Category Israel

Judges slap down Knesset

Israel’s government pushed the country’s Supreme Court into a corner – but instead of weakening the judicial system and putting more power into the hands of the government, which was the aim of the coalition’s judicial reform package, the gambit…

Learning, living coexistence

photo - Hand in Hand (Yad b’Yad) is a group of Israeli schools where Jewish and Arab students learn together. Its co-founder, Lee Gordon, was in Vancouver last month

Hand in Hand (Yad b’Yad) is a group of Israeli schools where Jewish and Arab students learn together. Its co-founder, Lee Gordon, was in Vancouver last month (photo from Hand in Hand) Lee Gordon, co-founder of Hand in Hand (Yad…

Imagination flies free

I was driving home from work the other day. Left the office early to reduce driving time in the evening hours. Hamas likes their 6 p.m. missile barrage and I’m honing my missile-avoidance routine. I was listening to talk-radio, but…

Contemplating the war

photo - Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets in Casablanca with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, 1994

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets in Casablanca with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, 1994. (photo from flickr.com/photos/government_press_office/6324960139) With all the darkness surrounding us since Oct 7, since the shattering of that tranquil Shabbat, have the people of Israel witnessed a miracle?…

Sip for Solidarity campaign

photo - Joshua Greenstein, vice-president of the Israeli Wine Producers Association, showcases the array of wines produced in Israel

Joshua Greenstein, vice-president of the Israeli Wine Producers Association, showcases the array of wines produced in Israel. (photo from IWPA) The world of wine in Israel, perhaps the oldest wine-producing region in the world, has become collateral damage of the…

Hebraization of names

photo - The Ben-Gurion family in their Tel Aviv home, 1929. From left: David and Paula with youngest daughter Renana on Ben-Gurion’s lap, daughter Geula, father Avigdor Grün and son Amos

The Ben-Gurion family in their Tel Aviv home, 1929. From left: David and Paula with youngest daughter Renana on Ben-Gurion’s lap, daughter Geula, father Avigdor Grün and son Amos. (photo from National Photo Collection of Israel / Government Press Office)…

People helping one another

photo - The author’s husband, Dr. Scott Fields, picking tangerines in southern Israel, on Kibbutz Nitzanim

The author’s husband, Dr. Scott Fields, picking tangerines in southern Israel, on Kibbutz Nitzanim. (photo by Deborah Rubin Fields) I have just returned from laundry brigade duty. Of course, your first question is, what is the laundry brigade? As you…

Identifying the victims

photo - On Oct. 31, among the ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel Defence Forces personnel brief a delegation of Conservative rabbis and lay leaders from the United States, Canada and Britain, which was on a three-day solidarity mission organized by the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Centre

On Oct. 31, among the ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel Defence Forces personnel brief a delegation of Conservative rabbis and lay leaders from the United States, Canada and Britain, which was on a three-day solidarity mission organized by the Fuchsberg…

Tidbits about life now

photo - Teenagers are filling in for drafted reservists at Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda market

Teenagers are filling in for drafted reservists at Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market. (photo by Gil Zohar) With the horrors of Oct. 7 embedded in our minds, in our hearts and in our souls, Israel has come together in so many…

Civil society has been crucial

The Institute for the Study of Civil Society and Philanthropy in Israel at Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently released a report called Civil Society Engagement in Israel During the Iron Swords War: Emerging Trends and Preliminary Insights. Written by Prof. Michal…