Of all the terms readily associated with the Middle East, “resilient” and “stable” are refrains mostly designated for other regions. However, largely to the credit of the governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, the Israeli economy has managed…
New York City seeks parental consent on brit milah’s practice of oral-genital suction
Eight days after every male Jew is born, a part of his flesh is cut off and buried in the earth as a reminder of the covenant Abraham made with G-d and as a sign that the man will help…
Gershon Baskin speaks about Gilad Shalit release
When the news broke that kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit had been released, we celebrated, all of us. My friends and I called and e-mailed home, exclaiming at the news, and joined in the bittersweet jubilation from our Jerusalem apartments,…
Very superstitious: Sephardic practice driven by tradition or faith?
To the puzzlement of my roommates, I have a peculiar habit of scouring our apartment and obsessively closing every single one of our closets before going to bed. It is like an inexplicable intuition that itches and nags at me…
“Srugim:” Modern Orthodox Israeli singles on TV
Last year, when I studied abroad at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I became aware of the then-popular Israeli television drama, “Srugim” (Hebrew for the knitted kippot or head coverings, normatively worn by Modern Orthodox men), which premiered in June…
How Israel can change a Jew’s life
America is a melting pot of cultures, and it is undeniable that the distinctions setting apart each culture are slowly deteriorating. According to the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, Jews make up approximately 10% of the UCLA population. Surrounded by…
Morsi, Obama and Bibi: which of these is not like the others?
Please Note: The individual opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Ha’Am Newsmagazine as a whole. An exciting trifecta of recent events: the American presidential inauguration was a few weeks ago, Israeli elections just…
Hussein Ibish offers post-election analysis of Israeli-Palestinian stalemate at UCLA
This past Thursday afternoon, Professor David Myers — chair of UCLA’s Department of History and scholar of modern Jewish intellectual history — hosted an informal discussion with Dr. Hussein Ibish, bringing together a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students…
Is new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel anti-Israel?
By now, thousands of articles have been written about newly-nominated Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Many of them thrust one of two extremes at the reader: either that Chuck Hagel is a rabid anti-Semite and Israel-hater, or that Chuck Hagel is…