First Person

Diary from the Ukraine Border: A Flying Purim Party

Diary from the Ukraine Border Hana Levi Julian

United Hatzalah emergency medical personnel and other volunteers distributed kosher meals, snacks, cookies and candies to all the passengers in the flying Purim party.

Kidnapping Saga: Wells Empty of Water but Full of Snakes and Scorpions

First Person Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

"They took him and cast him into the pit. (Gen. 37:24). Rashi: “There was no water; there were snakes and scorpions."

My Query of an Israeli Arab MK Visiting London and the Torrent of Abuse

First Person Richard Millett

Def. of Chutzpah: 2 super successful Israeli Arabs told the crowd Israel oppresses its Arab citizens

Scattered Reflections On The Past Two Days

First Person Rabbi Scott Kahn

Given the scale of the tragedy and the weight of the fear we all feel, our societal divisions that are normally so acute – the religious secular divide, the huge arguments between right and left – seem to have evaporated completely.

Moving Back the Clocks Gives Bibi and Abbas Perfect Excuse Not to Meet

First Person Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

Israel and the Palestinian Authority cannot even agree to move their clocks back on the same day.

Yes, There are Rightist Artists – Me!

First Person Tzvi Fishman

To boost aliya, Israel will encourage Marshall’s, Costco, K Mart & Entenmann’s Bakeries to open here

My Very First AIPAC Policy Conference

First Person Jason Ciment

All I could think of as a first-timer drinking the Cool-Aid, was where do I sign up for next year.

Three Doors Down From The Friday Night Massacre in Halamish

First Person Batsheva Adamit

We sat down, ate, drank, sang, ate dessert, started singing some more – and in the middle of our Shabbat song the commander's military phone started ringing...

A Nation Mobilizes

First Person Rabbi Chaim Goldberg

But of course, despite all these signals that something was very, very, very, wrong, nothing in my wildest imaginations conceived of the full horror that confronted me upon opening the news motzaei Simchat Torah.

The Agricultural Settlement on the Sand Dunes Near Tel Aviv

First Person Faigie Heiman

I was there! I was in Bnei Brak. Not on Thursday evening, not at the raucous, red-shirted, “progressive” women’s demonstration. I was in Bnei Brak on the Sunday before...

A Simchas Torah Like No Other

First Person Rabbi Yehuda L Oppenheimer

But we citizens, especially religious citizens, must take this terrible debacle as a severe wake-up call to unite again as a people.

In Appreciation of Jewish Women Role Models

First Person Ronn Torossian

“I hold the woman’s place over that of men in every fundamental aspect of public and private life."

Rooted in the Land

First Person Rabbi Jonathan Ziring

LeAdam Maarechei Lev, UMeiHashem Maaneh Lashon – The thoughts of the heart are man’s, but from G-d comes the utterance of the tongue (Mishlei 16:1). I barely know what I am feeling yet I trust Hashem to give me the words.

Diary from the Ukrainian Border: Refugee Stories

Diary from the Ukraine Border Hana Levi Julian

Hana hears first hand, stories from Ukrainian refugees.

“Home Again” by Shalev Ben Yaakov: A Remarkable Account of a Conversion to Judaism:

First Person David Herman

During my spiritual journey I discovered G-d spoke to man only once, to the Jewish people at Sinai

Diary from the Ukrainian Border: The Hotel

Diary from the Ukraine Border Hana Levi Julian

A glimpse inside a Soviet-era style hotel.

Avinu Malkeinu

First Person Rabbi Moshe Taragin

There is one difference, though, between 1905 and 2023. We have our land and we have our army, and despite whatever shortcomings were exposed, our army, with Hashem’s help will punish the murders and continue to protect us.

Humiliated on the Temple Mount

First Person Rabbi Alan Haber

Told to conceal Jewish symbols- kippa/tzitzit-I despaired having to hide my Jewishness in Jerusalem

Diary from the Ukrainian Border: Inside a Refugee Camp [Photo Essay]

Diary from the Ukraine Border Hana Levi Julian

Photos from inside a refugee camp in Kishinev, Moldova

‘America And Israel Are More Than Friends…We’re Mishpacha’ – Remarks By Vice President Pence...

First Person Vice President Mike Pence

We will continue to oppose Iran’s malign influence. And under this president, America will never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

The Trenton Trial: Was It Kidnapping To Free An Agunah?

First Person Nathan Lewin

FBI’s undercover agents contacted ORA (Org. for the Resolution of Agunot) pretending to be an agunah

Born on October 7 (and Yom Kippur)

History Yori Yanover

I cannot celebrate my 70th birthday either on Yom Kippur, because of the issur on cake, or on October 7, because my country is in tears, and that's it.

Living in Tears and Hope

First Person Ariela Davis

The fear and stress are very real and while we are mostly managing now, the questions about how bad it could get are a place where our minds don’t want to go.

Beyond Politics: Shabbos with Mr. Cruz

First Person Jeff Ballabon

Ted Cruz is a true Oheiv Yisroel and the kind of unyielding moral warrior we need in the White House.

Scents of Geula

First Person Shui Haber

Our world seemed to shift overnight. Flights canceled, a family bar mitzvah postponed, the resurgence of online school – we were thrust back into a lifestyle reminiscent of the covid era.

I Witnessed a Miracle Last Night [video]

First Person Ari Fuld HY"D

My family was at the Western Wall in Jerusalem along with tens of thousands of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends...

We Didn’t Understand the Gazans

First Person Ben Waxman

If there is one thing that I can take comfort in, it is that the Arabs misunderstand us just as badly as we misunderstand them. If they thought that surprising Israel would bring us to our knees, then maybe they should have checked with Nassrallah about that assumption.