Philip Reiss

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Sep 1, 2021, 11:04 AM

Good ideas taken too far: The updated Green Pass

A woman shows her 'Green Pass' as she arrives at a theater in Jerusalem on February 23, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

I am a strong proponent of the vaccines, but these new regulations will inflate the demand for the booster among those who need it least

Nov 21, 2019, 1:44 PM

The Three Weeks

Here in Israel we have just entered the Three Weeks. No, not the period of mourning and reflection from the 17th of Tamuz to the 9th of Av. I’m referring to the 21-day period, allowed for by Israeli law...

Feb 18, 2019, 10:43 AM

Shifting altitudes, and attitudes: The haftarah of Ki Tisa

The haftarah of this week's parashah, Ki Tisa, recounts the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. What is the significance of this particular site? Mount Carmel is not a single peak. It is rather a...

Jul 10, 2017, 3:27 AM

Rename UNESCO Square

The name should be one that symbolizes interfaith unity -- and he knows what that name should be

Nov 27, 2015, 7:39 AM

A Thanksgiving card to my American relatives and friends

Late this Tuesday night, I had a sarcastic thought: No Israelis were murdered by terrorists today -- we should all celebrate! Then, another thought: In fact, we absolutely should! As painful as the last two months have been, every day that we Jews have...

Mar 31, 2015, 6:17 PM

A humble thought for Pesach

Of the many symbolic meanings of chametz (leaven), one of the best known is haughtiness, an inflated ego. An early source for this idea is the Sefer ha-Chinukh’s discussion of Mitzvah 117—which is, interestingly, not one of the commandments...

Mar 19, 2015, 12:05 AM

Michael Oren for foreign minister

Dear Mr. Kahlon, Mazal tov on your party’s strong showing in Tuesday’s election. With coalition talks now under way, you must be feeling an acute need for advice from American biostatisticians such as myself. You may be quite busy, however; so...

Aug 6, 2014, 11:14 PM

A doubly apropos haftarah of consolation

There are two somewhat tricky verbs in the beautiful haftarah (Isaiah 40:1-26) that gives Shabbat Nachamu (this coming Shabbat) its name. This year, each of these verbs has a particular resonance. The first verb is nachamu itself. My sense is...

Jul 28, 2014, 5:00 PM

The blessing of America’s current fecklessness

My previous post referred to the Obama administration’s disastrously incompetent efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, and its turn toward Qatar, Hamas’s leading patron. These recent developments in American foreign policy are utterly unfathomable—from a secular viewpoint. But for...

Jul 27, 2014, 8:05 AM

A Canadian solution?

Now that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has failed so ignominiously to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, perhaps it is time for America’s neighbor to the north to step up to a leadership role in resolving the conflict. As has been...

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About Me

Philip Reiss is a Professor of Statistics at the University of Haifa. He made aliyah, with his wife and their three children, in 2015.

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