Between The Lines with Gary Rosenblatt

MIT did not issue a detailed report on the crisis on campus, so Professor Yossi Sheffi did. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Lior Alon, who served seven years as an officer in the Israeli Navy, is not easily unnerved. He took part “in operations that risked my life,” he told me in a recent interview.

In search of the core values that define Judaism and the Jewish people throughout the ages. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Dear Reader, If Moses was coming down from Mt. Sinai with Ten Commandments for Jews living in 2026 rather than in biblical times, what would those commandments be?

Praise from peers: “His work was characterized by clarity, honesty and a deep responsibility to the Jewish people,” wrote a group of Jewish social scientists in memory of Ukeles. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

A time to rejoice: In addition to the program at UJA-Federation, the children had a bar and bat mitzvah celebration in Israel with President Isaac Herzog attending. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. And please share with friends. I met Tal Goldstein-Almog, 11, when he was visiting New York a couple of weeks ago as part of a group of 30 Israeli youngsters.

Taking to the streets: One of many major charedi protests this year in a successful effort to exempt young men from national service. I can still remember the anger in the voice of a rabbi who called me to complain about one of the first columns I wrote as editor of The Jewish Week in the summer of 1993. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

A dose of reality: “The most important thing a true friend can do is to tell the truth when it’s painful,” Rahm Emanuel told an Israeli audience. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

A pioneering rabbi: “As long as you’re going in the right direction — that’s our motto,” says Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder of the National Jewish Outreach Program. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. In 1975, Lincoln Square Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side had become the hottest ticket in town.

In better times: One of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s many visits to the Trump White House in the course of their on again-off again relationship. While Donald Trump flaunts his success in reaching an agreement with Iran, the self-described master of the art of the deal appears to be the loser in what could be his most important transaction as president – a deal that weakens America’s image and makes Israel dangerously vulnerable. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication.

Mordechai’s message to Queen Esther — a call for action — still resonates today. Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Dear Reader, The most compelling phrase from The Book of Esther, cited in the headline above, frames this timely essay by Rabbi Steven Abraham, a prolific contributor to Substack whose writing is consistently powered by moral clarity.

Dear Reader, Between The Lines is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I received a number of comments – always welcome – in response to my most recent column, “Israel Skewed In Back-To-Back Opeds,” which dealt with two highly biased essays critical of Israel, published in the New York Times on consecutive days this week.