The Fallen Kibbutz: A Microcosm of Israeli Society
By Lily Hoffman Simon
This year marked the centennial birthday of the Kibbutz. However, the structure of these unique societal experiments has changed so dramatically that,...
It Gets Better for Jews, Too
By Steven Philp
It has been one month since the suicides of ten LGBT teens prompted a national debate on the adverse effects of homophobic bullying...
E-Judaism and the Online Shtetl
By Merav Levkowitz
Those of us who have a Facebook roster full of Jewish friends are used to it: “Shabbat shalom” status updates, photos of apples and...
Yitzhak Rabin: 15 Years Later
In a moving column in The New York Times, President Bill Clinton pays tribute to slain Israeli Prime Minister and peacemaker Yitzhak Rabin. "I continue to believe...
Is Society the Angel of Death? Elie Wiesel's Take
by Daniel Kieval
"Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor." (Leviticus 19:16)
In an address given last week at Wesleyan University, Elie...
Sustainable Tzedakah
By Steven Philp
Now that we have entered the month of November, many of us look forward to the prospect of spending time with loved ones...
The Olive Conflict
By Lily Hoffman Simon
When Noah’s ark ended its forty day journey, Noah sent forth a dove, which returned to him with an olive branch. The olive...
The De-Militarized Zone: Politics and Religion in the Middle East
By Samantha Sisskind
AMMAN, JORDAN – The swastika and anti-Israel graffiti spray-painted on the wall of a church parking lot I pass on the way to my school...
What’s In a Name?
By Gabriel Weinstein
For hundreds of years, Ethiopian Jews dreamed of strolling through Jerusalem’s supposed golden streets and celebrating the Sigd festival in its hills. By...
The Hidden Israel
By Symi Rom-Rymer
A chubby young African boy dressed head-to-toe in an Israeli police officer’s uniform looks defiantly into the camera. A teenage girl in a...
Sky-Scraping Prices in Tel Aviv
by Merav Levkowitz
HGTV recently aired the Israel episode of House Hunters International, where two Chicago sisters with a $500,000 budget searched for an apartment in Tel...
Kosher for Halloween
By Daniel Kieval
It's Halloween in the suburbs. For a couple of weeks, already, the neighborhood decorations have been out in full force: pumpkins, black cats,...