Jerusalem College of Technology Launches Rabbinic Ordination Program for Orthodox Anglos

Two political geography questions on the recent New York State Global History and Geography II Regents exam – and the official answers – have triggered an uproar in the Jewish community. The questions and accompanying illustrative maps reflect a distorted view of Israel’s historical place in the Holy Land, embrace a false Palestinian narrative, and feed into antisemitic tropes.

Residents of Israel’s northern region, along the Mediterranean coast, reported that another earthquake rattled their areas at around9 pm local time Wednesday night. It was the third such earthquake to strike Israel in less than 24 hours. Israel’s Geological Survey reported the tremor measured 4.1-magnitude on the Richter scale,...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a call by the Biden administration to temporarily freeze construction in Judea and Samaria and halt demolitions of illegal Arab structures in those territories as well as the eastern part of Jerusalem. However, while Israeli officials stressed that these activities would not be...

The 21-year-old who massacred seven Jews and wounded another five when he opened fire on them as they left synagogue last Friday night in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Jerusalem wasn’t a lone wolf. Neither was the 13-year-old boy who shot a Jewish father and son Saturday afternoon as they walked home from synagogue in Ir David in Jerusalem. How do we know?

Israel’s heaviest armed drone, the Hermes 900, is now using gravity bombs that weigh as much as a ton, Reuters reported last week. A gravity bomb is a conventional or nuclear aircraft-delivered bomb that does not contain a guidance system and simply follows a ballistic trajectory. The casings for unguided bombs are aerodynamic, with fins at the tail section, to reduce drag and increase stability after release to improve accuracy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened to delay the demolition of an illegally constructed building in eastern Jerusalem due to American pressure, Channel 11 reported. Netanyahu was also reportedly warned by security forces that amid the current tensions, the building’s destruction could set off a round of violence in the largely Arab part of the capital.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led a tree-planting ceremony on Monday to mark Tu Bishvat in the Neve Ya’akov neighborhood of Jerusalem, where an Arab terrorist killed seven people last month. Netanyahu was joined by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and family members of the murder victims, as well as police...

The Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI), a Canadian Jewish advocacy organization, condemned Canada’s government this week for “complicity in aiding and abetting Palestinian terrorism.”. “This follows the murder of seven Israelis in Jerusalem exactly one week ago. Among them was a 14-year-old boy and a newly-married couple, one...

Two weeks ago, some 130 hi-tech companies encouraged (some say forced) their employees to go on a strike to protest the government’s judicial reform, warning that businesses in Israel, especially in hi-tech, would suffer from declining investments as a result of said reform. But it appears that several major...

The Tel Aviv Light Rail’s “Red Line” is set to begin operations this year on Israel’s Independence Day, Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced Wednesday. Speaking at a news conference, Regev spoke about the ongoing delays that have kept the line from starting its operations first in October 2021, then in November 2022, and now in the first quarter of 2023.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with the soldiers of the IDF’s acclaimed Duvdevan undercover unit to give them some much needed moral support in the face of rising challenges. Netanyahu was joined by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in holding an assessment of the activity of IDF Central Command...

Israeli demolition of illegal Arab construction has risen sharply under Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 7, 42 structures were destroyed in eastern Jerusalem and 102 structures in Area C,...

Thank you, Dr. Stern, for your thoughtful reflection on my letter of January 27, 2023. My intent was not to hold Modern Orthodoxy solely responsible for accommodating behavior that is anathema to our faith. My letter was in direct response to the dilemmas facing “Modern Orthodoxy,” questions raised and addressed not by me but by Rabbis Broyde and Pruzansky, and Avi Ciment. As my letter clearly states, Does accommodation to SSA by Orthodox Jewish institutions pose an issue of “maris ayin?” My choice of words allows space for the possible inclusion of Orthodox Jewish institutions other than the Modern Orthodox.

“In the year of King Uziyahu’s death, I saw my Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the trim of His robes filled the Temple sanctuary. Fiery angels were standing above Him, each and every one with six wings; with two he’d cover his face; with two he’d cover his legs; and with two he would fly. And each called to the other, “Holy! Holy! Holy is Hashem of Hosts! All the world is filled with His glory!”

Israel’s Health Ministry has ordered the residents of northern Israel to boil their water until further notice due to the series of earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday. Until further notice, all water for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth and preparing medicines must be boiled in every town...

More than half a million Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis and the Arrow Cross, their fascist Hungarian supporters, but more than half of the 120,000 who survived the Shoah were saved by Charles “Carl” Lutz who, through his valor and courageous action, prevented half the Jewish population of Budapest from deportation to concentration camps and death. In the single largest rescue operation of Jews during the Holocaust, he is credited by most authorities, including the United States Holocaust Museum, with saving over 62,000 Jews, including some 10,000 Hungarian Jewish children.

Iran has written a Hebrew-language message to the State of Israel, and posted it Wednesday on an alleged ballistic missile shown at an exhibition in Isfahan. The message, “Death to Israel,” was written in Hebrew letters down the side of the missile, according to a report by the semi-official Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

There are certain scents that will evoke vivid memories. When we lived on a kibbutz many years ago we hosted a visiting rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Borenstein, who was an expert on the kitoret (the incense offering used in the Beit HaMikdash). He brought with him the 11 different ingredients that formulated the kitoret. Each component had a unique scent – some sweet, some pungent, some with no odor at all and one that was quite malodorous – but together the combination produced an aroma that permeated our home for many weeks long after the rabbi’s visit.

E-commerce conglomerate eBay announced on Tuesday that it’s laying off 500 employees around the world, which comes to about 4% of its workforce. The layoffs include several dozens of Israeli employees at the eBay R&D center in Netanya. Jamie Iannone, Chief Executive Officer of eBay, issued a message to...

Residents of Israel, in particular, in Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and the Shomron report feeling an earthquake around 11:14 PM on Tuesday evening. [Update] The earthquake’s epicenter was 15 km east of Ariel and south of Shechem (Nablus), near Jurish and Migdalim. The Geological Survey of Israel and IDF Homefront Command rated it at 3.5 on the Richter scale at a depth of 3 KM (down from the initial assessment of 4.8 on the Richter scale).