[The debate] It even had a clear winner in Pence, who was just boring enough to grind this one out. [He] landed a handful of real blows. Harris had nothing to say in response to his plain statement of her appalling record on race as attorney general of California. He was equally forceful on the subjects of the Green New Deal and court packing.

Harris was the clear winner of the evening for two reasons. First, she made good use of one of her biggest strengths: the visible joy she derives from these kinds of political battles… The second contributor to Harris’ win wasn’t Harris’ doing at all: Trump’s record made the debate an easy win for Harris.

There was only one real winner of Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate: the fly.

Pundits will talk about the merits of the debate, who had the most speaking time, who helped their presidential candidate the most. All of it will be eclipsed by a black housefly that temporarily got stuck on Vice President Mike Pence’s head.

The Pence-Harris debate was wholly unlike last week’s meeting between Trump and Biden, an evening that Trump turned unwatchable by his interruptions and insults, and by his steadfast refusal to adhere to any semblance of debate rules. Pence and Harris interrupted each other plenty, and they talked over moderator Susan Page, but they did so in the normal way of a smooth, long-winded politician that viewers surely found familiar.

Although more civil and coherent than the presidential debate, Wednesday’s encounter was a frustrating spectacle for viewers. Both candidates repeatedly failed to answer questions and used their time to unpack prefabricated arguments.

Don’t be fooled… The rancorous first presidential debate last week—featuring a sitting President of the United States in full-blown rage, crashing through the time limits and the debate rules, and a 77-year old challenger hurling personal insults back at him—is a much more accurate embodiment of the politics of our time.

Erdogan didn’t mean that Jerusalem is a Muslim city that belongs to all Muslims. As far as he’s concerned, Jerusalem belongs to Turkey… The vision of an Islamic caliphate under Erdogan’s leadership is his new baby, and what’s good for Hagia Sophia, the church that was turned into a mosque, is apparently appropriate for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well.

While Israel’s position is extremely complex in dealing with Azerbaijan and Armenia, due to alliances against Iran, Israel too should be very careful in aligning itself with Azerbaijan (and as such, Turkey) in this conflict. We should not ignore Erdogan’s aggression. We must hold Turkey accountable and put an end to its meddling in the region.

Neither Israel nor the United States is worried that Turkey will try to implement this absurd ambition. But the Erdogan government’s recent moves, coupled with its outrageous statements, do call into question the Trump administration’s apparent belief that Turkey can or should be encouraged to continue on its present course.

In the longer run, though, New York’s Jewish community will need vocal allies. Standing with New York’s Orthodox Jewish community is the right thing to do, but it also safeguards everyone’s freedom. Because if Cuomo can get away with closing synagogues, your house of worship can be shut down too.

One thing the state and city can do is make it easier for Hasidic Jews and other religious communities to worship outside… The leaders of the Hasidic community also need to do their part, working closely with state and city officials to stop the virus in its tracks. That is the only way to protect their own families and neighbors — and the eight million other people who call New York home.

For de Blasio, such boorish behavior is hardly unexpected… For Cuomo, his finger-wagging represents a nadir in Jewish community relations for a man who, like his late father, long valued and seemed to prioritize Jewish outreach. Alas, no longer.

Glück, who was born in New York in 1943, has written numerous poetry collections, many of which deal with the challenges of family life and growing older. They include “The Wild Iris,” for which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, and “Faithful and Virtuous Night,” about mortality and grief, from 2014. She was named the United States’ poet laureate in 2003.

Many of her works draw from Roman and Greek classical themes, though critics have also detected traces of her Jewish heritage in a number of poems.

“In The Triumph of Achilles (1985), she creates her own midrashic interpretation of a story from the Midrash Rabbah and measures her immigrant grandfather’s life against that of Joseph in Egypt,” according to the Jewish Virtual Library.

When Glück’s father passed, she wrote the collection “Ararat” as a response. Named for the mountain region where Noah’s settled his Ark after the flood it is one of many instances where her work, so steeped in mythology, drew references from the Hebrew Bible as well.

A nationwide serological survey conducted by the Health Ministry from July to September found that 5.5 percent of Israelis have coronavirus antibodies, indicating that the country is far from achieving so-called “herd immunity” from the pandemic.

Weekly jobless claims are down sharply from a peak of near 7 million in March but have clocked in between 800,000 and 900,000 for more than a month. Claims remain above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000.

On Tuesday evening, Christie’s auction house had an unusually large item up for sale: a 40-foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, nicknamed “Stan,” from South Dakota. Stan is a well-preserved specimen, with over 188 bones that provide striking evidence of a violent life lived 67 million years ago. Its estimated value going into the auction was around $8 million. It fetched a staggering $31.8 million, shattering the previous record of $8.36 million as the most expensive fossil ever sold at auction.