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Israel to invest $40 million in North American Jewish day schools
(JTA) — Citing “a major crisis in Jewish education,” Israel’s Diaspora ministry plans to pour about $40 million into training educators at Jewish schools in the United States and Canada.
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister of Diaspora affairs, announced the initiative, called “Aleph Bet” after the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, on Monday. He hopes enrollment will increase at Jewish day schools, fearing that “we are losing large parts of the Jewish people,” and said the initiative would “focus on training teachers for Jewish education and Israel studies as well as principals for Jewish day schools,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
Chikli did not elaborate on how his ministry would spend the allocation of NIS 150 million, nor did he detail when funds could start making their way into North American Jewish schools. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Israel’s governing coalition plans to approve a state budget next week, ahead of a May 29 deadline.
North American Jewish schools have received varying levels of Israeli government support for years, according to Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah, a nonprofit supporting Jewish day schools. He said staff members of day schools were optimistic about the additional funding despite lacking details about where it would go.
“There’s quite a lot of chatter. People are excited by the fact that the State of Israel really sees the importance of Diaspora education, and is recognizing that the strength of the Diaspora is integral to [a] strong Israel and strong relationships,” Bernstein said. “Irrespective of all that’s going on in the world, that is a very positive and important long-term development.”
The announcement comes at a time of tension between Israel’s right-wing governing coalition and North American Jewish communities. A chorus of U.S. Jewish leaders has criticized the government’s proposed overhaul of Israel’s judiciary, and last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a speech at a signature conference of North American Jews in Tel Aviv in the face of anti-government protests. Chikli, who assumed his role in January, has defended the judicial overhaul while acting as an ambassador of sorts to an often skeptical audience of Diaspora Jews.
Chikli, whose father is a Jewish educator in Mexico, had previously indicated that he sees Jewish day schools abroad as an important destination for Israeli aid. He has said repeatedly — including on Monday — that children who do not attend Jewish day schools are at risk of being lost to the Jewish people.
“We are in the midst of a crisis where it is possible to lose an entire generation of Jews,” he said during the funding announcement.
Early in his tenure, Chikli floated the idea of working with philanthropists to subsidize day school tuition in the Diaspora. More recently, he has signaled that covering tuition — which can range from several thousand dollars at haredi Orthodox yeshivas to more than $40,000 a year — is less of a priority.
“Jewish education in private schools is very expensive, and at times out of range for the average family,” he told Hamodia, a haredi publication, in April. “This is where we step up to the plate. This isn’t to say we’re giving out free scholarships … but we invest, as noted earlier, in the teachers, in the school systems, to ensure Jewish education, and continuity of Jewish generations. We want to raise the pride of Jewish studies teachers.”
Attending a Jewish school is widely considered a strong predictor of lasting Jewish identity, although that may be because parents who prioritize Jewish identity are more likely to send their children to Jewish day school. Enrollment in Jewish schools in North American Jewish schools is growing, largely because of the growth of Orthodox communities, where the vast majority of children attend private Jewish schools.
Outside of those communities, most North American Jewish children do not attend Jewish day schools. But the pandemic saw Conservative, Reform and nondenominational day schools grow as well, according to a survey by Prizmah, following more than a decade of decline. The survey found that schools have maintained those enrollment gains even as the pandemic has ended.
Meanwhile, Hebrew schools and other supplemental Jewish schools have shrunk by nearly half since 2006, according to a recent report by the Jewish Education Project. Chikli did not specify whether any of the new funding could go to such schools
Chikli’s father, Eitan Chikli, is the rector of the Hebraic University in Mexico City, which receives some funding from his son’s ministry. Previously, he was the longtime director general of Israel’s TALI Education Fund, which promotes pluralistic Jewish education in Israeli schools and also produces materials for use in Jewish schools abroad.
The elder Chikli told the Jerusalem Post in January that he would not discuss the funding his university receives with his son, who he said is fastidious about avoiding conflicts of interest. But he said that teacher training was an urgent problem for Jewish schools.
