Jewish society in Israel is not a society of “tribes.” Repeat: not a society of “tribes.” At least not the “tribes” that former President Reuven Rivlin described in a well-publicized speech. Rivlin stated that there are four main sectors in Israel: secular, ultra-Orthodox, religious and Arab—as if it were a geometry of squares, or triangles, with clear boundaries.

Fortunately, the direction of the pandemic, as determined by these mutations, is likely to be much more benign than that frightful scenario. The driving force producing the variants is their ability to compete with other strains in spreading. The most contagious strains “win.” But increased contagiousness also has the potential to make the disease milder.

During his recent screed about the American Jewish community, Donald Trump got it half right… But what Trump really meant is that American Jews don’t like or care for him, more specifically that we failed to appreciate Trump’s support for Israel over the course of his presidency and failed to reward him with a sufficient portion of Jewish votes in his re-election campaign.

Fads and backlash tend to go hand-in-hand. They wouldn’t be called “fads” if they were universally liked; they’d be called “timeless” or “classic.” Instead they’re called trends, crazes, obsessions, even guilty pleasures — the implication being that there’s something inherently shameful in their temporariness.

It didn’t occur to me that a day would come when I would no longer want a Christmas tree, that I would find the idea as wrong as my parents did. I remember the exact moment it happened: Mom, my sister, and I were visiting some wealthy temple members—I’ll call them the Tannenbaums—for afternoon tea during Hanukkah.

If you ever had the good fortune to spend time with Christopher [Hitchens}, as I did over long lunches and even longer dinners, you would have been an audience to one of the more spectacular minds in recent history. There was nothing Christopher hadn’t read and couldn’t recall from memory.

It is as close to the horror genre as we find in the Torah. Moses—with his wife Tziporah and their children—stop at an unassuming inn to rest on their way to Egypt… The story is disturbing. Gone is the magisterial God of the universe who remembers His covenant with Israel. Here instead is a demonic God, a night-banshee ready to kill.

Rivkah Slonim: Commentaries puzzle on God’s promise that the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the granules of the earth. After all, Jews have never accounted for more than 0.2 percent of the world’s population. Yet our impact and influence have been huge, causing our enemies—ancient and contemporary—to fear that we will “take over.”

The Hebrew word for sufferings is sivlotam. The Kotzker Rebbe ties this word to savlanut, meaning patience. That is, Moses saw that the Israelites were no longer protesting against their sufferings – they had become patient with them and accepted them.

Shmuel Rosner and Andrew Lawler discuss his latest book: “Under Jerusalem: The buried history of the world’s most contested city“.

Did you know your favorite Christmas song was probably written by a Jew? Marc Tracy returns to the show to shed light on the surprising history of Jewish songwriters and Christmas music, and shares a list of the 10 best Christmas songs written by Jews.

Discover two unique takes on contemporary Klezmer music. Hankus shares his inspiration and wealth of experience on the revival of Klezmer music, and Becky discusses her musical influences and the musical melting pot that has brought Eastern European Yiddish music to where it is today.