Anis Modi
Israeli campaign season is officially in full swing. Most political parties launched their first media blitz this past week, giving voters the gist of their election strategy.
Molly Cooke
When Akiva Weisinger started the Facebook group “God Save Us From Your Opinion: A Place For Serious Discussion of Judaism” in 2014, he viewed it as a place for “me and a couple of friends to discuss Judaism,” the 27-year-old teacher recalls.
With thousands of participants taking to the streets across the nation on Saturday, the third Women’s March provided a defining moment for the movement, and even more so for the future face of liberals in American politics.
Moment
Gal Lusky, founder of Israeli Flying Aid (IFA), has brought humanitarian help into some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. Lusky was born on Kibbutz Hokok in northern Israel, and she says her upbringing provided her with independence, while her Jewish values taught her to help others in need. She never thought of a career in international aid until 1992, when her brother was seriously wounded during his army service. She sat by his bedside for nearly a year and came to understand “how blessed I was to be born in Israel with its amazing medical infrastructure,” she says. “I wanted to bring this to others in the world.”
Moment
Our reaction to the events in Pittsburgh began with mourning for the victims. From mourning we moved to the legitimate fear that comes from living in a nation where easily procured weapons of mass death terrorize people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people and—as always—Jews.
Sarah Breger
It’s one of the more unsavory parts of the Bible. Lot, after the destruction of Sodom, is seduced by his two daughters, who think they are the world’s sole survivors.
With publication of the second and final volume of his monumental biography of Saul Bellow, Zachary Leader, a professor of English literature at the University of Roehampton in London, has completed a decade-long immersion in Bellow’s life and letters.
Seriously, for a White House struggling to shake off criticism of being too hospitable to extremists and anti-Semites on the margins of its support base, the Trump administration’s reluctance to fill the of anti-Semitism envoy is starting to raise concerns.
The Anti-Semitism Monitor reports anti-Semitic incidents around the world by country and date on a weekly basis.
So on the eve of another round of Israeli elections, in which a “right” is supposedly battling a “left,” we have to ponder two options. The first is to agree that most of what Israelis argue about is either relatively unimportant (should we pass a nationality law?) or strictly tribal (do you belong to this or that segment of the population?), or just personal (do you approve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?). The second option is to change the definition of our political camps and what they mean. Do not contrast the small, vocal and largely irrelevant minority of people who still call themselves a left with the majority—because it skews the real political picture. Do not even call it a left—it’s confusing. Do not pretend the major debate in Israel is about the peace process—because it’s not. What is it about then? Hmmm. Good question.
