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Jun 18, 2018, 11:14 PM

The 2,000-year-old synagogue at Gamla, the oldest yet found in Israel.

Under a burning sun, I climb a rocky basalt ridge on the Golan Heights, surrounded by deep gorges, high above the Sea of Galilee, eager to view the ruins of the ancient city of Gamla. There is a fantastic...

Graciela Berger Wegsman

May 17, 2018, 9:24 PM

Jerusalem, where the stones speak

How do you fall in love with a city? For me, my love for Jerusalem began with its stones. The stones talked to me. They told me stories; they spoke of history, love, death, beauty, empires, civilizations, time, and faith. When you fall...

May 10, 2018, 2:36 AM

Toledo: Spanish city of legends

View of the walled city of Toledo (Ticia Verveer)

PHOTO ESSAY: Once upon a time, the city was a great spiritual haven, a fusion of Christian, Jewish and Arab culture

Mar 28, 2018, 9:42 PM

Scrolls of Contention

Shortly after the passage of Resolution 2334 by the United Nations Security Council in December 2016, I began to explore its ramifications. The Resolution was approved when the Obama Administration refused to exercise its veto in a fit of...

Mar 27, 2018, 8:23 PM

A million obstacles?

Quiet there, Mr. Ruff! Of your noise, we’ve had enough. Wouldn’t it drive you really bats If we were a million. --Katz The Two State Solution has been having a bit of a renaissance lately since around the last AIPAC conference. Executive Director of AIPAC,...

Feb 26, 2018, 7:34 PM

The Star of David You Can See from Space in … Iran

This week is a time for costume parties, satirical entertainment, eating delicacies, noisemaking, and even religiously sanctioned drunkenness. This spirit of partying is expressed in the Talmudic dictum that when the Megillah (The Scroll of Esther) is chanted at...

Feb 26, 2018, 11:24 AM

Headliner prophet appears in Jerusalem

The prophet Isaiah continues to make headlines here in the land of Israel. This time, it's in the form of a bulla, or clay impression, found in Jerusalem. The hand of the Prophet Isaiah himself may have created an 8th...

Feb 13, 2018, 11:03 PM

The Custodians of Venice

The very word ghetto originates from where I am right now, the Campo di Ghetto Novo in Venice, where the Jews were forced to live in 1516. This designated area of Jewish residence was not the first permanent isolated Jewish settlement. In...

Feb 2, 2018, 1:51 PM

Does The Guardian Actually Dig for the Truth?

The Guardian's Olive Holmes simply mouthpieced a report from the EU the other day. (Here's the TOI story) Its essence: Israel using tourism to legitimise settlements, says EU report Exclusive: European Union Heads of Mission warn ‘touristic settlements’ are being used as a political tool I am...

Jan 30, 2018, 2:30 PM

The almost 2,000 year old tree at biblical Tamar

I am driving north out of Ein Hatseva on Route 90, with the sun riding above me in the sky, setting fire to the clouds in the horizon, towards the oasis Tamar. The majestic Scorpion's Pass ends here, an...

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