Author: David Rutman

Photo Credit: Pixabay Stephen Flatow’s op-ed last month resonated with me. I was a Conservative Jew for most of my life. I didn’t become Orthodox until my daughter married Orthodox. It was a long, slow path, but I made it. How? Let me go back several decades. In fact, let me go back to 1907 […]

[embedded content] Rabbi Zev Leff, Chief Rabbi of Moshav Matityahu speaks about the Biblical Patriarch Abraham in a series of important mainstream rabbonim hailing from English-speaking communities abroad who have moved to Israel on Aliyah, who have agreed to speak on camera about this mitzvah and its importance. The series – and the organization – […]

Photo Credit: Kobi Richter/TPS Shin Bet booth at the CYBERTECH 2017 Cyber Security Conference, Tel Aviv. The IDF and US Cyber Command last week held their fourth Cyberdome exercise, preparing for cyber-attacks from hackers threatening the national security of both countries. The drill was part of the annual training program planned between the IDF and […]

Photo Credit: Mila Aviv / Flash 90 The sun sets at the Ginosar beach at Lake Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, in northern Israel. A record heat wave has warmed the Land of Israel so far this month, with temperatures ranging in the high 20s to above 30 degrees celsius across the country for the […]

Photo Credit: courtesy, Jay A. Waronker / Bar Ilan U. Dept. Of Jewish Art Synagogue in Chendamangalam, India, painted by Jay A. Waronker Several dozen structures constructed as synagogues may be found in India today. Among them are those that are fully functional, open yet marginally active, closed but still intact, decommissioned, or begin used […]

Photo Credit: Norman Einstein / Wikimedia The growing sophistication of domestic oil and natural-gas production has enhanced the U.S. national security. It has transformed the leader of the free world from a major importer of crude oil into the world’s top producer of both crude oil (surpassing Saudi Arabia) and natural gas (ahead of Russia). […]

Photo Credit: U.S. State Dept. / M. Dahlan Office) Mohamed Dahlan (right), a former PA security commander in the Gaza Strip, is one of the major critics and rivals of PA President Mahmoud Abbas (left), and hopes to succeed him in the presidency. Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas is set to announce that he […]

Photo Credit: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Assessing some of the damage after Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” in Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938. {Originally posted to the JNS website} This week Germany marks the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass.” The nationwide Nazi pogrom against that country’s Jewish community […]

Photo Credit: COL YouTube screen grab Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel at Kfar Chabad’s second Hakafot, 2018 Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel handed in his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, informing him he is leaving his post effective this coming Friday. The resignation follows Ariel’s loss of the leadership spot in National […]