Dry Bones:  The Saudis want to take over responsibility for management of the Temple Mount?

The Saudis want to take over responsibility for management of the Temple Mount? Read more

From New Zealand’s Jewish past: Abraham Hort – one of the founders of the New Zealand Jewish Community

Abraham was born in 1790 and was known as Abraham Hort Senior a prominent member of the London Jewish Community. Read more

Saudis seek to reboot Temple Mount’s status quo with peace deal

The timing was not accidental when Saudi Arabia announced over the weekend that its ambassador to Jordan will also take on the roles of ambassador to the Palestinian Authority and consul general in eastern Jerusalem. Read more

Dry Bones: Moment of Truth

That Israelis would actually refuse to do military service is frightening. That they would do so in order to bring down the democratically elected government is unacceptable. Read more

Into the Fray: Distorting the Declaration

The focus of Israel’s Declaration of Independence is overwhelmingly on Jewish sovereignty and political independence in the ancestral Jewish homeland—not on liberal democratic governance. Read more

Is gambling a sin?

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Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine & Saudi-Israel peace deal on hold

Hopes of a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel are on hold following a report in the Wall Street Journal that – according to US officials – the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have agreed on the broad contours of a deal for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel in exchange for concessions to the Palestinians, U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear help. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon:  Prisoner swapping bait and switch 101 Read more

A Gallant attempt

As every cartoonist knows, once you create a character, if they’re successful, they just start doing what they want. Read more

Antisemitism still haunts the European left

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin last week ordered the dissolution of a Catholic traditionalist association named “Civitas” following claims of antisemitism against one of its leaders. Read more

On the other hand

It is common knowledge that in Israel, if you need help in a health emergency, trained personnel are almost instantly on the scene. Read more

Self-flagellation

Surprising as it may seem, this ancient form of afflicting the body is still practised among various groups these days. Read more

Synagogue or Temple

This month of August is the season of travelling, going on vacation in the northern hemisphere. Read more

Dry Bones

U.S. President Joe Biden’s attempt to cobble together some kind of Israeli-Saudi normalization deal before the 2024 American election is, it seems to me, doomed to fail. It feels like Joe has been led astray by Tom Friedman at the New York Times. Read more

What deal are the Americans and Saudis negotiating?

Under the headline, “U.S.-Saudi Deal Sets Path to Normalize Kingdom’s Ties with Israel,” on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal published a detailed report of the content of U.S.-Saudi discussions. Read more

Israel’s hasbara failure on full display, again

The killing of Muhammad al-Durrah has gone down as one of Israel’s most colossal PR failures ever. Read more

Potential Saudi normalisation raises questions about the Palestinian Authority

Progress towards a potential normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia is raising the question of how the Palestinian Authority would fit into such a significant regional maneuver. Read more

Shabbat Re’eh: Adding or Subtracting

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Asteroid City

A movie review by Alex First Read more

Dry Bones: The Magician

When I was a kid (those many years ago), jugglers, tumblers, contortionists and acrobats astounded and amazed us with acts in what was then called vaudeville. Read more

Inspired by Hebrew, scholar helps revive dying aboriginal Australian languages

Amid the COVID pandemic in 2020, Ghil’ad Zuckermann drove to Cardabia Station in a remote part of Western Australia. The coast reminded the Tel Aviv-born scholar of the shorelines of Eilat. Read more

Chunky Move’s 4/4

A Melbourne dance performance reviewed by Alex First Read more

Love With No Remorse

A Melbourne theatre reviewed by Alex First Read more

From New Zealand’s Jewish past: Merchant, auctioneer, shipping agent and community leader

David Nathan, one of two Jews listed in the 1841 New Zealand Census, was born in London in 1816 and was the third son of Nathan Lion Nathan and his wife Sarah.  Read more

Time for MBS to come clean on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

The possibility of Israel and Saudi Arabia doing a peace deal rests on the shoulders of one man – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS). Read more

Is the Messiah simply a nice dream or will it really happen?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

kerosene/SIRENS

A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First Read more

On the other hand

This past Shabbat, we had an inspiring and uplifting experience that put all the negativity currently being spread into a positive perspective. Read more

Ahead of new Netflix show, Gal Gadot shares thoughts on her career

Gal Gadot’s first Hollywood audition was for the role of a James Bond girl in “Quantum of Solace,” alongside Daniel Craig. Read more

Shabbat Eykev: Chosen People

It still amazes me how often I hear non-Jews claim that we Jews are so arrogant and exclusive because we claim to be the Chosen People. And they happily ignore that Christianity and Islam proudly claim to be the Chosen People of God or Allah. Read more

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