2026, 6:23 PM

PolitiPoems: 3 poems before the elections

Photo by Steve A Johnson on Unsplash

Who says poetry and politics don’t go together? Here are three (angry) poems on Israel’s upcoming elections. It’s not a time to sit on the fence. Apologies for any offense. PolitiPoem The government failed, on a massive scale, ignored all the warnings, that October...

Michael J. Salamon

Oct 16, 2026, 6:21 PM

Draft Evasion Is Not the Holocaust

There are a handful of subjects that make it difficult for me to remain calm. Not because I am unwilling to hear opposing views, but because some comparisons are so morally distorted that treating them as ordinary political rhetoric...

Oct 16, 2026, 6:17 PM

Counting our blessings amidst the elections

I was intending to write about the upcoming elections, but didn't really have a unique angle to share. However I have recently been reading from 1st and 2nd Kings in the Tanakh, and there one gains a breadth of...

Oct 16, 2026, 6:15 PM

From Lab to Life: How Earth Sustained Its Oxygen

Life on Earth exists, because there is oxygen in the atmosphere. We know how it began. Cyanobacteria figured out how to crack CO2 into carbon and oxygen, using sunlight, and single cells figured out how to ‘swallow’ cyanobacteria and...

Oct 16, 2026, 6:13 PM

Greenwashing Dogma: How the UK Greens Abandoned Ecological Realism

The Greenwashing Political Dogma. Carmit Lubanov ©

By adopting an extreme anti-Zionist resolution at their conference, the party revealed a cynical brand of opportunism that has nothing to do with genuine environmental justice. When the Green Party of England and Wales passed a resolution declaring Zionism an...

Galia Nezhinsky

Oct 16, 2026, 6:07 PM

The narratives to double-check before you vote

With elections ahead, every voter will face choices that shape the country's future. Those choices can only be optimal if they rest on real information rather than recycled allegations, selective omissions, and claims that gain the appearance of truth...

Oct 16, 2026, 6:03 PM

Gaza’s reconstruction will have to wait

Needless to say, Hamas poses the main obstacle to peace, full-scale reconstruction of the Strip contingent on its disarmament and the termination of its governance, Israel's security paramount. Since the Board of Peace's inaugural meeting in Washington early this year...

Oct 16, 2026, 6:01 PM

Israel and the Power of Political Myth

How repeated allegations distort public debate, shape diplomatic judgments and obscure the complexities of war. Political myths acquire their greatest influence when repetition begins to substitute for evidence. In the international debate over Israel, allegations are too often absorbed into...

Oct 16, 2026, 5:57 PM

Exploring the question of why Jews practice their faith and traditions is central to understanding Jewish identity. In his book, Why Do Jewish?, Zack Bodner examines the motivations behind living a Jewish life, considering both cultural and religious aspects....

Oct 16, 2026, 5:54 PM

The Ar(c)k in Time

The phrase אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה often translated as there is no chronological order in the Torah, is employed by commentators when faced with events that appear out of order. Most famously Rashi and Ibn Ezra have adopted this...

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