There’s a general fear among rabbis about speaking honestly about their complicated relationships with the State of Israel — they worry that doing so might alienate members of their communities and risk their own professional futures. For rabbinical students, the…
In his recent book Paradigm Lost, Ian Lustick claims that the Two State Solution (TSS) paradigm is lost and we are now in a One State Reality (OSR). His argument is interesting and important, though he seems a bit polyannish…
The decade drawing to a close (and social media memes with people comparing themselves in 2009 to 2019) invites comparisons about how things have changed – or not – in the decade since I lived in southern Israel– even more…
I finished watching Our Boys on erev Simchat Torah, right before I left for hakafot. It’s been three weeks now, and as far as I can tell, it’s nowhere close to leaving me. Our Boys is a ten-part series created…
Ruth Ebenstein, an American-Israeli journalist, public speaker and peace activist, is the author of the forthcoming memoir, Bosom Buddies: How Breast Cancer Fostered an Unexpected Friendship Across the Israeli-Palestinian Divide. Find her online at RuthEbenstein.com, on Facebook at Laugh Through Breast Cancer – Ruth…
Hannah Ehlers currently lives in DC. She attended American University where she majored in Jewish Studies. Ehlers is Development Associate at the New Israel Fund, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening democracy and equality in Israel and to ending the occupation.…
As we light the Channukah candles this year, may we celebrate our own liberation and reflect on how we wield our power as Jews.
A Birthright Israel trip alum gives three reasons why Birthright trips are problematic.
Why document a movement that has failed for 50 years to achieve its objective? The director of the American Jewish Peace Archive answers a tough question.
The essay reminded me of notes I sent with my daughter Shachar (who is now in college), when she went off on her sixth grade trip to Israel. I don’t often write about my children (and I got permission from…