ToI’s weekly deep dive: Realpolitik of reality TV * 1,700-year-old Jesus ’Good Shepherd’ ring recovered * Podcast: Behind the Xmas ’mitzvah’ of Chinese food and a movie

[Times of Israel]( [Weekly Deep Dive]( Sunday, December 26, 2021 Interview [20 years before the Holocaust, pogroms killed 100,000 Jews – then were forgotten]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [‘In the Midst of Civilized Europe’ by Jeffrey Veidlinger revisits the brutal violence in 1918-1921 that portended a genocide of Europe’s Jews, and was soon overshadowed by it]( Interview [Allied with the right, Labor’s Michaeli insists she’s keeping peace hopes alive]( By [Jacob Magid]( Op-ed [David Horovitz]( [Avoiding the worst-case COVID scenario]( [In a sea of confusion and misinformation, the imperative to vaccinate marks the island of sanity — and the only proven means of averting the darkest of forecasts]( Coronavirus [Rising cases, empty wards: Israel’s COVID situation explained in six graphs]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [In mid-November, when Israel felt Delta was defeated, cases began to go up once again. How has the rise in infections progressed and where does Israel stand now?]( [Israel’s Omicron response smacks of panic, 4th shots should wait, says immunologist]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Israeli study urges ‘rethink’ of COVID’s nature, indicates antioxidants may help]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( From the frontlines [As start-up nation snaps up IDF tech alumni, combat vets say they are left behind]( By [Itamar Sharon]( [In a changing Israel where those hailing from tech units get the red carpet treatment for high-wage jobs, a debate is growing on what constitutes significant IDF service]( [ToI investigates / Terrifying cyber weapon ‘against which there’s no defense’: Experts on NSO’s spyware]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( Tech nation [Fast food: Israeli team stumbles upon speed boost for slow-growing cultured meat]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Researchers were focused on helping people after injury when they realized their findings could assist artificial meat producers to turn muscle into fiber in a fraction of the time]( [Israeli study gives encouragement, and guidance, to cannabis-for-autism efforts]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Investors poured $2.2b into Israeli climate tech companies in 2021 — report]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Polluting company agrees to clean up in return for extension of Negev concession]( By [Sue Surkes]( Comment [Amy Spiro]( [‘The Masked Singer’ and the curious nature of celebrity in Israel]( [Why do former lawmakers, health officials and even famous ex-cons populate reality TV in the Jewish state?]( [CRM]( From the blogs [Ending 2021 on a high: 12 Israeli secrets captured from above]( By [Yoav Cohen]( [It’s the Israel you’ve never seen before, from a little-known shipwreck 15 minutes from Tel Aviv to the middle of the desert under the Milky Way]( Top Ops [Jonathan Muskat]( [Not letting Jewish tourists into Israel is legitimate]( [The argument that Israel must admit all Jews into the country immediately would apply only if Diaspora Jews were fleeing persecution]( [Amit Bracha]( [The courageous, historic decision to halt gas exploration]( [In pausing the search plans, Energy Minister Elharrar recognized the dire threat of greenhouse emissions. Now we need a ‘Climate Law’ to set longterm targets.]( Times Will Tell [Podcast: For Xmas in NY, the best Kosher Chinese and a movie with ToI’s film critic]( By [TOI staff]( [Whether you call it Christmas or Festivus, while some places may be closed, there’s plenty to do in New York for the rest of us]( [Chinese food review / Put the ‘oy’ in Christmas joy with this Jewish guide to navigating Xmas in NYC]( By [Jordan Hoffman]( interview [Israeli producers put passion into movie version of Ferrante’s ‘The Lost Daughter’]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( Cinema [Helping the US get the bomb, this Jewish mathematician faced an ethical problem]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [New film ‘Adventures of a Mathematician’ follows Stan Ulam, who lost nearly his entire family in the Holocaust, as he helps his new homeland’s nuclear efforts during and after WWII]( [Israeli-made documentary on Nazis in US shortlisted for Academy Award]( By [Amy Spiro]( [Reporter's notebook / In LA, Austria honors Jews who fled WWII darkness to forge Hollywood’s Golden Age]( By [Sharon Rosen Leib]( The full picture [Choreographer says: You’ve seen the dance. Now, ‘read’ the book]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( Underwater treasures [Amy Spiro]( [1,700-year-old coins, Jesus ‘Good Shepherd’ ring, found in shipwrecks off Caesarea]( [Divers’ discoveries include gold ring with green gemstone carved with Christian image of the ‘Good Shepherd’ – an early depiction of Jesus – and carved image of ‘David’s Harp’]( [First evidence of social beer consumption found in 7,000-year-old Israeli town]( By [TOI staff]( [Early humans repeatedly killed off the biggest beasts around, Israeli study finds]( By [Luke Tress]( From the blogs [A way out of the narrow places]( By [Rachel Sharansky Danziger]( [With the full significance of the Omicron variant still uncertain, I find freedom from the panic inside me by looking outside myself – at you]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? [View in browser]( © 2021 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved