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Rebecca Liebermann Nissel

Aug 4, 2026, 12:12 AM

See You Again Real Soon

Now, from my airplane window, I watch the last glimpse of the Tel Aviv coastline fade into a blanket of clouds, white and soft like the foam on my morning cappuccino. My heart tightens, yet it is full of...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Aug 3, 2026, 12:09 AM

Using our natural resources responsibly

In the Haftara for Parshat Re’eh (Yishayahu 54:16), we read the following words: Behold! I have created the smith who blows on a charcoal flame (esh pecham) and withdraws a tool for his labor, and I have created the destroyer...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jul 29, 2026, 10:53 AM

A land where you will lack nothing

In Parshat Ekev (Dvarim 7:9) the following words about the Land of Israel stand out: “… A land where you will lack nothing…” Sifre (Dvarim, Piska 37), asks: Why the Land of Israel is called tevel (Mishlei 8:26)? The answer is...

Jul 25, 2026, 9:18 AM

In Israel and Palestine, only outsiders are free to see the whole land

An American traveler crosses from Israel into the West Bank with a passport, a backpack, and freedoms unavailable to many people born there. For outsiders, the land can appear continuous and open; for Israelis and Palestinians, laws, permits, checkpoints, walls, and military zones divide the geography into separate worlds. (AI-generated).

I have spent more hours than I care to admit watching travel vlogs from Israel and Palestine – those breezy, handheld, parasocially intimate videos in which a 20-something with a backpack and a foreign passport lands at Ben Gurion,...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jul 23, 2026, 10:28 PM

Bringing good news to Jerusalem

In the Haftara for Shabbat Nachamu (Yishayahu 40:1-26) we find four voices of comfort. The fourth voice, the voice of Mevaseret Zion, the female bearer of good tidings, is found in verses 9-11: Ascend the high mountain, you who bear...

Jul 22, 2026, 11:18 AM

No one comes to Israel for Jerusalem anymore

Nova Memorial (Photo taken by Ari Melnik)

The visitors I guide ask me to take them to October 7's killing fields, and I do. But they shouldn't go home without seeing why Israel is so much more than its worst day

Jul 22, 2026, 4:54 AM

Before the MOU: Building the Partnership

Dennis Trinkle, President & CEO of TechIndiana, and Dr. Ronen Hoffman, President of the EIS Council, lead discussions during the June 5 Indiana ⇄ Israel resilience working session at the Indiana Statehouse. The convening laid the groundwork for the partnership later formalized in Israel.

Building Before the Signature International partnerships are often judged by the moment an agreement is signed. The photographs are published. The announcement is shared. Organizations celebrate the milestone. What is rarely discussed is the work that makes those moments possible. Several months before...

Jul 20, 2026, 1:09 PM

Resolutions of Evil – Photos and Negatives

Sderot, Memorial and Heroes Park (photo credit: Harriet Gimpel)

Our personal mission. A friend or relative comes to visit, not on an organized trip - we have a day trip planned. First time, late spring 2024. We planned to take a couple visiting from the UK. Attacks from Gaza...

Nachliel Selavan

Jul 16, 2026, 10:27 PM

Samson and the Giant from the Arbel

Blog post for Parashat Devarim 5786/2026 Caution: Giants! “What is the difference between your expectations and the reality of Israel?” my parents asked a group of Australian teenagers visiting Israel for the first time, seated in my parents’ living room in...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jul 15, 2026, 8:13 PM

Mount Hermon: Israel’s Alps

The Book of Dvarim lists four names for Mount Hermon. The first three, Hermon, Sirion and Snir are found in Dvarim 3:8-9: At that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites the land beyond the Jordan, from...

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