It's the height of summer in Israel. On a blistering summer day like today, there's nothing better than enjoying a refreshing treat to cool you down. Here are some of my all-time favorite Israeli popsicles, drinks, and treats.

What happens when you take six Jewish teens and six Catholic teens to Israel? This was the very question that Roger Tilles and the late Fr. Tom Hartman hoped to answer in 1988 when they organized Project Understanding.

Heller High aims to build deep, lasting relationships between North American Jewish teens and Israel, developing the next generation of Reform Jewish Zionists. The Heller High program gives students the opportunity to learn from and get to know different groups of Israelis.

Nearly two months ago, our Just Zionism group landed in Israel as the election to cement a far-right government in the Knesset was taking effect. When we landed, I had a surface-level understanding of Israeli politics but was about to get a crash course on the election's implications for the activists who were heartbroken by the results.

It's rare to find a documentary set in the Middle East that isn't mired in politics and discord. Rarer still is one bathed in the kind of optimism and goodwill found in Beth Elise Hawk's new film, Breaking Bread. An inside look at a three-day food festival in Haifa, Israel, pairing Israeli and Muslim Arab chefs, Breaking Bread pursues peace through the power of creating top-notch cuisine.

The Tanach is our owner’s manual. If we want to operate this complex thing we call Jewish identity, it’s probably worth reading the instruction book. Are we doing enough to engage on a daily basis with our ancient sources?

As Israeli citizens living abroad, we may now return to exercise our right and responsibility to vote in upcoming elections. Absentee ballots aren't available to us, though, so we had to return- though the logistics require persistence and patience.

Israel is our home. It was in the Torah, and it is now. It sure isn’t perfect, and it might not be around forever, but that’s exactly why we need to come.

It has been almost 50 years since I met my wife Judy in Jerusalem. She came into my life like the Sabbath queen about to enter the synagogue, with everyone rising and turning toward the door to welcome her in.