Judaism

From Flatbush to Israel: How ignorance fuels the haredi draft crisis - opinion

What a Brooklyn protest reveals about Israel’s internal struggle over equality, service, and a divided society.

 A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail  in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024.
Dina Gavriely: ‘My task was clear – create vibrant and joyful texts.’

Meet the Israeli author making Jewish texts accessible for children

Reading a torah scroll

'The Sacrificial Service': Leviticus has been mistranslated for centuries - review

 SCRIBES FINISH writing a Torah scroll.

What the Israelites' greatest failure can teach us about today's uncertainty - opinion


Israel at 78: An appropriate birthday gift - opinion

Nations, like individuals, are not defined by how they celebrate their birthdays, but by how they respond to the clarity those moments provide.

The  turbulence of the past year fuelled by the Iranian regime’s war on Israel has fashioned Israel’s 78th birthday as a critical moment for self reflection.

The Torah our children wrote - opinion

On the stickers lining our lampposts, our fallen soldiers left something ancient. A new Mishnah, written not in ink but in lives.

Small stickers on lampposts and bus stops, petrol stations and kitchen fridges, plastered on the walls of army bases and in bus depots.

Israel must be more than just the nation-state of the Jewish people - opinion

Beyond security, Israel must serve as an anchor for Jewish identity, culture, and global engagement.

 People watch the military airshow as part of Israel's 75th Independence Day celebrations, in Saker Park, Jerusalem, April 26, 2023.

Yakov Schacht: How a Ninjutsu coach navigates life in Israel’s war zone

Yakov Schacht finds the mentality behind ninjutsu – which also forms the basis of his Shinobi Leadership Coaching business – invaluable and instructive in these scary times.

YAKOV SCHACHT, business leadership coach.

This month in Jewish history: History, memory, destiny

A highly abridged monthly version of Dust & Stars.

AS AN astronomer, Ralbag influenced Copernicus.  Pictured: Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in his hometown of Torun, Poland.

Shabbat Rosh Hodesh: At the threshold of renewal

Shabbat Rosh Hodesh is an invitation to renew not only the month but also ourselves.

‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all who love her.’

Parashat Tazria-Metzora: Turning lemons into lemonade

These parashot deal at length with a unique phenomenon described in the Torah – tzara’at, which are marks or changes that appear on the walls of a house, on clothing, or on the body.

'Spirituality can grow without diminishing anyone,' says the writer.

Shabbat candle lighting times for Israel and US

See Shabbat candle lighting times for your area.

Shabbat candles

Families protest after four Border Police soldiers disciplined for having barbecue on Shabbat

“My daughter feels she was treated like she was nothing,” one of the soldiers' fathers said. “Even if there was a breach of orders, where is the proportionality?"

 A Border Police officer conducting operations, May 2025.

Israel’s shift from seeking approval to shaping global narrative - opinion

It took the international responses to the October 7 massacre and the vicious antisemitism, the horrors, and the deaths for Israel to mature.

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat (L) waves with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (R) and US president Bill Clinton after the signing of the Israeli-PLO peace accord, at the White House in Washington, in 1993. Israel was forced into Oslo to reduce international isolation, and it backfired, the author notes.