It was written in Israel during a lull between wars, and it scorns official ceremonies and treaties with their “heavy stamps” and exalted promises. So how did Yehuda Amichai’s Hebrew poem “Wildpeace” become a rallying cry for world leaders, popes and rock stars?
The Abu Ghosh Clan: Guardians of the Road to Jerusalem
On a courageous choice that shaped the fate of a family and a village just outside the Israeli capital
Mystery Solved: Uncovering the “Lost Mona Lisa” of Israeli Botanical Art
The posters of the historic “Don’t Pick Wild Flowers!” campaign were part of the childhood landscape of countless Israelis in the 1960s and changed the country’s relationship with nature itself. Yet the original illustrations, painted by Mary Grierson and Heather Wood, disappeared and were long forgotten, until they were found quite by accident.
“They were witnesses to everything that happened”: Preserving Objects from October 7
After October 7, five women, three of them childhood friends, came together to found “Comfort Object”, an initiative that gives new life to items rescued from the destroyed homes of residents of Israel’s western Negev. Along the way, it has managed to offer a measure of hope to people who lost nearly everything. Among the salvaged items are a bench that survived a fire, a bullet-riddled armchair that served as a silent witness to the horrors, and the only object that remained from the home of the late Yossi Sharabi.
Remembering Jawad Amer: The War’s First Fallen Druze Soldier
On the third day of the ongoing war, Jawad, 23, was killed in battle, the first of 14 Druze-Israeli soldiers to fall. His family and his hometown of Hurfeish remember him with pride.
A Journey to Paradise Lost: Why We Can’t Live Without Flowers
Since the banishment from the Garden of Eden, humanity has longed to return, to a form of nature wild enough to move us as human beings, yet tame enough not to threaten us. To a place that soothes the soul and nourishes the body. The garden is a motif that runs like a thread through countless human cultures. Why are we all yearning for Paradise?
So What’s the Plan, Jerusalem?
Countless urban plans have been drawn up for Jerusalem over the years, but the Holy City, and history itself, always seemed to have plans of their own…
The Guardian Angel of Jerusalem’s Children: Dr. Helena Kagan
How many people can credit themselves with establishing and developing an entire medical field? In the early 20th century, pediatric medicine practically didn’t exist in the Land of Israel. Enter Helena Kagan. With her rare combination of professionalism, hard work, and dedication, she built up the field of children’s medicine in the Holy Land from scratch. This is the story Israel’s first pediatrician.
A Sukkah Made of Fruit? On Samaritan Sukkahs
Why do Samaritans build a sukkah out of fruit, where can they be found, and what happens to all the fruit when the holiday is over? A look at the Sukkot customs of Israel’s Samaritan community.
The Kaminitz Hotel: Where Theodor Herzl Couldn’t Get a Room
If you were visiting Jerusalem in the late 19th century, and were a person of means and stature, you might have enjoyed the accommodations of the city’s first modern Jewish hotel. Unless of course, your name was Theodor Herzl… We dug through the hotel’s guest book and went on a journey back in time.
