Category: Other

I get to call Jerusalem home. I have called it home for as long as I have lived in Israel. My neighbourhood in Jerusalem is the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The Old City is sort of the Rick’s Café  Américain  in the film…

I recently participated in the impressive event commemorating Jewish peoplehood and the legacy of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the prominent leaders of American liberal Judaism in the 20th century, which is organized annually by…

The extinguishing of Hanukkah candles in a Tel Aviv shopping center last week was quickly framed as a scandal, and just as quickly transformed into a symbol. A young Arab-Israeli woman filmed herself putting out the candles of a public…

For decades, the conversation around peace in the Middle East has largely been dominated by discussions of power, borders, and security. While these aspects are crucial, they haven’t proven to be enough on their own. The Abrahamic movement…

On Sunday night, I attended a vigil organised by the Jewish Council of Australia at Grattan Street Gardens in Prahran, Melbourne. I did not attend as a participant. I attended as a silent protest.

I went because the Jewish Council is an…

It may have been an evening of comedy that had the audience rolling, but the hysterically funny material actually educated several thousand people in one swoop about Gemara, Israel, Zionism, Hebrew, issues of antisemitism, Jewish hIstory and…

Walk into any church this Christmas and you may hear something that has echoed for centuries. Not just the melodies. Not just the familiar cadences of belief. But a name.Israel.

It appears in some of the oldest carols in the Christian…

Driving north on Route 60, just past Ramallah, you reach Turmusaya, a Palestinian town sometimes referred to as “Little America.” Palm trees line the entrance. Mansions rise behind stone walls. SUVs fill wide driveways. For a moment, it…

I wanted to start my Times of Israel Blog for Hanukah with a song written by our former Cantor Natalie Young, “Be the Light.” It expresses hope and resilience and advises us to bring our own light out into the world. It’s also a theme…