Universalism

The three weeks from the Seventeenth of Tammuz until the Ninth of Av, have for thousands of years been a period of mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, twice. First by Babylonia in 586 BCE and then by Rome in 70 CE. This period will culminate after the Ninth of Av which this year will be the 7th of August ( actually starting the night before). Read more

Unsolicited Male: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

A boss oversteps the mark and the consequences are devastating in Ron Elisha’s incendiary Unsolicited Male. Read more

When later is already too late

Far too frequently, especially in Jewish lives, postponing difficult decisions can have dire consequences.  Read more

Israel, Jordan, PLO pave way for Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s meeting with King Abdullah on 27 July could see negotiations being announced shortly between Israel and Jordan to create a single territorial entity encompassing Jordan Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Read more

L’Chaim to Life: Rabbi Ari Rubin – RARA Jews in Far North Queensland

Maurice Klein speaks with Rabbi Ari Rubin, who is one-half of the fabulous adventure documentary Outback Rabbis, the “lost Jews” of the wilderness with the mission, travelling the country and outback in the RARA (Rural And Regional Australia) Tank in search to leave no Jew behind. Read more

Israel should act cautiously amid Jewish Agency row with Russia, analysts advise

Russia-Israel tensions have intensified in recent days as Moscow appears primed to force the “dissolution” of the Jewish Agency for Israel operations in the country. Read more

Bennett’s bad precedent and the curse of Israel’s small parties

Ever since the Knesset elections on April 9, 2019, foes of Likud Party chairman Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu—the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history and currently the head of the opposition—have been blaming him for the political quagmire that is sending the public back to the ballot box this fall for the fifth time in three-and-a-half years. Read more

Lydia Litvyak: World’s first female fighter ace

On Aug. 1, 1943 (29 Tammuz 5703), during the throes of World War II, a Jewish fighter pilot was shot down over Ukraine. She was Lydia Litvyak, Russia’s—and the world’s—first female fighter ace. ..writes Stephen Bryen. Read more

Israeli scientists use data from desert to inform on future of areas affected by climate change

The world’s climate is changing, and according to NASA, 19 of the hottest years ever documented have occurred since 2000, with 2016 and 2020 tied for the hottest ever on record. Read more

From Australia’s Jewish Past: Sir Archie Reuben Louis Michaelis – Businessman, Politician and Jewish Leader

Archie was born on 19 December 1889 in St Kilda, Melbourne. Read more

Wrap-up on the wrap-down: Israel comes up big on much more than medals

The road to the Maccabiah is long and challenging for athletes in individual and team sports. Read more

How Mahmoud Abbas is moving to consolidate his dictatorial dominance over the PA

Over the last three and a half years, Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas has made decisions and implemented fundamental changes in the Palestinian political system, essentially leading it toward a dictatorship. Read more

Should an adopted child say Kaddish for their adoptive father or mother?

Ask the rabbi. Read more

Feintooner

This week’s cartoon…The past as prologue. Read more

Judaism deserves as much respect as Islam

It turns out that some stunts in the era of clickbait journalism really do go too far. Read more

The urgent need for proper Jewish leadership

Diaspora Jews worry about how to deal with the current tsunami of anti-Semitism that is washing through the world. Read more

Mr. Putin goes to Tehran

Despite spending five months baiting Ukraine’s leaders as “neo-Nazis,” among them the country’s Jewish President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin didn’t bat an eyelid as he embraced a genuine Nazi sympathiser and Holocaust denier in the shape of Iran’s “Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Read more

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to end Mandate for Palestine saga

The creation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine –the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity comprising about 80% of the territory of the Mandate for Palestine (Mandate) – will be a fitting end to the Mandate saga which began on 24 July 1922 with the unanimous approval of its terms by all 51 Members of the League of Nations. Read more

Trades Unions

In my rebellious youth, I always supported Trades Unions. The record of how the world, in general, has treated workers is not a good one. Read more

On the other hand

Europe and the UK may be melting in a summer heat wave but their hopelessly fossilised policies concerning Israel remain frozen in some type of time warp. Read more

Catching the bus while Jewish

Another day, another stabbing. Read more

The strategic fallout of Biden’s failure

Arguably, the moment U.S. President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel crashed and burned was on Friday morning during his remarks at Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Read more

L’Chaim – To Life: Nomi Kaltmann – empowering orthodox women

Morry Frenkel speaks with Nomi Kaltmann, founder and inaugural president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance Australia, about the aims of the organisation and how it is empowering Orthodox women. Read more

Where the Crawdads Sing: a movie review by Alex First

A young woman whose life has been a series of letdowns faces the possibility of the death penalty after being charged with the first-degree murder of her former lover. Read more

It ain’t necessarily so

If you were to believe the unbelievable hype surrounding the visit to Israel of President Joe Biden, you would think that the messianic age had finally arrived. Read more

It’s great to be back: Ron Weiser writes from Israel

First thing to note – covid is everywhere, but nobody seems to care. Read more

Shabbat Pinchas: Women’s Rights

Halfway through this week’s reading comes the episode of the daughters of Zelofchad.  Read more

The Opera House bares all with Mahler: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

There was more than music to celebrate the return of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to the Sydney Opera House concert hall last night. Read more

Caligula (Burning House) at Theatre Works, as reviewed by Alex First

There will be blood. That expression well sums up the tyrannical reign of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula. He was the third Roman emperor, who ruled from the years 37 to 41, before he was assassinated. Read more

What constitutes a ‘last resort’?

In an interview last week at the White House with Israeli Channel 12’s Yonit Levi, U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated his administration’s desire to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran from which his predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew in 2018. Read more

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