Torah

‘We are not going anywhere’: Danon defends West Bank settlements at UN meeting

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon rejected claims that West Bank settlements are obstacles to peace, telling the Security Council that they would remain and continue to grow.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks during a meeting at the United Nations headquartes in New York City, March 20, 2025.
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) people in Tel Aviv in June.

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community feels misunderstood. Here’s why - opinion

Elkana Levi giving a speech on gratitude.

Beyond the Headlines: Have you heard Elkana Levi’s speech? - opinion

‘MESIRUT NEFESH’: Willingness to give up comfort, time, money, and personal interests for a greater value.

Before the High Holidays, the Jewish people must look inward - opinion


Knesset passes contentious haredi-backed bill to enshrine Torah study in Israel's Basic Law

The haredi-backed Basic Law passed its final Knesset votes after weeks of coalition tensions and warnings that it could encourage draft evasion.

MK Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, July 12, 2026.

Thinking about the Basic Law: Torah Study - opinion

This law means by “Torah study” includes only haredi students at haredi yeshivas who are engaged almost exclusively with religious issues, and most of whom have very little, if any, general education

Illustrative: A voting box in the an Israeli election in 2015.

Israel's hysterical Torah study bill will backfire on the ultra-Orthodox - opinion

What’s really happening is a payoff to the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) political parties, against the will of an overwhelming majority of Israelis and in direct defiance of the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at Knesset plenum to vote in favor of Basic: Law Torah Study bill, shaking hands with Degel Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafni, Wednesday, July 1, 2026.

Basic Law: Debasing Torah - opinion

The proposed Basic Law: Torah Study would grant constitutional status to Torah study, but in practice it would turn a sacred obligation into a political and legal instrument. That would harm Torah...

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty study Torah outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem during a silent protest against the imprisonment of yeshiva students who failed to comply with military recruitment orders, July 1, 2026; Illustrative.

Retracing the history of Talmudic sage Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi), from Germany to France

Many associate him with Worms, Germany, where he studied as a young man. However, his hometown was Troyes, the capital of France’s Champagne region, where he served as a rabbi and dayan.

THE BUILDING that once served as Rashi’s synagogue and study hall.

Israel’s ‘Tinder for pets’ is helping shelter animals match with loving homes

An Israeli nonprofit is using a Tinder-style app to match shelter dogs and cats with loving families and reduce failed adoptions.

Adopt me Israel's Ela Sayag Lipman and her two adopted rescue dogs, Duda and  Namer.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Don’t borrow identity

Public debate has become louder, more bitter, and less capable of self-correction because opinions have hardened into identities.

IT ALL comes back to the question of identity.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Slow and steady

The most important movement is not always what is visible externally, but what takes place within a person.

EVERY STATION on the slow journey  plays an indispensable role.

Laundering human capital: The reckless amnesty bills and their debasement of the Torah - opinion

Under the guise of concern for the world of Torah, two bills are on the table: the Basic Law: Torah Study on the one side, and the Law of Exemption from Arrests on the other. 

Haredi anti-draft protesters block Highway 4 near Bnei Brak denouncing the detention of a draft dodger, February 9, 2026.

Shas spiritual leader orders support for coalition legislation in exchange for haredi-backed bills

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned there was “no room for delay” on the Torah Study Law amid coalition efforts to advance contentious legislation.

 ARYE DERI sits in the Knesset plenum.