News From the Land

October 8, 2015 Let’s start with the good news.  It rained today, a bountiful heavy rain, all over the country.  First rain of the season!  It is customary in Jewish congregations all over the world to pray for rain on Simchat Torah, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Even congregations around the world

September 1, 2015 This month, I would like to share with you a wonderful article that was published in Hebrew in a weekly newspaper that I read faithfully, Makor Rishon. The author is Dr. Shalom Rosenberg, Professor Emeritus in the Jewish Philosophy department at Hebrew University. He is not only a highly-respected philosopher but a

August 4, 2015 This is a very difficult time in Israel.  Two children, a 2-year old baby and a 16 year old girl were murdered over the weekend.  The baby was an Arab child and he was killed Thursday night when terrorists burned down his family home, killing the baby and seriously injuring other family

  May 2015 One of the strategies employed by the enemies of Israel in recent years is what has become known as BDS — boycott, divestment and sanctions.  Pro-Palestinian activists lobby organizations, companies and governments and urge them to boycott Israeli products and business ventures, divest from companies that do business in Israel or who,

April 2015 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will continue to be Israeli’s prime minister.  That much was clear once the votes were counted after the recent Israeli election which took place just two weeks ago.  But what astounded so many in Israel was how different the actual election results were from the many surveys that had

March 2015 For weeks now, the news in Israel has been dominated by election issues.  Each party is jockeying against the other for favorable positioning with the Israeli electorate.  But what has characterized this election campaign more than any other is the coalition of left and left-leaning parties whose campaigns are one giant negative spin

February 2015 Election season is upon us and as we move closer to election day (March 17th) the mutual accusations and mud-slinging so common in any election campaign become louder and more pronounced.  But one of the major issues that have surfaced this week actually reflects something very fundamental that affects the settlement movement in

January 2015 The news in Israel has been focusing on two main topics in recent weeks: the upcoming elections and ongoing revelations of corruption in government circles.  With regard to the elections, the news is full of intrigue and spin. Great fun to follow but I’m not sure how relevant it all is to the

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 For weeks now, the government has been in election mode.  Despite the fact that there are many issues that need to be debated seriously, the politicians sense that elections are in the air and direct their comments more towards their own constituency than towards an efficient solution to any given problem.