“The biggest problem Jewish people in the Diaspora face today is Jewish education and lack of a high level of teachers for Judaic studies,” Eitan Chikli said in January. “The most difficult problem is that there is no new generation of proper teachers for Hebrew and Judaism.”
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The post Israel to invest $40 million in North American Jewish day schools appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s
Imagine receiving a love poem that reads: “Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, browsing among the lilies,” going on to say that they are a “mount” that the author wishes to “betake” himself to.
That particular line is from the Song of Songs, the sexiest book in the bible. But it doesn’t sound all that different from the poetry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. allegedly wrote to journalist Olivia Nuzzi during what she claims was a purely “digital” affair between the two of them.
“Yr open mouth awaiting my harvest,” the former presidential candidate and current Secretary of Health and Human Services texted Nuzzi according to Ryan Lizza, her ex-fiancé; he released the “poetry” in a series of tell-all Substack posts about the affair.
The nature metaphors go on, as he allegedly instructs Nuzzi to “drink” from him: “‘Don’t spill a drop,’” he exhorts Nuzzi. “I am a river. You are my canyon. I mean to flow through you.”
This thinly-veiled description of a blow job is going viral online, where people cannot stop making fun of RFK’s literary stylings. “This is why we need better education in the humanities,” joked one post.
But the quality of love poems — or sexts, or erotica — is often in the eye of the beholder. (Though there are a few timeless classics, like The Book of O.) From inside the relationship, already dizzied by lust or love, the sexual descriptions can read as head-spinningly romantic even if, from the outside, they’re painfully awkward to read.
Perhaps this is also why the Song of Songs is usually interpreted allegorically, as a description of God’s love for the people of Israel, in Judaism. Later, Christians interpreted the book as a paean to the love between Jesus and the church. If it means what it seems to mean — if the breasts the author is lusting after are literally breasts — it’s just too racy. And, perhaps more importantly, too cringe.
The book is traditionally believed to be by King Solomon, one of the most venerated kings of ancient Israel, known for his wisdom. (Not incidentally, he is also known for his hundreds of wives and concubines.) And, of course, it’s included in the Bible, a holy text. And yet it is full of both open discussion of breasts and beauty, as well as metaphors that are about as subtle as RFK Jr.’s.
“His fruit is sweet to my mouth,” goes one line in the Song of Songs. “He brought me to the banquet room and his banner of love was over me.” Interpret that how you will, but eating sweet fruit seems thematically similar to opening one’s mouth to receive the bounty of a harvest.
Erotic texts were, in the era the Song of Songs was likely written, often part of the religious ceremonies of other traditions, particularly in fertility cults in the area. Still, how do you justify a great wise king discussing his lover’s breasts and dreaming of how her “rounded thighs are like jewels” — especially a king that was supposedly a titan of monotheism? Well, Rashi — one of the most famous Jewish textual commentators — interprets the breasts in the line “My beloved to me is a bag of myrhh, lodged between my breasts” as referring to “the two staves of the Ark.” Which seems like a stretch.
Of course, no one is trying to interpret RFK Jr.’s alleged poetry to be about God; he is nowhere near as venerated as King Solomon, and some of the other lines are less metaphorical. Plus, hundreds of years haven’t passed to blur the meaning of his words. But even with the centuries of interpretations, Solomon’s meaning is as clear as a freshwater stream. Or a river.
The post RFK Jr.’s poems to Olivia Nuzzi are peak cringe — so were King Solomon’s appeared first on The Forward.
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Bank of Israel Cuts Rates for First Time Since January 2024 as Inflation Eases After Gaza Truce
The Bank of Israel building is seen in Jerusalem, June 16, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Bank of Israel cut interest rates by a quarter-point on Monday, its first reduction in nearly two years, citing a moderation in inflation following the ceasefire in Gaza while expressing caution over the prospect of future cuts.
The cut in the benchmark rate to 4.25% from 4.5%, widely expected by analysts and financial markets, came after other global central banks had already begun to ease monetary policy and last month’s US-brokered truce between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas took hold.
“The Monetary Committee’s policy is focusing on price stability, support for economic activity, and stability of the markets,” the central bank said in a statement.
“The interest rate path will be determined in accordance with the development of inflation, economic activity, geopolitical uncertainty, and fiscal developments,” it said.
