Shabbat Haazinu: Jewish song

“Listen to the song,” we are told in this week’s Torah reading, Haazinu. Read more

Israel’s devastating capitulation to Hezbollah

It is almost impossible to grasp the danger of Israel’s present moment. A month before the Knesset elections, the caretaker government led by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defence Minister Benny Gantz is moving full speed ahead with a maritime agreement with an enemy state that it insists will obligate Israel in perpetuity. Read more

Thoughts on the upcoming election in Israel

At last, we appear to have an Israeli election issue on at least one foreign policy matter, rather than just solely on personalities – or do we? Read more

Why is Sukkot called “Our Festival of Joy”?

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Abraham Accords foster a new regional architecture for the Middle East

In these challenging times, it is natural to seek out beacons of hope and optimism. Read more

If you want peace, reform the Palestinian Authority

That the Biden administration regards Israel as a more congenial and cooperative diplomatic partner than the Palestinian Authority was evident from the remarks delivered by the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a Security Council briefing on the Middle East last week. Read more

From Australia’s Jewish Past: Yom Kippur 1839 – Hobart Tasmania

The following is an extract from the article “The Jews” published in Hobart in 1839. Read more

Ghost Stories: a theatre review by Alex First

An engaging professor of parapsychology talks us through the history of ghost stories – how they came to be and how they have evolved over time. Read more

Sweeter isn’t always tastier, finds Hebrew Uni study

Most of us struggle with a sweet tooth despite wanting to eat healthily. Read more

10 things you need to know about Yom Kippur

The Bible calls Yom Kippur the “Sabbath of Sabbaths,” the holiest day of the Jewish calendar and the pinnacle of the High Holidays that start with Rosh Hashanah. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon: A tale of two Handmaids Read more

Doubling Australian aid to UNRWA: A vital perspective

The Australian government will double its aid to UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which the UN created as a “temporary” entity in the wake of the Israel War of Independence, to help half a million Arabs displaced as a result of these hostilities. Read more

Lapid rejects Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has finally emerged from the cocoon of silence that has enveloped all current 120 Knesset members – choosing to reject a solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on June 8 calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (Saudi Solution). Read more

On the other hand

“If I had a hammer – I’d hammer in the morning – I’d hammer in the evening – All over this land” Read more

Use by date expires

When use by dates expire for food and medicine, we dispose of the remaining items to avoid being either poisoned or adversely affected. Read more

How Benny Gantz killed Israeli-Palestinian peace

In an interview with Maariv last week, former Israeli Air Force commander Amir Eshel made several startling admissions about the role he and other IDF generals played in scuttling former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most significant strategic policies. Read more

UN Security Council hails Lapid’s ‘two-state’ commitment, questions Israeli counterterrorism ops

As the United Nations Security Council met on Wednesday, a recurrent theme emerged. Council members lauded Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s support for a two-state solution while simultaneously expressing concern over growing instability in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Read more

Cyrano: a theatre review by Alex First

A massive triumph. The MTC production of the season. A talented cast, headlined by writer and star Virginia Gay proves that the pen is mightier than the sword. Read more

Why social justice warriors can’t deal with anti-Semitism

Ruth Wisse, an emeritus professor of Yiddish literature at Harvard and an unfailingly impressive commentator on the Jewish world, has uttered a desperate cry about the moral and spiritual state of American Jews. Read more

Divine Royalty

“Adonai, what is a human being that You should care about him, what is a mortal, that You should consider it?  A human is no more than a breath, a life is like a passing shadow” (Psalms 144.3.).

What can express the vulnerability, the insignificance of human beings, more succinctly than that? Read more

Mikolot Public Speaking Competition goes international

Six students participated at Sydney’s Moriah College in the 2022 Grand Final of the Mikolot: Voices of the Future Public Speaking Competition. Read more

Shabbat Vayeylech and Shuva: Why God hides

The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is always called the Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return. Read more

Jewish director says Facebook banning ads for his Holocaust film was shameful

A son of Holocaust survivors is demanding an apology from Facebook for blocking ads for his newly-released film “Beautiful Blue Eyes.” Read more

NSW rabbis meet Minister Mark Coure

Members of the Rabbinical Council of NSW have met with the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Coure. Read more

In these days of cybersecurity, Israel can help

A few weeks ago, I came across a tender looking for companies to provide real-time awareness of cybersecurity hacking for the Sydney Opera House’s website.
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I don’t go to shule because it does nothing for me. What advice, if any, can you give me?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

L’Chaim – to Life: Prof Sharon Lewin – Leading the AUSiMED delegation to Israel to discuss each country’s COVID-19 response

Morry Frenkel speaks with Prof Sharon Lewin, inaugural Director of the Peter Doherty Institute, co-chair of the COVID19 Health and Research Advisory Council and member of the AUSiMED Board, about the recent AUSiMED delegation she led to Israel. Read more

Is Italy’s Giorgia Meloni a friend or a foe of the Jews?

The latest parliamentary elections in Italy have sent many in the chattering classes in both Europe and the United States heading for their smelling salts. Read more

Giorgia Meloni: ‘I believe that the existence of Israel is vital’

It appears that history is about to be made in Italy: Giorgia Meloni, the 45-year-old leader of the national conservative party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), has pledged to fight mass immigration and Islamization and has been very critical of the European Union, is poised to become the country’s first female prime minister. Read more

Giorgia Meloni and other female conservatives are today’s feminists

There is no doubt that, in historical terms, one of the left’s most important and beloved causes has been women’s emancipation, and rightly so. Read more

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