Israel

Embracing the Third Culture

June 13, 2014

Ever since we moved to Israel 20 years ago, I’ve always felt like I don’t quite fit in anywhere. I’ll never be truly Israeli, since I didn’t grow up with all the pop culture references someone born in the country knows intuitively. And I’m not fully American anymore either, since I haven’t resided in the […]

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Game of Thrones meets HaTikvah in video mashup

April 29, 2014

I’m not a fan of Game of Thrones. That doesn’t mean I have anything against the popular TV show based on the book series of the same name; I just haven’t found time to fit it into my already too busy TV watching schedule. But Jerusalem virtuoso rock violinist Michael Greilsammer’s new mashup of the […]

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The power of singing on Friday night

March 18, 2014

The next time you go to synagogue on a Friday night, take a moment to consider how many people are there for the davening (the prayer itself) and how many for the communal singing? If queried, most congregants will probably respond with some combination of commandedness and connection to God. But from a sociological perspective, there’s a […]

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Eddie and the White Smoke

February 18, 2014

We love our 1995 Toyota Corolla. It’s in fantastic shape and is our only car for driving out of Jerusalem. (Our other car is a Better Place electric vehicle which is now essentially a very expensive “city car” – but that’s another story.) So, when a car repairperson rolled down the window in his vehicle and […]

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Isaac Asimov’s Jewish/Israeli Predictions…for 2014

January 6, 2014

Every New Year’s, I like to roll out some predictions of what I think might happen in the 12 months to come. For 2014, though, I want to take a look back, at a set of predictions made on the occasion of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, by the science fiction master Isaac Asimov. […]

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More Sex and Halacha: Have We Gone Too Far…or Just Far Enough?

December 30, 2013

It was pretty much a given that my most recent article, with the provocative title “Sex and halacha: a disturbing look at the sources,” was going to attract attention. But even I was surprised by the overwhelming negative response I received from talkbacks and those Facebook friends who chose to chime in. To quickly recap: I […]

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Circumcision, No Fine: On Why Mandating Religious Behavior Backfires

December 5, 2013

I’m circumcised. My two sons are circumcised. Pretty much every other male I know is, too (not that I check). But a ruling last week by the Supreme Rabbinical Court for Appeals in Jerusalem that essentially mandates circumcision by law, with a severe financial penalty for parents who choose not to participate in this most […]

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A Visit to the Gazelle Valley in Jerusalem

November 11, 2013

We are avid attendees of the annual “Houses from Within” festival in Jerusalem, which took place this past weekend. Except that, instead of going inside, we have a habit of getting the scoop on structures and places from the outside. The festival’s aim is to open up the doors to locations that are usually private. These […]

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Moshe Lion vs. Nir Barkat: Twisting the Numbers

August 18, 2013

It’s only been a few weeks since the race for Jerusalem mayor, which was assumed to be a slam dunk for incumbent Nir Barkat, due to the lack of any competition whatsoever, heated up with the entry of a serious contender, Moshe Lion, the former chairman of the Jerusalem Development Authority. Suddenly ubiquitous billboards showing […]

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Where was OurCrowd When I Needed Them?

August 15, 2013

Where was OurCrowd when I needed them 10 years ago, back when I was trying to start a company and couldn’t find anyone to fund it? For those who haven’t followed the torrent of press about the company lately, OurCrowd is the latest startup from serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Jon Medved, who has founded some of Israel’s most interesting ventures […]

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