The Times of Israel - Weekly Highlights

The bloodstained jacket: Yom Kippur, 1973

By Yuval Krausz

It was the sirens that pierced the silence. We gathered in the dining room and learned that Israel had been attacked

Rawan Osman

A letter from a Syrian to the Israeli people: Don’t let us down

The world is anxiously watching you. Don’t let us down. Don’t allow division to do to you what it did to the Palestinians, the Lebanese, and the Syrians. Set an example for your neighbors instead of feeding your enemies schadenfreude. Show us how the left and right can fight gracefully. We should be applying your model, not the other way around. Around my neck, I wear the Star of David, for it is to me the seal of the Zionist project – a reminder that anything is possible through solidarity...

Abdulaziz Alkhamis

Abbas holds onto the past as the Palestinian future slips away

His controversial remarks have damaged the image of Palestinians on the world stage and hindered potential peace efforts

Barry Topf

Is the Saudi deal a dream or a nightmare?

Why has ’normalization’ suddenly become so important? The answer is frighteningly simple: Netanyahu needs the photo-op

Doing the Daf as Israel implodes

By Pamela Peled

Why must I help fund lifelong study of texts about men falling naked off roofs into the waiting bodies of women below?

Ariella Nadel

How half a sandwich saved a world

After 80 years, their remarkable courage was marked with a reunion, Yad Vashem honors, and an epic rendition of Hatikvah

Joe Buccino

Blood money: Biden’s Iran deal endangers the Middle East

The $6 billion Tehran received will most likely be used to support its nuclear pursuits and fund acts of terrorism

Who has not made me a woman

By Victoria Nunley

Revealing my femininity to the world took conscious effort, and the daily reminder of my struggle makes it all the more meaningful

Hindel Schwartz Swerdlov

Breaking for falafel in Jerusalem before Rosh Hashanah

The handwriting on the wall reminds me that God is with me when times are hard, and a tucked-away food joint makes it all taste better

Shana Aaronson

What if you can’t forgive?

A sexual abuser has no access to teshuva until the victim’s autonomy, healing, and wishes are prioritized. That always comes first.

Can a toddler really apologize? (And other thoughts on Yom Kippur)

By Rachel Seelig

There’s telling them to ’say you’re sorry’ and then there’s cultivating personal responsibility, kindness and empathy

more choice voices

Miriam Schler

The endless ways Esther Eillam made things better here

The tireless activist leaves behind an inspiring legacy of initiatives addressing sexual assault and inequality

Glenn Yago

Needed urgently: An Abraham Accords dividend

Three years after the deal’s signing, time is running out to show young people that cooperation and prosperity go hand in hand

Noya Rimalt

Israeli policymakers must stop funding sex segregation

Not that long ago, the Haredi world was known for being pragmatic. Now, the extremists are in charge, and they’re hurting their own people

Tova Herzl

My prime minister accused me of siding with Iran

Netanyahu should learn from Mandela’s generous leadership, when it comes to handling those who oppose him