Why Didn’t the Peace Process Create a Palestinian State? Because Yasir Arafat Didn’t Want One
He wanted to be a wealthy revolutionary, not a founding statesman.
September 15, 2023
Observing the Sabbatical Year in Modern Times
The last fruits of shmitah.
Today is the last day of the sabbatical year, during which the Bible prohibits sowing, reaping, harvesting, or otherwise working the land. During shmitah (as the seventh year is known in Hebrew), the land is not meant to be barren; rather, both the owners and paupers are permitted to take whatever grows of its own accord and eat it, so long as they do not systematically gather the produce. David and Naama Rue reflect on what this practice means in modern Israel, and its religious significance:
September 15, 2023
By Renewing the Arms Embargo on Iran, Europe Is Helping Ukraine
But France, Germany, and Britain could have gone further.
Observing the Sabbatical Year in Modern Times
The last fruits of shmitah.
American Orthodoxy Has Grown More Stringent in Some Ways, More Liberal in Others
Peanut oil and the bat mitzvah.
A Rare 18th-Century Hebrew Prayerbook Becomes the Star of an Auction
It possibly belonged to Jacob Emden’s grandson.