I’ve just celebrated my 4th Yom ha-Atzmaut since making aliyah in 2005. What’s life like for a middle-aged, middle class guy from Toronto, Canada adjusting to quotidian Jerusalem, you may wonder. Good, mostly, I suppose. That first year, trying to immerse ourselves in our new-old country, my wife Randi and I went to a series

Just Glad to Be Living in Israel Living most of my life in the United States, I knew Israel’s independence was not something to take for granted, and indeed to be celebrated at every opportunity. Nevertheless, with the pace of life there not focused on Israeli holidays, the ability to celebrate and commemorate Israel’s independence

Janna Gur is the founder and editor of Al Hashulchan (literally, “On the Table”), a leading Israeli food and wine magazine, and author of “The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey” (Schocken Books), at once a cookbook, a beautifully photographed coffee table book and a fascinating culinary history lesson on the diverse cuisine

“…כחול ולבן הצבע שלי” Blue and white are my colors (and what’s black & white anyway?!), and I’m just seeing one star. So how about some Hummus, eggplant dip, pita crackers and blue & white cookies for a Yom Ha’atzmaut treat. Tamar Ansh is an author, freelance recipe developer, and food columnist. Her articles have

I wonder what there is about celebrating a national independence day that makes us all want to cook outside! In Israel, grilled and barbecued meats and poultry are as popular for Yom Ha’atzmaut as they are for American Fourth of July menus. It must be that the pleasure of cooking outdoors, enjoying the warmth of

Jews in America, and the world over, celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut (this year on Wednesday, April 29, 2009), which marks Israel’s birth as an independent, free nation. This year Israel will be 61 years old! With the creation of the State of Israel we finally have a place we can call home, a bulwark that stands

1. Being able to speak to G-d on a local call. There is simply no place in the world, with the palpable sanctity of the Kotel, Home of G-d. 2. The fact that Israel, like G-d, gives the Right of Return to all Jews regardless of background, denomination, race, ethnicity, or economic strata. 3. The

Sefirat HaOmer and the Four Days of Remembrance The period of time beginning the second night of Pesach and climaxing forty-nine full days later with the Festival of Shavuot can be called a time of “Ruin and Renewal” for the Jewish People. The period includes the following six elements, one encompassing the entire forty-nine day

The Rav’s Zt’l Philosophy on Religious Zionism – presented by Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff, rosh yeshiva and professor of Rabbinic Literature at Yeshiva University’s Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem. This shiur was recorded on May 13, 1997 at The Gruss Institute and is part of the OU’s Torah Dimensions series focusing on Jerusalem.