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Jun 25, 2026, 6:31 PM

To the Farm We Go

Image Source: Gemini

I have always been a terrible kibbutznik. As a sweaty woman used to the gray skies and freezing temperatures of Chicago, the Middle East was not the ideal place for my complexion. In addition to moving to a place that felt...

Jun 22, 2026, 12:14 PM

Angels and Astronauts: The Extraterrestrial Extinction of Jewish Law

Following the lunar landing on 20 July 1969, Rabbi Benzion Firer (1914-1988) addressed the following question: “In the last days, after man has succeeded in setting foot on the Moon, no longer do people laugh at the possibility of creating...

Jun 21, 2026, 8:58 AM

Just Another Lemon Tree

Note: these posts will not be in any sort of chronological order, but just based on what my brain decides on any given day. This story is based on how the kibbutz was 13 years ago. Since then, some...

Jun 19, 2026, 11:52 PM

The Pierced Ear: Torah’s Ownership Mark

The image tells two stories side by side. On the left, a Hebrew servant stands willingly at the doorpost. His master pierces his ear with an awl. The servant smiles with joy and devotion, choosing permanent service out of...

Jun 18, 2026, 10:14 PM

From Miriam’s Well to Resilient Zionism: Financing Israel’s Next Stage

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strock review development plans during a recent strategic tour of the Negev region.

This week in Israel, we read Parshat Chukat, which records Miriam’s death in a single, almost understated verse: “Miriam died there and was buried there.” Immediately afterward, the Torah tells us that the people had no water. The Midrash...

Jun 16, 2026, 5:32 PM

The Seed in the Feed Trough: How Common Fodder Disqualifies Temimah

A red heifer calf named Temimah (perfect) entered the world a few weeks ago on a dairy farm in the hills of the Galilee. She displayed a strikingly pure red coat. Rabbi Azaria Ariel examined her personally soon after...

Jun 10, 2026, 4:09 AM

Inches to Metric: Creating Mercaz Lavi – PTSD Center

Our team. Photo Beth Kopin

Our buddy Elie Spivack (co- founder of Mercaz Lavi) came to us four years ago. He was a distinguished combat engineer suffering from PTSD, (post traumatic stress disorder). We did not know it at the time. All we knew...

May 30, 2026, 5:15 PM

From Jerusalem via the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea: Turning Sewage into Energy

From Sewage to Energy: The Restoration of the Kidron Valley Brings Life Back to the Desert. About eight years ago, a capstone project I supervised at the Faculty of Management at Ben-Gurion University won first prize in the university’s “Green...

Jose Lev Alvarez Gomez

May 27, 2026, 11:18 AM

Europe Needs Israel to Join the European Union

Europe is careening toward strategic irrelevance as Iranian proxies tighten their noose around its southern flank and radical Islam spreads through its streets and no-go zones. Israel is the hard-power partner the European Union can no longer afford to...

Sam Lehman-Wilzig

May 21, 2026, 10:37 AM

Should We Change the Torah Reading Cycle (Again)?

What does the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost) symbolize? There’s no clear answer because its “meaning” has undergone change over time. The Israelites received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, and we commemorate this on Shavuot based on counting the...

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