In his pamphlet Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), Theodor Herzl outlined his plan for the Jewish statehood in great detail. Its publication catapulted Zionism into the world arena of Realpolitik.

The Jewish people have been welcoming people in for thousands of years, and this ruling takes a tremendous step forward in proving that Israel is the Jewish State for all Jews.

This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all schools in Israel have been closed for most of the year, leaving students stuck at home and trying to complete their studies remotely. All of them are hurting – emotionally and socially.

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.

For the first time in Israel’s history, a rabbi has been criminally convicted on charges of incitement to violence.

In the 1980s and '90s, Israel committed to helping Ethiopian Jews make aliyah and become Israeli citizens. To this day, though, a small group of Jews remain in Ethiopia and have been unable to immigrate.

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.

For the first time, a Reform rabbi has a realistic chance to be elected to the Knesset. After the Labor primaries, Rabbi Gilad Kariv – who ran on the Labor ticket in past elections – rose to number four on the list, which puts him in real contention to be a Member of Knesset.

Everyone has an opinion on what we should have done – but as this crisis has exposed weaknesses in social solidarity, in leadership, in democratic processes here, it has also demonstrated clearly the strength of the Israeli health care system.