Weekly Highlights: RIP Rona Ramon * Rabbi Shmuley and the new UN ambassador * That big December holiday * Trump’s isolation policy

[The Blogs]( [The Marketplace of Ideas]( Weekly Highlights Thursday, December 27, 2018 [‘And who by fire’: To the loving memory of Rona Ramon]( By [Yakir Englander]( [Perhaps you just wanted your body to burn, like the body of your husband, and like the body of your son that I helped return to you]( Gentrification [Alon Tal]( [An eviction order for Rutti the Hyena]( [When human beings take over wild animals’ territory, the animals make themselves at home in town]( give her a chance [Shmuley Boteach]( [Heather Nauert has the right stuff]( [I also hesitated, but now I know that the former top news anchor and State Department spokesperson is far more than a charming talking head]( with allies like these [Emmanuel Navon]( [Like Obama, Trump is eroding American credibility]( [The US pullout from Syria is both a strategic and a moral mistake]( surviving [Elise Ronan]( [What is healthy? 3 years and counting]( [It’s time to talk about the physically debilitating effects of the drugs that keep me (blessedly) alive, post-cancer]( [Joshua Hammerman]( [How a Jew should respond to ’Merry Christmas’]( [Q: It's that time of year, when everyone everywhere is saying "Merry Christmas" to me, even people who know that I am Jewish. Should I simply smile and repeat the greeting or politely correct the greeter and say, "I'm sorry, I don't observe Christmas." A: Now I know why Lenny Bruce said that Christians celebrate while Jews observe. We never get to be happy, even at this most celebratory time of year. We're always observing. And in December, we're always agonizing over how to find our little niche in this annual Yuletide cultural bombardment. The...]( american lo mein [Zev Stub]( [The Jews I know never ate Chinese on Xmas]( [The tradition actually runs deep — especially for those immigrants whose pathway to America took them through New York]( Analysis [Nechama Goldman Barash]( [The Rabbinate’s 65-year monopoly on marriage and divorce]( [A spousal registry, civil unions for those with no religion — there are ways to get married without the formality of ’getting married’]( inquiring minds [Dan Perry]( [The ’best obtainable version of the truth’ is not ’fake news’]( [You can have the tabloid fictions about UFOs; I’ll take the news stories that prevent chaos and enable free societies to function]( [A bad neighborhood just got worse]( By [Yael Shahar]( [The US ground forces in the Mideast were a declaration of intent, maintaining America’s right to have a say in the region; Trump just gave up that right]( more Choice voices [Judy Freedman]( [The Knesset’s senior club]( [What makes you think you have something to contribute in your golden days that others, 30 years younger, cannot do better?]( [Elkana Bar Eitan]( [Should Israelis be able to vote absentee?]( [Jewish Agency chair Bougie Herzog says yes, but I have a few questions first]( [Avi Bell]( [Is ‘East Jerusalem’ Palestinian territory?]( [Who cares if the PLO is making two contradictory claims in two international courts? Outrageously, nobody]( [Nevet Basker]( [Major lessons from minor events]( [When Israelis demanded greater force against Gaza attacks, Israel’s hawkish prime minister did the unexpected: nothing]( [Shuki Friedman]( [Anti-Zionism is a dangerous form of anti-Semitism]( [The Jewish state is a refuge for any Jew in need, which means that anyone standing against Israel stands against Jews]( [Kenneth Jacobson]( [Fight terror, block Iran, protect Israel — or leave Syria]( [By the standards of Trump’s own foreign policy goals, he is coming up dangerously short]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( © 2018 THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, All Rights Reserved