Once, she was called Ruth; today she is Natasha. Both of these women came to Israel to settle here and integrate into society. Ruth changed her identity, from Moabite to Jew, and her blood was mixed with our blood in the fields of Bethlehem—so much so, that according to tradition, both King David and the messiah of the future are…

With the passing of Jack Kay, the Jewish world has lost one of its most committed community leaders and forward thinking philanthropists. A resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland and Palm Beach, Florida, Kay died on April 21 at the age of 87. Kay was chairman of the board of the Kay Management Company in Silver Spring, Maryland, and one of…

Has Israel been fulfilling its historic mission? There is abundant evidence that it has. Since the founding of the state in the aftermath of the Holocaust, Israel’s Jewish population has grown by more than 1000%. The prophetic vision of the Return to Zion has been realized, with the Jewish people’s historic homeland now home to the largest Jewish community in…

Although a great many issues are awaiting resolution on Israel’s national table, the parties involved in the current coalition negotiations have been focusing on one topic: the ultra-Orthodox. The headlines have focused on the political aspect of this issue, and have concerned themselves with the question of whether or not the coalition will include the ultra-Orthodox parties. But regardless of…

This is the political coming of age of a cultural and social movement that is not willing to content itself with the obsessive debate about Israel’s borders conducted under the code name of “right” and “left”, but chooses instead to focus on the desired nature of the state that will exist within those borders, wherever they end up. In addition…

There are different kinds of calls for military insubordination. Some people who advocate refusal of orders are motivated by the desire to thwart the implementation of national decisions that have been made democratically; consequently, they call for mass civil disobedience or for disobedience by those who would be responsible for implementing the national decision, such as air force pilots ordered,…

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, one of the most important rabbis of the Religious Zionist community, has stated that it is forbidden for women to serve in the Knesset because it is a breach of modesty. As he sees it, the public exposure that is involved in political life is not reconcilable with the religious principle of “all the honor of the…

We must acknowledge the fact that there is tension between these two defining characteristics of our state. This tension cannot be resolved in one fell swoop. Extended efforts and a process of maturation over generations is necessary in order to arrive at interpretations that will reduce the areas of conflict and smooth out the rough edges, rather than sharpening and…

Jewish tradition, however, teaches us the opposite: “Do not rely on miracles.” While it is convenient to believe in miracles and to be led blindly by others, to a destination that is not of our own choosing, Judaism demands that we rely on ourselves, accept responsibility, and act autonomously. The time since the Exodus has been an extended transition from…