Independence Day

Every spring, within a single week, Israel commemorates Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha'atzma'ut. These days revisit the core drama of the modern Jewish experience.  They are also among the most controversial in the Israeli calendar.

Remembering the Fallen  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The themes of death and loss that occupy the days from Yom Hashoah to Yom Ha'atzama'ut have occupied the best of Israel's poets.  SAVE

Hatikvah at Bergen-Belsen  BBC.  On April 20, 1945, the BBC visited the newly liberated Jewish inmates of Bergen-Belsen. They sang Hatikvah.  SAVE

Rewriting Hatikvah as an Anthem for All  Philologos,  Forward.  Israeli Arabs find it unnatural to sing an anthem about the "Jewish soul." But if you changed just two words . . . .  SAVE

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Citizenship papers from the author's family.

Righteous Among Our Nation

Even before visitors walk through the door of Yad Vashem, they see a powerful tribute to Holocaust heroism. Along the Avenue of the Righteous leading to the museum, thousands of trees bloom in honor of the approximately 21,000 "Righteous Among the Nations," courageous Gentiles who defied the Nazis and risked their lives to save Jews from deportation.

Visas for Life: Rabbi Jehuda, Deborah, and Moses Glasner  U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Unauthorized Salvadoran citizenship paper issued by Mandel-Mantello to the author's grandparents and uncle.  SAVE

Visas for Life: Rabbi Akiba, Hermine, and Sulamith Glasner  U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Unauthorized Salvadoran citizenship paper issued by Mandel-Mantello to the author's great-grandparents and great-aunt.  SAVE

Mandel-Mantello’s Mission  U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  How a Hungarian Jew launched an effort to rescue thousands of Jews across the continent. (Video)  SAVE

A Search for Answers  Shir Ziv, Gaylen Ross, Shmarya Rosenberg,  Failed Messiah.  Who was Rudolf Kasztner really? A traitor, or a hero? A scapegoat, or the man who chose to "play God" and seal fates for life and death? (Film review and audio interview with the director of Killing Kasztner)  SAVE

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The Unseen Shield

The news report hardly makes an impression on most Israelis: another West Bank checkpoint search, another discovery of explosives and weapons, and the familiar finale: "The suspect was taken in for questioning by the Shin Bet."

Knesset Passes Shin Bet Law  Naomi Segal,  JTA.  Landmark legislation defines the authority and responsibilities of the security service—but does not address the use of duress in interrogation.  SAVE

Ticking Time-Bombs and Torture  Fritz Allhoff,  University of Chicago Press.  A philosophy professor, allowing that torture is a moral wrong, concludes that in exceptional cases it is the lesser of two evils.  SAVE

History of the Shin Bet  Shabak.gov.il.  Once, Israeli prime ministers used it to crack down on political opponents. Today, it is the front line against the threat of domestic terror.  SAVE

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Peter Beinart, I Quit.

Peter Beinart's new blog on the Daily Beast titled Open Zion (formerly Zion Square) is dedicated to an "open and unafraid conversation about Israel, Palestine, and the Jewish future."  But after several weeks of Open Zion, one writer has concluded that its conversation is not, in fact, open—and is not one in which he can continue to take part. Here, he resigns his position. 

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Jerusalem Lions.

Is Football Treyf?

The Israeli Football League—American football, not soccer—is a curiosity. For starters, it's popular: While the sport has mostly flopped overseas, the IFL has an invested fan base and committed, reasonably talented players.

What Would the End of Football Look Like?  Tyler Cowen, Kevin Grier,  Grantland.  Two economists imagine how football-induced head injuries could lead to the demise of football as we know it.  SAVE

American Football Gains Following in Israel  Ben Solomon,  New York Times.  "I sit and learn all day," says the yeshiva student, replacing his cotton yarmulke with a polyester one for football practice. "I love to do this sport to stay healthy."  SAVE

The Israeli Football League  TMZ.  Would you believe the league gets big funding from the owner of the Boston Patriots? (Video)  SAVE

Judaism on Steriods  Micah Stein,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  Performance-enhancing drugs have a long history—both in baseball and in Judaism.  SAVE

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