Torah

Knesset passes contentious haredi-backed bill to enshrine Torah study in Israel's Basic Law

The haredi-backed Basic Law passed its final Knesset votes after weeks of coalition tensions and warnings that it could encourage draft evasion.

MK Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, July 12, 2026.
 A voting box in the last Israeli election in 2015

Thinking about the Basic Law: Torah Study - opinion

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at Knesset plenum to vote in favor of Basic: Law Torah Study bill, shaking hands with Degel Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafni, Wednesday, July 1, 2026.

Israel's hysterical Torah study bill will backfire on the ultra-Orthodox - opinion

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty study Torah outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem during a silent protest against the imprisonment of yeshiva students who failed to comply with military recruitment orders, July 1, 2026; Illustrative.

Basic Law: Debasing Torah - opinion


Retracing the history of Talmudic sage Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi), from Germany to France

Many associate him with Worms, Germany, where he studied as a young man. However, his hometown was Troyes, the capital of France’s Champagne region, where he served as a rabbi and dayan.

THE BUILDING that once served as Rashi’s synagogue and study hall.

Israel’s ‘Tinder for pets’ is helping shelter animals match with loving homes

An Israeli nonprofit is using a Tinder-style app to match shelter dogs and cats with loving families and reduce failed adoptions.

Adopt me Israel's Ela Sayag Lipman and her two adopted rescue dogs, Duda and  Namer.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Don’t borrow identity

Public debate has become louder, more bitter, and less capable of self-correction because opinions have hardened into identities.

IT ALL comes back to the question of identity.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Slow and steady

The most important movement is not always what is visible externally, but what takes place within a person.

EVERY STATION on the slow journey  plays an indispensable role.

Laundering human capital: The reckless amnesty bills and their debasement of the Torah - opinion

Under the guise of concern for the world of Torah, two bills are on the table: the Basic Law: Torah Study on the one side, and the Law of Exemption from Arrests on the other. 

Haredi anti-draft protesters block Highway 4 near Bnei Brak denouncing the detention of a draft dodger, February 9, 2026.

Shas spiritual leader orders support for coalition legislation in exchange for haredi-backed bills

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned there was “no room for delay” on the Torah Study Law amid coalition efforts to advance contentious legislation.

 ARYE DERI sits in the Knesset plenum.

It’s about time that Torah study counted for something - opinion

That same Torah which gives us our claim to the land also commands us to study it day and night – and our tradition holds that this study is itself a form of national defense.

Ultra orthodox Jewish reserve soldiers of the IDF's Hasmonean Brigade operate in the Gaza Strip on June 26, 2025.

The hidden economic danger in the Basic Law on Torah Study

Another significant dimension has received almost no attention: the possibility that the law will alter Israel’s national priorities and damage the growth engines on which the Israeli economy depends

MKS ATTEND a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, on June 16, 2026.

'Little girls with microphones': IDF veteran slams MKs during Basic Law: Torah Study cm'tee meeting

“It's a crime what you're doing to them - all of you here. If I gave each and every one of you the footage from my GoPro of the bodies, you wouldn't sleep at night," the veteran told the committee.

Combat veterans suffering from PTSD attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on, July 7, 2026.

BeEzrat HaShem Inc. earns Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency for third year

Torah Education Nonprofit Joins Fewer Than 1% of U.S. Charities at the Highest Tier of Accountability.

BeEzrat HaShem Inc. earns third consecutive Candid Platinum Seal for transparency and global Torah impact.