In God They Trust?

Stick an average alumnus of the Israeli public school system into a synagogue during morning prayers, and chances are they would be bewildered. Even if they could recollect an arid Bible class they had to endure long ago, what good would it do them? They'd still be lost.

A Portrait of Israeli Jews  Asher Arian, Ayala Keissar-Sugarmen,  Avi Chai and Israel Democracy Institute.  Most Israeli Jews feel a sense of affinity—variously defined—to their country and the Jewish people. (PDF)  SAVE

A Jewish Public School  Ben Hartman,  Jerusalem Post.  Parents in Ra'anana, a middle class Israeli town, successfully lobby for a "pluralist, traditional public school." It only took 14 years.  SAVE

Returning to God  Haim Shine,  Israel Hayom.  Some of Israel's founders may have envisioned Jews without God, but their descendants are coming home in droves.  SAVE

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From New Year to Arbor Day

The holiday of Tu Bishvat ("the fifteenth of Shvat") falls this year on Wednesday, February 8. What are its origins, and when and why did it become incorporated into the calendar as the Jewish "Arbor Day"?

When Have "Most of the Rains Passed"?  Yair Goldreich,  Bar-Ilan University.  Analyzing the climatic factors that help determine the date of Tu Bishvat.  SAVE

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Whose Holocaust?

For much of Europe, today is the UN-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dedicated his address this year to children murdered by the Nazis, with the message that "the best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations."

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Swiss illustration of I Maccabees.

The First War of National Liberation

This is the 2,179th anniversary of the world's first war of national liberation. There have been many since. To a surprising extent, such wars have followed the pattern first established by the Maccabees. They, like later heads of independence movements, were leaders of a people conquered and occupied by a great empire.

The History of the Menorah  Daniel Sperber,  Journal of Jewish Studies.  When the Maccabees recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem, its golden menorah was gone. So, following a soldiers' custom, they made a menorah out of their hollow spear-heads.  SAVE

Sri Lanka Leader Says International Criticism “Tainted”  Agence France-Presse.  There were international allegations that the Sri Lankan army massacred civilians as they ended the Tamil rebellion. The Sri Lankan president disagreed.  SAVE

The Warrior Rabbi  Aryeh Tepper,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  Shlomo Goren, first chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, helped revive the tradition of the Jewish warrior.  SAVE

Mel and the Maccabee  Alex Joffe,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  Should Mel Gibson play Judah Maccabee in "Hannukah—the Movie?"  SAVE

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