The 2 faces of Bibi * Why I’m getting the COVID vaccine (and you should too) * Xmas message to Hamas * My synagogue’s COVID committee * Scrooge’ s ’Jewish’ repentance

[Times of Israel]( [The Blogs Weekly]( Thursday, December 24, 2020 From the blogs [I am not throwing away my shot]( By [Shira Pasternak Be'eri]( [Still debating? Like you, I’m worried about the unknown dangers of the COVID vaccine. But I’m more worried about the dangers of getting COVID-19]( [Bishara A. Bahbah]( [A Christmas message to Hamas]( [You who have brought zealotry and intolerance to Gaza are not worthy to lead a Palestine where Christians have always played integral roles]( [David Rosen]( [Dramatic educational changes are underway in the Arab world]( [Until recently, Saudi textbooks presented Islam as the only true religion and denounced Jews and Christians as enemies of Muslims]( [Marcus Sheff]( [An opportunity to change the cycle of hate]( [How the Arab and Muslim world perceives Jews and Israel is being influenced for the better by recent changes to school textbooks]( From the blogs [Netanyahu’s two Israels]( By [Yossi Klein Halevi]( [He is our most talented leader and our most destructive politician, bringing unprecedented agreements with Arab countries and scorched earth in our governance]( [Kenneth Jacobson]( [The Moroccan normalization: Another step forward]( [The breakthrough this August between the United Arab Emirates and Israel will be remembered as historic not only because it was the first such agreement in 26 years, but also because it initiated true normalization in contrast to the Egyptian and Jordanian agreements, and because it opened up a path of normalization for other Middle Eastern countries. The fruits of that opening came into fuller flower with the significant announcement of a coming normalization with Morocco. On so many levels, this announcement adds new dimensions to this historic process. Unlike the...]( [Aaron Klein]( [Historic peace is the fruit of the Netanyahu Doctrine]( [Fueled by President Trump’s Mideast policy, the PM’s tenets of ’peace through strength’ and ’peace (not land) for peace’ are transforming the region]( [Ephraim Mirvis]( [As chief rabbi, I can no longer remain silent about the plight of the Uighurs]( [Michael Rose Knopf]( [How to topple tyranny? Simple. Just never give up]( [Justice can prevail only when people recognize that every action, no matter how small, can make a difference]( [Molly Tolsky]( [Meet the ‘cow’ who spent 2020 mooing at anti-Semitic tweets]( [With more than 21 thousand followers, the bovine troll employed humor and facts to school those who tweeted hateful tropes]( [Mark Levenson]( [Teach ‘A Christmas Carol’ in yeshiva. Really.]( [Dickens’ immortal tale of Ebenezer Scrooge perfectly reflects Jewish teachings that frame repentance as a return to a moral life]( [Rona Miles]( [My daughter is FlatbushGirl and I couldn’t be prouder]( [When a Brooklyn newspaper wouldn’t print a photo showing her face, she took bold action to effect change. For that, she has paid a high price]( [Joseph and his brothers in the voting booth]( By [Arnold M. Eisen]( [America is divided over status, a conflict in which the forces of envy, resentment and vengeance are dangerously in play]( [Tamar Wyschogrod]( [I volunteered to take minutes – 2020 had other plans]( [As we made agonizing, life and death decisions for our community, the synagogue Covid committee I chair discovered we were on our own]( Choice voices [Bernard Brode]( [The Shirbit data hack was an attack on national security. Now what?]( [The ransomware breach that targeted an insurer for government workers is a rude wakeup call for businesses to prioritize digital safety]( [Eran Globus]( [Gimme that old-right politics and some young, new candidates]( [The next elections will be a referendum on Israel’s post-pandemic socioeconomic future. Time for the cynical old guard to move aside]( [Molly Livingstone]( [It’s not checkmate, it’s a lockdown]( [Take a moment and remember where you were this time last year. Did you throw up a little in your mask? Our new normal is a numbed reality of what was]( [Olga Markus]( [We are from the garden]( [Russian-speaking Jews have yet to find their place in the American Jewish community but don’t give up on them — we need each other]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? [View in browser]( © 2020 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved