Shabbat Toldot: Deception

The Torah is very clear about deception. “Do not deceive or lie to each other”( Leviticus 19.11). Read more

Own goals

Scoring an own goal can be a most embarrassing result in a soccer game, but it also has another connotation. Read more

For Israel’s detractors, her existence is the root cause of the issues, not her policies.

This most recent Israeli election, the fifth in the current cycle, proved to be quite different from the previous four, not only in producing a definitive result but with the campaign itself. Read more

M by Montefiore wins Excellence in Construction Award

Read more

Jewish activists in Europe join forces against xenophobia

In recent years, Europe has seen an alarming rise in antisemitism…writes Nicci Mowszowski Read more

Murray Dahm speaks with Carmen’s bullfighter

I last spoke with Daniel Sumegi before the Melbourne performances of Wagner’s Lohengrin earlier this year. Now he returns to Australia in Carmen on Cockatoo Island as Escamillo, the bull-fighter and lover of the gypsy Carmen after she has tired of ex-corporal Don Jose. Read more

Australia: The Unpromised Land

Earlier this month, the story of a plan to settle 125,000 victims of the Holocaust in Australia was told during Holocaust Education Week in Toronto, Canada. Read more

From Australia’s Jewish Past: Emanuel Phillips Fox – impressionist painter and teacher

Emanuel was born on 12 March 1865 at Fitzroy, Melbourne, the seventh child of Alexander Fox, a Jewish photographer from London, and his Sydney-born wife Rosette, née Phillips. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon: With friends like these. Read more

Is it fair that children should suffer because of the deeds of their parents?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine key to ending Jew-bashing at UN

The United Nations favourite sport – Jew bashing – was on full display this past week at the 77^th Session of the United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) – which approved six draft resolutions – all highly critical of Israel. Read more

It’s time for Israel to untie the American apron strings

Can Israel break its dependency on the United States? Read more

On the other hand

Each and every time the United Nations condemns Israel for having the chutzpah to actually exist, the number of Israelis who support right-wing parties increases. Read more

Aftershocks

After a serious earthquake, it is usual to experience a series of aftershocks, some of them just as severe as the main quake. Read more

Unpredictable politics

I realise someone has to run a country. I just wish there was another viable alternative to current politics. Read more

Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Straight from the West End, the new, reimagined production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat is a delightful, fun, engaging and dynamic family musical. Read more

Qatar’s farcical World Cup begins

Even before the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicked off, the tournament already had a hero: the former captain of the Iranian national team, Ali Daei. Read more

Dave Chappelle and normalizing black antisemitism

You have to live in a bubble of New York Times readers and NPR listeners to think that what happens on “Saturday Night Live” is of earth-shattering importance. Read more

From Australia’s Jewish Past: Constance Ellis – the first woman medical graduate in Victoria

Constance was born to Jewish parents on 2 November 1872 in Carlton, Melbourne. Read more

The Phantom of the Opera: Alex First reviews the Melbourne production

Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterful work The Phantom of the Opera sizzles. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon: A libel wrapped in a deception inside a hoax Read more

Why does Hebrew go from right to left and English from left to right?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

Let’s replace the term ‘national unity’ with ‘majority rule’

Once his formal consultations with each party in the Knesset came to a close on Friday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog was left with no choice. Read more

Don’t apologize for Ben-Gvir or anything else about Israel

As Benjamin Netanyahu begins forming the next Israeli government following his victory in the latest Knesset election, some on the left have begun a last-ditch effort to prevent him from forming a coalition with the parties that ran as his allies. Read more

Russia and Iran are heading for defeat in Ukraine

Those who are nostalgic for the heyday of neoconservatism might want to know that on Wednesday, former U.S. President George W. Bush will host a video discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Read more

Sunshine Super Girl: a theatre review by Alex First

Respectful, determined and humble. That is the picture that emerges of Australian tennis great Evonne Goolagong Cawley in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Sunshine Super Girl, a moniker given to her by the British press. Read more

On the other hand

One of the many positive features of living in Israel is the experience of meeting and mixing with Jews from diverse parts of the world, sampling their culinary delights and learning about various traditions and customs. Read more

Contagious insanity

It is well known that viruses are contagious, and now it seems that a new variant is rampant among certain sections of the body politic. Read more

MBS & King Abdullah keep Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine alive

Non-participation by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS)  – and Jordan’s King Abdullah at the 31^st Summit of the Arab League held in Algiers on 1 and 2 November – even via Zoom  – was highly significant. Read more

Anger

Wherever we turn, anger seems to be the prevailing mood. Read more

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