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The 'Coat of Many Colors' on display at Dolly Parton's Chasing Rainbows museum at Dollywood. The coat on display is a reproduction, made by Parton's mother, Avie Lee, of the original. (Wikipedia)

Rachel Sharansky Danziger

Dolly’s riches and my new-baby haze are improving Israel’s election season

When I can give all of my attention to Israeli politicking, I’m at risk of missing the important stuff, buried amid the barrages of ugly accusations.

An 80-year-old blonde baby doll belonging to a Holocaust survivor on display during the opening of an exhibition of 16 objects lent from Yad Vashem on display at the Paul-Loebe-Haus parliamentary building in Berlin, January 24, 2023. (Julien GATHELIER / AFP)

Katie Cunningham

Does it matter if kids learn about dead Jews?

Dara Horn is right that Holocaust education hasn’t reduced antisemitism. My research shows that it can

Illustrative: A soldier cast his vote for in the general elections for the 20th parliament, at the Navy military base in Haifa on March 15, 2015. (Flash90)

Elkana Bar Eitan

October 7 changed my mind about Israelis voting from abroad

Eligibility to cast an absentee ballot should depend on meaningful ties to Israel, not the ability to afford an Election Day plane ticket

Illustrative: Hoboken Police officers stand watch outside the United Synagogue of Hoboken, Nov. 3, 2022, in Hoboken, N.J. (AP Photo/Ryan Kryska, File)

The doors I wish we could keep open

This holiday season, US synagogues want to welcome new people, even as we’re cautious about who we let in. We’ve gotten used to the dance, but isn’t that part of the problem?

Young Jewish adults participate in the Tel Aviv Urban Experience track of Birthright in an undated photo (Courtesy)

Barry Shrage

Birthright is no longer just a gift. It’s a necessity

In a post-October 7 world that is pulling young Jews away from Israel and Judaism, research shows that firsthand experience gives them a story worth carrying forward

MK Dan Illouz (L) stands with Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman after joining the party following his resignation from Likud, on August 5, 2026. (Yisrael Beytenu)

Dan Illouz

Reclaiming the right: Why I left Likud and found my home in Yisrael Beytenu

The current leadership protected cartels, stifled economic competition, allowed Haredi draft evasion, and did too little to truly win the war. That’s no way to run a country

Shas party's election campaign kick-off event in Holon, central Israel, August 20, 2026. (Yaakov Cohen)

Rivka Ravitz

‘I have chosen the way of faith’

As President Rivlin’s chief of staff, I came to understand Haredi resilience: Don’t think you can frighten or embarrass the community into abandoning its principles

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Aug 28, 2026, 8:13 PM

Being Kind to All; Or, Why You Shouldn’t Be Enticed into Hating Jews

Amongst my various phone diversions, I swipe over to Google to read stories from Bright Side. They’re short, touching stories of quiet acts of kindness. They’re always about the simple, unexpected ways people are considerate and thoughtful for no...

Aug 28, 2026, 7:49 PM

Treasure Trove: Human Zoos and Words for Jews

From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photograph by David Matlow.

Can you imagine going to see humans from different cultures on display? That is precisely what people would do in the 1800s and early 1900s when they visited human zoos or ethnic villages to see people such as Indigenous...

Aug 28, 2026, 7:41 PM

Mamdani, Netanyahu, and the Limits of Municipal Power

As an expert witness against the medicalization of punishment, I have spent a good portion of my career in courtrooms, explaining to juries and judges the precise boundary of what the law permits a person to do with someone...

Aug 28, 2026, 7:25 PM

Learning to sustain what has been achieved

KI TAVO- LEARNING TO SUSTAIN WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED The danger of arriving I do not read Ki Tavo as a parashah about gratitude. Or, more precisely, gratitude is there, but it does not seem to me to be the central...

Aug 28, 2026, 6:45 PM

Bereishis Haftarah: G-d Gave Us The Land of Israel

personal picture - my Hummer lebanon 2024- Ledovid prayer

The Haftarah is the main theme Of Every Parsha Why Haftarah? הפטרה The etymology of the word "haftarah" comes from the Hebrew פטר, meaning to conclude. Because this section of the Navi concludes the Torah reading. The origin of the Haftarah has several...

Joshua Hammerman

Aug 28, 2026, 6:41 PM

King David’s ‘Harp’ like Trump’s, was unable to make her aging king great again

A very strange story pops up at the end of the King David narrative in the Bible. The great king is old (just 70 - sheesh, and he looks like hell - after 40 years on the throne, and evidently 40 years...

Aug 28, 2026, 6:37 PM

Just Say ‘No’ to Peace

Image created by Lisa Liel

A gentleman going by @b_judah over on Twitter posted the following: It continues like this: That’s a clear policy for where you want to be in 1-2 years of putting costs on the occupation. There’s also a clear policy of where...

Aug 28, 2026, 6:35 PM

When the Shofar Is Silent

Kavanah and the Work of Elul This year, the most anticipated sound of Rosh Hashanah will, on its first morning, be silence. The first day of the festival falls on Shabbat. In accordance with long-established Jewish practice, the shofar will...

Aug 28, 2026, 6:25 PM

Where You Stand Matters: The Mystery of the Two Mountains

You May Be Standing on the Other Mountain — But We Can Still Say Amen Together There is a remarkable scene described in the Torah that contains a message our divided world desperately needs. As the Jewish people prepared to enter...

Aug 28, 2026, 6:24 PM

Inverting Moral Responsibility is Dangerous

The day after Israel was reestablished as a Jewish state, the armies of Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded the territory of the newly established state. Israel was less than 24 hours old, surrounded by enemies determined to...

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