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Nov 8, 2026, 6:16 AM

To Be a Jew After the Election

There's an old Jewish joke, usually set in Berlin in the 1930s. A Jew is sitting on a park bench reading Der Stürmer, the Nazi newspaper. His friend walks by, horrified. "What are you doing reading that garbage?" And...

Nov 4, 2026, 3:56 AM

Why Israelis Hesitate When the Diaspora Cheers

Last week's election made Israel's friends abroad proud and many Israelis afraid. Israel's Arab citizens voted in record numbers, and the two Arab-majority parties won 19 seats between them, more than ever before. As Jacob Magid pointed out in...

Oct 28, 2026, 10:00 AM

Principles and Partnerships: A Torah Perpsective on Coalition Politics

Can a religious party join a government with parties whose values it fundamentally rejects? Can it sit with Netanyahu? With the Charedim? With Ben Gvir? With Arab parties? I understand why political parties sometimes declare that they will not sit...

Oct 23, 2026, 8:38 AM

Kibbud Av Va’eim: Must Children Always Listen to Their Parents?

When a child chooses a different path, a parent may feel rejected, while the child may feel that love has become a demand for obedience. A young adult wants to make aliyah, but the parents want the child to remain...

Oct 15, 2026, 7:58 PM

When Torah Challenges Our Moral Intuitions

A student recently wrote to me about something she had learned in class. She was studying Yehoshua’s conquest of Eretz Yisrael and was troubled by the Torah’s command to destroy the Canaanite nations, including women and children. When she...

Oct 10, 2026, 1:35 AM

Before We Answer the World

So many have already taken apart Zohran Mamdani’s October 7th remarks, point by point. I want to make a different point: We should not let him define the conversation. If we begin by debating whether Israel is guilty of genocide or...

Oct 7, 2026, 6:47 AM

There is a Time for Everything

Sometimes a story begins with one reaction and then develops into another. When news of the flydubai incident first broke, the reaction was simple: Baruch Hashem. People survived. Passengers acted with extraordinary courage. People ran toward danger to protect one another. There was...

Oct 1, 2026, 8:18 PM

When Life Suddenly Becomes Precious

Yesterday, I watched two videos I couldn't stop thinking about. In one, a group of Israelis was sitting on an airplane, singing: “And above all, not to be afraid at all.” In another, Israelis were singing: “Hashem yitbarach tamid ohev oti, v'yihyeh li rak tov.” “Hashem always...

Sep 25, 2026, 5:44 AM

Sukkot: What is Really Ours?

Every Jewish holiday has its own distinctive mitzvot and mitzvah objects. Rosh Hashanah has the shofar. Chanukah has the menorah. Purim has the Megillah. Shavuot has... cheesecake. Okay, we may need to work on that one. But Sukkot is different....

Sep 11, 2026, 12:29 AM

Remember. Be Free. Become

(My pre-Rosh Hashana pre-9/11 to Shulamith High School for Girls) Tomorrow is September 11. Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, 2001, almost 3,000 people went to work in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania and never came home. For my generation, September 11...

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About Me

Jonathan Muskat is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Oceanside.