Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest

By Leor Sinai | April 20, 2026

A Jewish people in crisis needs both the long view and the present moment You’ve heard the saying: don’t lose…

We Teach Who We Are: A Practical Guide for Classroom Educators

By Leor Sinai | January 12, 2026

Teaching About Israel in Times of Crisis Table of Contents Introduction: The Educator at the Center Chapter 1: Understanding the…

The Global Jewish-Israel Syntheses Imagine: We Are All Israeli

By Leor Sinai | October 29, 2025

I was thinking, growing up, my world was a tapestry of hyphenated identities. There was my Russian-American friend, my Italian-American…

Colonization vs. Decolonization

By Leor Sinai | September 21, 2025

Historical Patterns of Conquest and Return in the Middle East The narrative of colonization and decolonization has become central to…

The Long Path

By Leor Sinai | September 10, 2021 |

English Followed by the Hebrew ב”ה שבת תשובה, פרשת וילך תשפ“ב הימים האחרונים של משה רבנו הם מרגשים, ומעלים מחשבות לגבי המסע של כל אחד מאיתנו. משה מסביר לעם ישראל:”… בֶּן-מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אָנֹכִי הַיּוֹם–לֹא-אוּכַל עוֹד לָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא; וַאלוקים אָמַר אֵלַי, לֹא תַעֲבֹר אֶת-הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה.” אף על פי זה שמשה הוביל את בני ישראל מעבדות…

To Be or Not To Be

By Leor Sinai | September 6, 2021 |

English followed by the Hebrew: משפחה וחברים יקרים: אם חודש אלול חודש של סליחות, חודש של תקיעה בשופר יומית (במשנה ברורה: נוהגים לקום באשמורת לומר סליחות ותחנונים מראש חודש אלול ואילך עד יום הכיפורים – הגה: מנהג בני אשכנז אינו כן, מתחילין לתקוע בשופר מראש חודש ואילך) עובר עלינו תקופה של חשבון נפש והיתעוררות –…

Yom Teru’ah – A Day of Everlasting Awakening!

By Leor Sinai | September 3, 2021 |

The only biblical references to this period of these Days of Awe, beginning with Rosh HaShanna, we are about to enter is found in Leviticus/VaYikra 23:23, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of horns,…

In Tel Aviv, we spend every night in the bomb shelter now

By Leor Sinai | May 26, 2021 |

The Hamas rocket assault is bad for Palestinians and Israelis alike TEL AVIV — When it started, we heard the children’s school was going virtual again that day. Coronavirus again? No, rockets — 250 had been fired into Israel from Gaza overnight. By that evening, we were in the bomb shelter, as rockets were flying to Tel Aviv.…

Opinion: Israel Education as Diplomacy, not Advocacy

By Leor Sinai | April 21, 2021 |

We continue to commit such a disservice to our youth, putting them on the frontline to fight for our right to exist, carrying the weight of 2,000 years of exile, when they themselves don’t even know the aleph-bet of their own existence – let alone – Israel’s. Why should a teenager on their way to…

The Duality of Passover, Creation, and Life

By Leor Sinai | March 23, 2021 |

Living a Jewish life includes doing “Jewish things”, infused with purpose, values and memories (i.e. “we were slaves in Egypt” and what that means from a practical and conceptual worldview).  Passover, a microcosm of Jewish life, exists within a set of guidelines in preparation for the festival of redemption including the cleaning of Hametz and…