Assimilation

After sixty years of conflict, our neighbors are still angry. The average Palestinian does not want war or death — but some of the fringe groups do. My guess is that they’ve not given up. The calm Israel is experiencing right now is deceptive. Something terrible is on the horizon.

Arts and Culture

Departure Without a Destination? Infected Mushroom's The Legend of the Black Shawarma

Israeli expatriate duo Infected Mushroom move further from their roots in dance music, creating a fusion of speed metal and speedy electronica that is more cohesive than compelling.

News and Politics

Freeze Means Ruse in Hebrew

By Moshe Yaroni

The so-called “freeze” is nothing of the kind. It will not lead to a suspension of settlement construction and it will not restart talks with the Palestinians. Is it only for show then? No. Netanyahu’s goal is to put the peace process on ice once and for all.

Arts and Culture

File Under 'Eurabia'

By Joel Schalit

Few genres undermine the ‘world beat’ tag better than 1970s Turkish psychedelia. Middle Eastern and European, ethnic and electric, four decades on, its noisy contours continue to confound Ibiza expectations of Bedouin- programmed drum machines. Milan/Seattle duo Elders of Zion offer up a forty minute mix of their favorite tracks, with a special nod to Istanbul’s 3 Hürel.

Arts and Culture

Let's Be Elk

By Bira

Avant-garde hip-hop music for dancing to while laughing.

Arts and Culture

Rainbow Rivera

By Eliyyahu Enriquez

Piyyut-Spec featuring footage captured by Eliyyahu Enriquez on the Lower East Side, NYC {swapping music by Liao Sha and Ye Mao, A Bright Sunny Day in Autumn}:

Life and Action

Why I Stay in Israel

By Mya Guarnieri

Best known for her political writing in periodicals such as the Jerusalem Post, Tel Aviv resident Mya Guarnieri shifts gears, and confesses her love for…. pomegranate juice.

Life and Action

Angetevka: Naming Names

By Angela Himsel

Psychologists tell us that children’s names affect how we treat them. Mystics assert that your name is your destiny. So, you know, there’s a lot at stake when you name your child. No wonder the enormity of it paralyzes me.

Faith and Practice

Priestesses, Bibliomancy, and The Anointing of Miriam

By Jill Hammer

I was tired of hearing over and over of Miriam’s punishment, the tzara’at (often mistranslated as leprosy) that struck her for criticizing Moses. Then I realized that the final ritual Miriam would have gone through, after her exclusion from the camp as a metzara’at, is virtually identical to the ritual her brother and his sons went through in order to become priests. In terms of ritual, it could just as well be her ordination ceremony.

News and Politics

The New Aliya

By Jacob Savage

The heroic age of Zionism is over. Organizations like Nefesh B’Nefesh and Birthright Israel have taken the meaning out of making aliya. If you lack a sense of purpose at home, you can always pick up and move to the Holy Land. There’s no shortage of organizations that will help you get there.