Sam Sokol

February 12, 2019, 4:25 am

Journal’s new editor wants to steer Modern Orthodox debate into the 21st century

Updated philosophical challenges, from the role of women clergy to self-driving cars, aren’t the only things bringing flagship magazine Tradition into the future

By Sam Sokol

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his wife Sara, second left, host Polish President Andrzej Duda, second right, and his wife Agata, at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem on January 18, 2017. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

January 30, 2019, 2:24 pm

As Israel warms ties in Eastern Europe, is Holocaust memory now disposable?

A chorus of Jewish politicians and scholars warn against Israeli realpolitik clouding historically accurate depictions of World War II war crimes

By Sam Sokol

Russian immigrants attend an event marking the 25th anniversary of the major wave of aliya from the former Soviet Union to Israel, at the Jerusalem Convention Center, on December 24, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

January 4, 2019, 6:07 am

Why most new immigrants to Israel aren’t considered Jewish

Immigration from Russia is on the rise again, bringing back to the fore a debate over the status of Israelis who officially have no religion

By Sam Sokol

Clockwise from top left: The front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday November 2, 2018 (Screenshot via JTA); Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner arrive for a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on September 11, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images via JTA); A poster featuring US billionaire George Soros in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images); Bob Bland, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez and Tamika D. Mallory. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET via JTA)

December 29, 2018, 1:34 pm

The top 11 Jewish stories of 2018

From horrific anti-Semitic violence to the US Embassy move, these are the news events of the last 12 months with perhaps the longest-lasting repercussions

By Sam Sokol

In this photo provided by the IDF on December 26, 2018, Israeli soldiers are seen at the scene of a tunnel dug across the border from Lebanon (IDF Spokesperson)

December 28, 2018, 8:56 pm

Are Israeli media too soft on the country’s popular military?

Despite a drop in trust for public institutions, some 90% of Israelis trust the IDF, even after a series of incidents where the army deliberately misled the public

By Sam Sokol

Ayelet Ganot, left, and Roni Ashkenazi, participants in the Carmel 6000 national service program, work on an app intended to help autistic children cope with change. (Sam Sokol/JTA)

December 26, 2018, 1:13 am

Program enlists young religious women to tackle social problems through tech

Carmel 6000, a new national service scheme, is designed to emulate the army’s elite Unit 8200, which has become an incubator for Israel’s tech industry

By Sam Sokol

Nicole Parsons, a junior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said she decided to put up this sign after a swastika was drawn over a Happy Hanukkah sign. (Courtesy)

December 25, 2018, 4:05 am

UMass student asked to remove ‘F*** Nazis’ sign because it’s not inclusive

Junior Nicole Parsons says she put up placard after a swastika was scrawled over ‘Happy Hanukkah’ sign on campus

By Sam Sokol

Janet Fein (L) with her longtime college adviser, Sheila Rollerson. (University of Texas at Dallas News Center.)

December 25, 2018, 2:38 am

84-year-old Jewish grandmother finishes her college degree

Janet Fein graduated from high school at 16 in 1950 but only pursued higher education after retiring and receiving free tuition

By Sam Sokol

Orthodox Jews try to prevent a group of American Conservative and Reform rabbis, and the Women of the Wall movement members, from bringing Torah scrolls into the Western Wall compound, during a protest march against the government’s failure to deliver a new prayer space, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, November 2, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

December 24, 2018, 10:36 pm

Jewish Agency urges police to protect non-Orthodox Jews at Western Wall

In letter to attorney general and acting police chief, Isaac Herzog demands investigation into threats against Conservative movement head

By Sam Sokol

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Roseanne Barr, at a live podcast, at Stand Up NY, on July 26, 2018 in New York City. (James Devaney/Getty Images)

December 24, 2018, 9:19 pm

Roseanne Barr to speak at Knesset in January

American comedian says she has ‘important work to do as a voice against the insidious and anti-Semitic BDS movement’

By Sam Sokol

Illustrative. A firefighter extinguishing a fire in a field near the Gaza Strip that was sparked by a flaming object flown from the Palestinian enclave, on June 5, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

December 24, 2018, 9:17 pm

Gaza border farmers to make beer from wheat that survived fires

Profits from Gaza Border Beer will go toward helping make up the shortfall caused by months of arson

By Sam Sokol

Members of the Reform movement hold Torah scrolls during a mixed men and women prayer at the public square in front of the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City, November 16, 2017. (Noam Rivkin Fenton)

December 24, 2018, 8:16 pm

Poll: Israelis increasingly support non-Orthodox Jewry

New survey shows 57% of Israeli Jews believe Reform and Conservative movements should be able to offer their own life-cycle services

By Sam Sokol

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest outside the army draft office in Jerusalem on December 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

December 19, 2018, 8:00 pm

Ultra-Orthodox integration into Israeli life is slowing down, think tank warns

Full-time yeshiva study is up, employment rates have slowed, and secular higher education is declining, Israel Democracy Institute says

By Sam Sokol

Protesters outside of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem scream 'death to the terrorists' and hold up signs calling for the legalization of settlements, December 16, 2018. (Sam Sokol/JTA)

December 18, 2018, 6:48 pm

In wake of attacks, settlers ratchet up pressure on Netanyahu government

As right-wing leaders scramble to show they’re responding to uptick in terror, settlement leaders call for more drastic steps, from new building to dismantling the PA

By Sam Sokol

Rabbi Eliyahu Merav speaks during funeral of his stepson Yosef Cohen on Demcember 14, 2018. Two soldiers, Yosef Cohen and Yuval Mor Yosef, were killed in a shooting terror attack at the entrance to the Israeli settlement of Givat Assaf, in the West Bank, the day before. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

December 14, 2018, 10:06 pm

A soldier’s death brings grief to Israeli army’s fervently religious battalion

Ultra-Orthodox soldiers, many who serve in the Netzah Yehuda battalion, often experience challenges of ostracism from their families and social pressure not to join the IDF

By Sam Sokol