Pres­i­dent Biden’s de­fi­ant, ac­cusatory de­fense on Tues­day of his Af­ghanistan withd­rawal and its ex­e­cu­tion was so dis­hon­est, and so lack­ing in self-re­flec­tion or ac­count­abil­ity, that it was un­worthy of the sac­ri­fices Amer­i­cans have made in that con­flict.

Despite its imperfections, this was a powerful and evocative speech by a President who believes to the depths of his soul that, for the benefit of American national interest, the good of the American people and those who serve, the decision to end America’s longest war was the “right decision; the wisest decision and the best decision.”

Biden seems to be embracing a belief now shared across ideological lines: America’s international role has been an exercise in overreach. For more than a decade, in fact, this has been a more powerful current than the foreign-policy establishment might like to admit.

Rumors and myths about COVID-19 vaccine effects on all aspects of reproduction and sexual functioning have spread like a Delta variant of viral misinformation across social media platforms.

False claims about vaccines and fertility also tap into larger trends in American culture: a skepticism around medical treatments and an emphasis on natural “wellness,” especially where female reproduction is concerned.

The benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy — policymakers and health leaders must do better in ensuring that expecting mothers hear this message loud and clear.

The State of Israel has demands that Europe and the United States impose financial sanctions on the Palestinian Authority due to the fact that it insists on maintaining a policy of payments to terrorists. What are we supposed to tell them now, when we are doing the exact same thing?

The steps taken by Gantz and Bennett are in effect designed to build confidence with Joe Biden’s administration… Israel will return to the idea of an economic peace, or will offer a faded copy of Trump’s deal of the century.

The discussion of economic issues is important. The PA is dealing with a serious economic crisis, exacerbated by corruption and the coronavirus pandemic. Economic stability can help bring about broader stability and quiet, even without a peace process in sight.

This coming Sunday will be the last day on which public institutions can plant trees, shrubs and flowers… landscape architects and activists are urging that the ban be reconsidered, especially in urban areas.

…with modern Israel beset by agricultural and economic difficulties and diplomatic-military challenges, absolute shmita observance is far from simple. A few hardy farmers indeed are letting their fields lie fallow. But that is not a solution for the entire country, which still needs to eat and keep its agricultural sector solvent.

With the years, the conflict has sharpened, with religious nationalist rabbis easing the burden and allowing solutions that would still follow Jewish law, such as leasing the land for a year to a non-Jew, who would continue growing the agricultural produce.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis oppose this workaround and prefer agricultural produce that comes from abroad.

When Los Angeles native Max Levin was severely wounded during Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 conflict between Israel and Gaza, he began keeping a journal on his phone while in the hospital. Eventually uploading all of the notes onto his computer, he found he had hundreds of pages about his unique experience relocating from California to the Middle East to become a paratrooper soldier in an elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Hélène Jawhara Piñer’s “Sephardi: Cooking the History, Recipes of the Jews of Spain and the Diaspora, from the 13th Century to Today,” published in June. The recipes are gleaned from the history of the people of Spain, from court testimony given during the Spanish Inquisition and from Arabic and Catalan cookbooks dating back to the Middle Ages.

Challah-eating Australian kangaroos, an adventurous cartoon retelling of the biblical story of Jonah and the welcome second-in-a-series chapter book about a young girl with a magical sense of smell are among the highlights of this year’s crop of Jewish children’s books for the High Holidays.

…as anyone who has actually seen the episode can tell you, the whole point is to poke fun at those stereotypes and offensive behavior and the way corporate America clumsily tries to tackle them without taking a hard look at their own biases.

There isn’t a gender, race, or sexuality Michael Scott has not offended during his time as regional manager at Dunder Mifflin paper company. In Season 3, Michael outed Oscar in “Gay Witch Hunt,” and “Women’s Appreciation” was an ode to misogyny. But one episode, in particular, has raised cause for concern among execs at Comedy Central.

It’s pathetic that a network dedicated to comedy lacks the courage or will to air sharp satire like “Diversity Day.” Maybe they’re scared of social media backlash.