ToI’s weekly deep dive: The budget has passed. Now what? * Blog: What Haredi mothers want * Brew your own ancient beer * Podcast: What Matters Now to Prof. Yair Zakovitch

[Times of Israel]( [Weekly Deep Dive]( Sunday, May 28, 2023 Interview [Unsettled by Jewish history, a California lawmaker takes on his state’s housing woes]( By Louis Sallerson Co-chair of Sacramento’s Jewish Caucus, State Senator Scott Wiener cites his upbringing as inspiring legislation that will allow religious institutions to build homes on their land Op-ed David Horovitz [Netanyahu has pushed through an appalling budget. Now here comes the overhaul again]( The PM caved to his ultra-Orthodox allies with boosted funds for inadequate schools and full-time Torah study. Will he ignore the national interest on the future of the judiciary too? [Prominent GOP donors in Israel: Judicial fight keeps us from investing here]( By Lazar Berman Analysis Haviv Rettig Gur [Why the new state budget both favors and hurts Haredim… and deeply threatens Israel]( Haredim once had fewer children and high employment rates. Government policies changed that. As the community grows, it’s getting harder to justify living at someone else’s expense [Budget dedicates billions for West Bank roads, settlements and illegal outposts]( By Jeremy Sharon NIS 3.5 billion to be invested in upgrading or paving new roads, including routes for settlers to bypass Palestinian towns; hundreds of millions more to go into settlement projects [Analysis / Netanyahu’s fat man, thin man and the burden of the new state budget]( By Sharon Wrobel [Inside Story / Jerusalem planners give initial approval to Jewish enclave in Palestinian Abu Dis]( By Shalom Yerushalmi Interview [Support for Iran rising in Latin America, ex-Colombian president warns on Israel trip]( By Lazar Berman Top Ops Rivka Ravitz [What Haredi mothers want]( By law, my son receives 55% of the state funding allocated to Israel’s non-ultra-Orthodox students, and we’re the ’bloodsuckers’?! Herzl Hefter [Understanding Sinai: The theological uncertainty principle]( If we set aside our idealized, nostalgic reconstructions of the past, we can engage in the changing present with all its possibilities and surprises Faydra L. Shapiro [This Jew is binge-watching The Chosen (maybe you should too)]( The TV drama all the Christians were talking about presents the most intensely Jewish Jesus and Gospels we’ve ever had James Spiro [When Martin Amis took on the Holocaust]( The late English novelist fought his way through ’a forest of taboos’ to create his provocative novella, Time’s Arrow Interview [Protest leader says ‘grassroots’ initiative raised NIS 50m to fight judicial overhaul]( By Carrie Keller-Lynn Religion [As demand for Orthodox Jewish conversion soars, the number of successful cases dips]( By Canaan Lidor The government’s protracted process is not appealing to most of the half-million Israelis who are not recognized as Jewish by the Rabbinate [Russian speakers relish a user-friendly Shavuot, and its pro-conversion message]( By Canaan Lidor [CRM]( ToI podcast [What Matters Now to Yair Zakovitch: Using ‘Ruth’ as a blueprint for creative halacha]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan Israel Prize-winning Bible scholar dives into Shavuot scroll’s meaning, laments lack of biblical literacy in secular society, but sees hope in anti-judicial overhaul demonstrations People of the Books [Between bloodbaths, Jerusalem’s Crusader-era Christians, Muslims coexisted in peace]( By Rich Tenorio In ‘Jerusalem Falls,’ Prof. John Hosler analyzes what happened in the Holy City between the battles of the Middle Ages [Legacy of 12th-century rabbi, doctor and thinker Moses Maimonides on display in NY]( By Cathryn J. Prince [Massive history book charts how the Jewish Diaspora reached all corners of the globe]( By Rich Tenorio Interview [No ‘Fiddler’: Fun-loving bubbie goes from shtetl to Cuba to NYC in grandson’s novel]( By Avner Landes Science [Epidemic wipes out all Eilat Bay urchins; coral reefs face suffocation by algae]( By Sue Surkes Experts rush to understand cause of mass die-offs in Red Sea of keystone species that feeds on algae, as pathogenic parasite spreads quickly, killing the creatures within 48 hours [Israeli study reveals potential method for reducing symptoms of autism]( By ToI Staff Archaeology [Brew your own ancient beer: Yeast from 3,000-year-old Philistine beer jug now on sale]( By Melanie Lidman Israeli multi-disciplinary research team’s first yeast strain available on preorder for December shipping; Israel Museum and Shikma Brewery launch limited edition commercial batch [Unwrapped / Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi undergo CT scans in Jerusalem hospital to reveal craft]( By ToI Staff [Archaeology / Family building a house in northern Israel destroys 1,800-year-old burial cave]( By Melanie Lidman From the Blogs [The song that binds me to Israel]( By Sally Abrams Not giving up on the Zionist miracle means believing that Israel is a place whose wonders have yet to cease — even now [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? [View in browser]( © 2023 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved