Yedidia Z. Stern - ידידיה צ. שטרן's Blog

The Genesis War

This war requires a name rooted in Jewishness – and, after victory, one that calls us to correct course and start again from the beginning

Restoring the covenant of fate

A year we would like to forget is ending. Three-quarters of the Israeli public feel that the country’s situation has worsened over the past year. A large majority of those who voted for the governing coalition (61%) and a huge majority of opposition voters (93%)...

A miraculous display of civil heroism

The political center is taking to the streets to fight for values and interests that transcend identity group politics

The People’s Framework or civil war

As we stand at the edge of the abyss – a constitutional crisis literally embodying the idea that “might is right” – the president of Israel decided, this past Wednesday, to place the People’s Framework on the national table. He may lack actual authority, but...

Dialogue should prevent Israel’s slide into civil war

If legal experts with differing opinions could just hash everything out, we might see real, consensus-based reform

Rosh Hashanah or January 1?

This season of Jewish holidays goes a long way to preserve our Jewish identity, protecting us from the pervasive divisiveness and assimilation in Israeli society

The Haredi leadership: Crime and its punishment

The ultra-Orthodox self-segregate from Israeli society, but the Walder affair is revealing major cracks in the 'wall of holiness.' A day of reckoning is coming

The (non-)draft law for Haredim

Lowering the draft age for the ultra-Orthodox to let them leave the army at the usual age sounds like a good idea, but it might just bring down this people's army

Artem – brother or other?

Israel must find a way to allow marriage for all and the best option is to set up a civil union track that doesn't undercut the Rabbinate's halachic authority

High Court gender segregation ruling provides for ‘A Room of Their Own’

In agreeing to limited separation in academia, the Court rejected the extreme positions of both the Haredim and those who oppose them