The most basic function of all governments is to provide for the collective defense of the governed. The most basic foundation of sovereignty is a state’s right to defend its country from … more

Our three-week visit to Israel was an exhausting but inspiring amalgam of activities focused on post-Oct. 7 solidarity with soldiers, hostages’ families and the wounded. We also enjoyed time … more

There are few men who feel the pain of distant upheavals as acutely as Bernard-Henri Lévy, 75, a French philosopher, filmmaker and public intellectual. Born to a wealthy Sephardic family … more

A nybody who’s been to college can understand the allure of a wild party on the quad: Everybody singing together, wearing cool costumes and flipping off the establishment. Unfortunately, … more

Next week, on Shavuot, we commemorate a moment, 3200 years ago when we all stood together, beneath a wind-swept mountain, deep in the Sinai desert. The power of that moment was that, more than at … more

I n his essay “Megillat Ruth and the Story of Yehuda and Tamar: A Study in Biblical Contrast,” Rabbi Alex Israel of the Pardes Institute quotes the following the following from Ruth Rabba … more

Over the last eight months, Jewish communities around the world have been both intimidated and repulsed by the surge in pro-Hamas demonstrations. We’ve all seen the signs and heard the … more

The Ten Commandments and the Book of Ruth are each as important to the intellectual appreciation and religious experience of Shavuot as blintzes and cheesecake are to the culinary celebration of this … more

The festival of Shavuot is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Here is how Shavuot is described and defined in parshat Emor: “From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of … more

Five Israeli Defense Force soldiers who fought in the war launched by Hamas on Oct. 7 have stories to tell. Four of them — all except Lt. Eden Ram, 21, from Jerusalem — will be … more