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Odds & Ends

Are the Taliban descendants of Israel?

 

Pashtun practices include circumcision on the eighth day and refraining from mixing meat and milk — Is there a connection to ancient Hebrews?

 By MICHAEL FREUND –  SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

 

TALIBAN FORCES patrol in front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2 (photo credit: STRINGER/ REUTERS)

TALIBAN FORCES patrol in front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2
(photo credit: STRINGER/ REUTERS)
With the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban just shy of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the world’s attention has once again turned to Afghanistan.
Tucked away in south-central Asia, with unsavory neighbors such as Iran to the west and Pakistan to the east, the landlocked country, which once served as a base of operations for al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, is as beguiling as it is complex.
And yet amid its turbulent past, in which it has served as a flashpoint for the British Empire, the Soviet Union and now the United States, Afghanistan has long been home to one of the more intriguing unsolved mysteries of Jewish history: the fate of some of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. (more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

Rosh Hashanah

“Let the old year end and the new year and its blessings begin!” Certainly, this year, these words resonate for us.

In the last year, some of us suffered and recovered from COVID, while others sadly lost loved ones. Many of us have stayed physically well but have had to deal with anxiety or depression. Some of us have lost jobs or economic security. Others were worried about their kids, their young adult children or the elders they could not even visit in person. There is a sense of collective grief over all that has been and may be lost, as well as anxiety over the divisions in our society. (more…)

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President's Message

July 2021: President’s Message

As we come upon the new year, we should reflect on what we have learned from the unusual nature of this past year. We look forward to a positive new year, with all its promise and possibilities. (more…)

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Odds & Ends

Does obsession with disproportionality compromise responsible warfare?

If Israelis are unable to perceive the paradigm shift in discourse, they will never be able to challenge it.

Samson and Delilah by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (photo credit: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Samson and Delilah by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni
(photo credit: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

To some, power is all that matters. It is not simply something to be obtained, but a lens through which to see the world. During the recent  Gaza conflict , such a worldview began to dominate discussions of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Israel has power. And to some, this is wrong. (more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

Turn On The Lights

I would be willing to bet that most people, when asked what the symbol of the state of Israel is, would respond “the Magen David – the Star of David.” But while the Star of David adorns the flag of Israel, the fact is, it is not the symbol of the state of Israel! The symbol is found in the Book of Numbers, in the Torah portion, Behaalotecha – “to kindle,” kindling the menorah in the Tabernacle. (more…)

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Odds & Ends

What does archaeology tell us about the origins of Judaism?

“I’ve looked for a period of time when we know that something called Judaism exists, when we have clear evidence that ancient Judeans knew about the Torah and were keeping the laws of the Torah.”
By ROSSELLA TERCATIN JUNE 10, 2021

Dr. Yonatan Adler, senior lecturer at Ariel University, speaks to The Jerusalem Post
When did ancient Jews start keeping mitzvot? What kind of evidence do we have of observance of dietary and purity laws, or practices like wrapping tefillin? The Origins of Judaism Archaeological Project, a new project directed by Dr. Yonatan Adler, a senior lecturer at Ariel University, aims to shed light on some of these questions. (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – July/August 2021

There Are Judges In Jerusalem

A lot has happened in Israel since we took you on a river ride down the Hetzbani river last month. Hamas indiscriminately fired over 4,000 rockets at Israeli civilians, Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system prevented the vast majority of those rockets capable of causing civilian casualties from landing, and Israel’s air force punished Hamas with civilian-casualty-minimizing strikes that degraded Hamas’s rocket and tunnel infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. (more…)

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