Taking Stock in Israel after a Year of Terror
And some suggestions for reducing its causes.
October 21, 2016
How Coffee Paved the Way for Mystical Night Vigils
Hoshanah Rabbah, Shavuot, and caffeine.
A century ago, there was a widespread Jewish custom to stay awake all night on the eve of Hoshanah Rabbah—the final day of Sukkot, which falls this Sunday—and recite a fixed order of scriptural and rabbinic readings known as a tikkun. A similar all-night tikkun is still observed by many on the late-spring festival of Shavuot. Although these practices can be traced back to the middle ages, later kabbalists imbued them with mystical significance. They became widely popular, writes Elliott Horowitz, only when coffee made them possible:
October 21, 2016
Why Lebanese Women Are Souring on Hizballah
For one thing, there's the prospect of being forced into “temporary marriage.”
What the U.S., and Its Next President, Can Learn from Israel about Responding to Disaster
Resilience and cyber warfare.
An Extraordinary Partnership That Brought Care and Help to Tens of Thousands in New York’s Slums
Jacob Schiff and Lillian Wald.
How Coffee Paved the Way for Mystical Night Vigils
Hoshanah Rabbah, Shavuot, and caffeine.