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At the Crossroads: The Ultra-Orthodox Community and Israeli Society

The last two weeks and very likely—the weeks ahead are likely to be one of the most dramatic—and most seminal —periods in the history of the State of Israel. Israel’s rates of Covid-19 infection and mortality are among the highest in the world, and there is a clear and present danger of collapse of the health system’s capacity to provide…
06/10/2020

From Politics to a Holy War

Recent days have seen a strange development: Political positions, ideologies and worldviews, support for the Prime Minister or opposition to him—all of them have undergone conversion, and have been transformed into religious beliefs. The long-established ultra-Orthodox parties, who cling fiercely to their faith, are now being joined by those who are clinging no less fiercely to their secularism; those who…
24/09/2020
A Briefing on the 2020 Annual Assessment

A Briefing on the 2020 Annual Assessment

The Annual Assessment of the Jewish People A breifing with Avinoam Bar-Yosef, Avi Gil, Shmuel Rosner, and Gitit Levy-Paz Thursday, September 24, at 11:00am EST Open participation via Zoom: Meeting ID: 833 4897 3834 Passcode: 205988 bit.ly/AA2020E
23/09/2020

Cries of Protest vs. Cries of Prayer

The sharp contrast between the permission to hold mass protest demonstrations on the one hand and the restrictions imposed on prayer services on the other, is disturbing to many, and rightly so. Many sectors of the Israeli public, both the observant and the traditional, feel that their values are not being treated with the same degree of respect as are…
21/09/2020
2020 Annual Assessment
Photo by Avi Ohayon, GPO

2020 Annual Assessment

Situation and Dynamics of the Jewish People Annual Assessment תש”פ | 2020   Project Head Shmuel Rosner Contributors Avinoam Bar-Yosef, Dan Feferman, Shlomo Fischer, Avi Gil, Inbal Hakman, Michael Herzog, Gitit Levy-Paz, Dov Maimon, Steven Popper, Uzi Rebhun, John Ruskay, Adar Schiber, Noah Slepkov, Shalom Salomon Wald Editors Barry Geltman Rami Tal
15/09/2020

Israeli Tribalism Will Be the Death of Us

“In those days, there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Book of Judges). Based on current events in Israel, we seem to be reverting back to the period of the Biblical judges, with each tribe fighting against the other, in an atmosphere of complete chaos. This would be bad enough…
14/09/2020

Gavison’s Last Will and Testament

Among all the jurists of the last generation, the late Ruth Gavison stood out as an intellectual beacon. She was blessed with unusual acuity and intellectual brilliance, creativity and courageous thought, a broad education, curiosity, and meticulous attention to detail. Her professional writings, carved out by an analytical razor, and nourished by a sharp critical sense, were marked by sparks…
17/08/2020

On Induction Cookers, Non-Jews and God

Picture this. It’s morning at the “Kalo Cafe” in Jerusalem. Mustafa the cook is standing by the induction cooker frying an omelet. Customers are sitting down and ordering. Suddenly, in walks a man in a white shirt and Kippa. Without saying a word, he walks over to the wall behind the counter, takes down the kashrut certificate, and leaves. Why?…
03/08/2020

Tisha Be’av: A Social Tragedy From Then to Now

Today, Tisha Be’av, the ninth day of the month of Av, we commemorate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, a key landmark in the sequence of events that led to the Jews’ exile from their land. From a national perspective, it was the result of poor geopolitical judgment, which spurred a hopeless revolt against the mighty empire that ruled…
30/07/2020
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