5.9. eve
On Shabbat evening, we talked about our growing aversion to travel. She hasn't left Israel in over thirty years. I told her that the thought of her, always "at home," comforted me when I had to go on speaking tours in Europe, and that I had
4.9.
Today I received this letter from a retired teacher in Berlin: "For over 35 years, I taught history in Berlin schools. In 9th grade, the topic was 'National Socialism and the Holocaust.' During this long period, I observed how students' attitudes toward the Shoah, a crime
1.9.
Every year on September 1st, an interesting figure is released: the number of students starting school. This year, it's over 2.6 million. This figure includes all young Israelis between the ages of 6 and 18. If we add half that number—assuming a constant birth rate—that
Ein Staat für den Emir
Wie das Königreich Jordanien aus der Konkursmasse des Osmanischen Reiches zustande kam Veröffentlicht in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung am 31.8.2026 Das letzte der islamischen Großreiche, das türkisch-osmanische Reich, begann im achtzehnten und neunzehnten Jahrhundert rapide zu zerfallen. Zugleich gelang es den Engländern, sich in Ägypten festzusetzen, vor
31.8.
Decades ago, the leading German news magazine Der Spiegel (The Mirror) was a publication that took pride in its intellectual ambitions. Nowadays, it’s nothing more than a magazine for fools. Yesterday’s online edition (around noon) carried the headline: “Merz redet vom Wetter, aber tut nichts dagegen.” In English:
30.8. afternoon
Zudem ist es eine Frage der Zeit, bis Teheran sein letztes strategisches Druckmittel, die Straße von Hormuz, verliert. Schon sind auf der arabischen Halbinsel mehrere Projekte im Bau, die entsprechende Mengen Öl auf dem Landweg transportieren werden, so der Ausbau der Habshan-Fujaira-Pipeline durch die Wüste der Emirate oder
30.8. noon
Exil-Iranian journalist Dana Sadeh about cracks in Iran's loyal class: "Among broad circles of supporters in Iran — elements that in the past were staunch regime loyalists and hard-line nationalists — a deep sense of shock is growing over what is defined as complete 'feebleness'
27.8. morning
Once again, Sophie von der Tann, the Israel correspondent for German state television during the Gaza War, has been awarded a prize for her reporting, this time by an institution of the German Protestant Church. Sophie von der Tann knowingly misinformed and disinformed millions of Germans, confusing them with biased
26.8.
For German friends of Israel, teachers, and other thinkers: Lea Fleischmann, a writer and educator living in Jerusalem (retired senior teacher), has been dedicated to German-Jewish understanding for decades through her books. She combats antisemitism among German youth, which is often based on ignorance or false prejudices, by providing
24.8.
It is an astonishing, difficult-to-explain phenomenon that societies and states that succumbed to anti-Semitism and persecuted their Jews soon suffered decline, while others that knew how to manage their Jewish minority prospered. Historians place the expulsion of the Hebrews from Egypt in the time of Pharaoh Ramses
23.8.
Ahmad Mansour, an Islam expert and psychologist living in Germany, explains on Facebook that in Tel Aviv, where he is currently on vacation, he has “never seen so many French-speaking people as I do now. On every corner. While shopping. At the hotel. On the street.” He said he
21.8. afternoon
I just received the following email from a German reader, Ms. C.H., which I find aptly worded, and would therefore like to share it with you: Yesterday there were reports of radical, misanthropic statements by Ben Gvir. But Ben Gvir is not representative of all of Israel! Yes, even