ToI’s weekly deep dive: Spielberg’s Jewish memoir * US Conservative Jews v Ben Gvir * The first Canaanite sentence * Meet the Samaritans * Op-ed: Tyranny of the majority?

[Times of Israel]( [Weekly Deep Dive]( Sunday, November 13, 2022 Film review [Spielberg’s very Jewish memoir film ‘The Fabelmans’ is one of the best of his career]( By [Jordan Hoffman]( [Out in NY and LA on Nov. 11 and countrywide the next week, the star-studded autobiography is its acclaimed director’s genesis story, full of references Diaspora Jews will love]( Exclusive [In rare plea, Conservative Jewry tells Netanyahu: Don’t make Ben Gvir a minister]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Mercaz Olami, the Zionist umbrella arm of Conservative-Masorti Judaism, warns appointing far-right lawmaker to a cabinet post would threaten Israel-Diaspora ties]( [Under shadow of far-right’s rise, Jewish Agency head extols Jewish unity]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( Op-ed [David Horovitz]( [Israel could be en route to a tyranny of the majority]( [The ‘override clause’ planned by the incoming coalition risks leaving Israel without an effective independent judiciary and no guaranteed civil liberties]( [Lapid urges united opposition in face of emerging coalition’s ‘madness’]( By [TOI staff]( [Liberman calls for chief rabbi’s ouster for comments on High Court override law]( By [TOI staff]( Archaeology [Ivory lice comb – a dating head-scratcher – may hold earliest Canaanite sentence]( By [Amanda Borschel-Dan]( [With a paucity of contemporary Bronze Age examples for comparison, scholars believe relatable 7-word inscription is first recorded complete proto-Canaanite sentence in Holy Land]( Top Ops [Lior Akerman]( [Where’s the outrage over Smotrich’s outrageous Shin Bet conspiracy claims?]( [As a former Shin Bet agent, I know the claims are baseless. So do our political leaders, but they’re too busy handing out jobs to condemn the falsehoods]( [Rivka Ravitz]( [It’s time to promote advancement of ultra-Orthodox working women]( [The government encourages Haredi men who are absent from the employment pool to join it, but what if it offered incentives for training to the women instead?]( [Todd Berman]( [Choosing a kinder, gentler religious Zionism]( [With the ascent of parties that uphold a harsh version of Judaism, I worry for the soul of my religion and seek a Torah whose ’ways are ways of pleasantness’]( [Erik Ross]( [Antisemitism and Europe’s God problem]( [When a Kristallnacht commemoration documented the rising violence against Jews in Europe but didn’t explain it, I had no choice but to figure it out myself]( Exhibition [Opening on Election Day, NYC exhibit traces global history of Jews’ civil rights]( By [Cathryn J. Prince]( [‘How Jews Became Citizens’ at NYC’s Center for Jewish History gives access to a trove of ancient documents showing the ever-changing status of local Jewish communities]( Analysis [Judah Ari Gross]( [Bid to scrap Law of Return grandchild clause likely to fail, but part of wider fight]( [Proposal by Netanyahu’s religious allies to limit immigration to those with a Jewish parent and converts unlikely to go ahead, though struggle over who is a Jew just heating up]( [Likud, religious allies said to agree on near-doubling stipends for yeshiva students]( By [TOI staff]( [Analysis / Dramatic rise of Smotrich and Ben Gvir fueled by voters willing to ‘hold their nose’]( By [Carrie Keller-Lynn]( Israel Travels [Tour the well-fortified Tel Gezer, the biblical Canaanite holdout that wouldn’t fall]( By [Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am]( [One of the rare sites with written evidence matching it to its Bible location, the massive 32-acre park is free for all and boasts layers of history down to King Solomon’s time]( [Israeli envoy lashes Kyiv for backing UN panel call on ICJ to opine on ‘annexation’]( By [Luke Tress and TOI staff]( [Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky calls yes vote on resolution ‘disappointing,’ warns support for ‘anti-Israel initiatives’ will not help ‘build trust’ between countries]( [Lapid, Gantz slam UN panel’s call on ICJ to probe Israeli ‘occupation, annexation’]( By [TOI staff]( [UN panel asks Int’l Court of Justice to urgently weigh in on Israeli ‘annexation’]( By [Luke Tress]( [US blasts ‘abhorrent’ celebration of Kahane after prospective minister attends]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Public rebuke by State Department spokesman is first by Biden official aimed at far-right lawmaker Ben Gvir, who is aiming to become next police minister]( [Ben Gvir hails racist Kahane, is booed for saying he doesn’t want to expel all Arabs]( By [Jeremy Sharon and TOI staff]( [Ex-security official foresees ‘major disaster’ if Smotrich made defense minister]( By [TOI staff]( Interview [TikTok influencer Montana Tucker makes Holocaust docu-series for Gen Z]( By [Matt Lebovic]( [After losing thousands of followers for posting about her family’s Holocaust story, social media star Montana Tucker pushes back against haters with ‘How to: Never Forget’ series]( [4th COVID shot boosts antibodies for 13 weeks, Israeli study finds]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Research shows defense against infection fades by 15 weeks, but protection against serious illness may be longer, according to researchers at Sheba Medical Center]( [Cases still low but new COVID strains spreading, with ominous echoes of past winters]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Israeli hospital: New tech gave instant DNA info on tumors, jump-starts treatment]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [From Auschwitz to Iftar: Danish Muslim-Jewish biker club revs up interfaith dialogue]( By [Melanie Lidman]( [Uniting over a common love of motorcycles, members of MuJu & Co. hit the road to fight bigotry, including guarding over a Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen every Kristallnacht]( [Israeli climate finance experts gather some of world’s top brains at COP27 event]( By [Sue Surkes]( [YK Center, named for insurance and risk management expert Prof. Yehuda Kahane, holds global financial solution summit that opens window onto big ideas to fund climate repair]( [Netafim to introduce carbon credits for rice growers using drip irrigation]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Israel’s DeserTech partners with UN to help African nations build ‘Great Green Wall’]( By [Sue Surkes]( On show [Film shines a spotlight on Israel’s tiny Samaritan community fighting for its future]( By [Renee Ghert-Zand]( [Trifecta of published book, film that opened Nov. 8 and ongoing exhibit examines how unique people struggle to ensure survival without compromising their unique religious practices]( [CRM]( Interview [Hunted by the mafia, Italian author teams up with Israeli artist in graphic memoir]( By [Giovanni Vigna]( [In new cooperative work ‘I’m Still Alive,’ Roberto Saviano and Israeli Asaf Hanuka depict the author’s life on the run since famously exposing the Camorra crime syndicate]( Times Will Tell [Podcast: Israeli pop star songwriter brings message — in Arabic — to latest single]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [US-born Eytan Peled writes songs in English, Arabic and Hebrew, and wants to bridge worlds with his music]( Interview [Teen weaves grandmother’s Holocaust experience into a compelling young adult read]( By [Renee Ghert-Zand]( [After her father’s death, Suzette Sheft realized the importance of recording family history, and passes the lesson on with surreal nonfiction work ‘Running for Shelter,’ out Nov. 9]( [In wartime Ukraine, synagogues keep lights on to mark Kristallnacht]( By [Lazar Berman]( [Photographer’s images of Ukraine bear witness to war zone]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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