Oct. 7, 2023 was very bad news for Israel. Over the past few decades, psychologists around the world have come to a greater understanding of the traumatic mental effects of war on combatants and victims. Unfortunately, the phenomenon doesn’t…
Category: Other
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Oct. 7 “Forever”: An Epigenetic Disaster
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Ron Dermer’s Departure A Turning Point — Call for a New Generation of Diplomats
By Shmuel Legesse Upcoming author of Moral Diplomacy for a Broken World: Inspired by the Vision of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Ron Dermer’s departure from office marks the end of one of the most influential diplomatic eras in modern Israeli history….
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The Milestone We Missed
A significant milestone of American political history passed this August with almost no acknowledgment. Twenty-five years ago, when Al Gore chose Senator Joseph Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, as his running mate, it marked the first time in our…
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Understanding Jewish and Palestinian Equality in Israel — Part III
Security, Law, and Structural Discrimination Series Preface Understanding Jewish and Palestinian Equality in Israel explores how questions of law, belonging, justice, and identity shape everyday life between the river and the sea. Written from my…
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How Netanyahu Shifted Israel’s Overton Window and Who He Really Is
How Netanyahu Shifted Israel’s Overton Window — And What It Reveals About Who He Really Is Political theorists use the term “Overton window” to describe the range of ideas that are considered acceptable in mainstream public debate. Inside…
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Love Grows as We See the Person, Not the Politics
When my group of Queens baby boomers reconnected on Facebook around 2010, it was electric. After forty years apart, people who shared the same childhood blocks were suddenly swapping stories, organizing meetups, and rediscovering a sense of…
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Burial
I’ve been visiting my 90-year-old mother in Los Angeles this week. In the evenings, I’ve been reading to her from an autobiography written by her first cousin, Peter Stern — who also happens to be my godfather. It’s been unexpectedly…
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Korah’s Charisma
Korah’s Charisma The Old Testament arch-villain Korah possessed a popular appeal among his fellow Hebrews that begs explanation Few figures are so maligned in the Old Testament as Korah, leader of the failed rebellion against Moses at Sinai…
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Marriage – Avraham and Sarah and Rabbi Sacks z”l
In the series of Torah portions which have occupied center stage these past few weeks including this week’s Torah portion of Chayei Sarah, the reader is introduced in a very descriptive manner to the trials and tribulations of our first Jewish…
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Morocco First. Period.
Sometimes, international politics feels like one of those “Piccadilly plays” – the British dramas packed with deceit, backroom deals, and a cast that hides daggers behind polite smiles. But the play we have just witnessed on Morocco’s…
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