The committee lowered the key rate by a quarter-point in January 2024 at the outset of the Gaza war but has taken a conservative stance since then, opting for caution during the two-year conflict while price pressures rose, largely due to supply constraints.
But Israel‘s inflation rate has eased, and held steady at 2.5% in October to stay within an official 1-3% annual target range.
The central bank acknowledged inflation has moderated in the past two months but that “forecasters project that there will be some increase in inflation at the end of the year, and that it will then decline and stabilize around the midpoint of the target range.”
It added that the labor market remains tight and wage pressures continue to rise while home prices are declining.
At the same time, the Bank of Israel pointed to a sharp rebound in economic activity in the third quarter, gaining an annualized 12.4%, but that “its level remains lower than its long-term trend.”
Since the prior rates decision in late September, the shekel also has appreciated versus the dollar, euro and other trading partners.
“The data from recent months have … created a clear need for a cut,” said Ron Tomer, president of the Manufacturers’ Association.
“The Bank of Israel’s decision to lower the interest rate is a responsible step that helps curb the appreciation and restore competitiveness to the economy,” said Tomer, who called on the bank to cut again before its next meeting in early January.
The Oct. 10 ceasefire in the two-year Gaza war has eased the conflict and, although looking increasingly fragile, has for now reduced geopolitical risk and eased price pressures.
“Today’s interest rate cut joins a series of steps and clear signs — Israel is on the path to tremendous economic growth,” said finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.
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Saudi Arabia to Open More Alcohol Stores as Curbs Ease, Sources Say
An employee pours a draft non-alcoholic beer at the A12 cafe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Staff
Saudi Arabia plans to open two new alcohol stores, including one serving non-Muslim, foreign staff at state oil giant Aramco, as the kingdom further eases restrictions, according to people briefed on the plans.
The launch of outlets in the eastern province of Dhahran and one for diplomats in the port city of Jeddah would be a further milestone in efforts, led by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to open up the country.
The kingdom, which is the birthplace of Islam, last year opened an alcohol store serving non-Muslim diplomats in the capital Riyadh – the first such outlet since a ban was brought in 73 years ago.
STORE PLANNED IN ARAMCO COMPOUND, SAYS SOURCE
The new store in Dhahran will be set up in a compound owned by Aramco, one of the three people who talked to Reuters said.
That store would be open for non-Muslims working for Aramco, added the source, who said Saudi authorities had informed them of the plan.
Two of the sources said a third liquor store was also in the works for non-Muslim diplomats in the city of Jeddah, where many foreign countries have consuls.
Both stores were expected to open in 2026, but no timelines had been released, two of the sources said.
The government media office did not immediately reply to questions over the plans for the stores in both locations, which were previously unreported. Aramco declined to comment.
There was no officially announced change made to regulations after the opening of the Riyadh store in a nondescript building in the diplomatic quarter known to some diplomats as the “booze bunker.”
The Riyadh store’s customer base was recently expanded to include non-Muslim Saudi Premium Residency holders, two of the sources said. Premium residencies have been awarded to entrepreneurs, major investors and those with special talents.
Before the Riyadh store, alcohol was largely only available through diplomatic mail, the black market or home brewing.
In other Gulf countries, apart from Kuwait, alcohol is available with some restrictions.
REFORMS COVER EVENTS, WOMEN’S DRIVING
While alcoholic drinks are still off limits for the vast majority of the population, under bin Salman’s reforms both Saudis and foreigners can now take part in once unthinkable activities from dancing at desert raves to going to the cinema.
Other reforms have included allowing women to drive in 2017, easing rules on the segregation of men and women in public spaces, and significantly reducing the power of the religious police.
The kingdom has been easing restrictions to lure tourists and international businesses as part of an ambitious plan to diversify its economy and make itself less dependent on oil.
In May a media report, picked up by some international media after appearing on a wine blog, said Saudi authorities had planned to allow alcohol sales in tourist settings as the country prepares to host the 2034 soccer World Cup.
The report, which was denied at the time by a Saudi official, did not give a source for the information.
That report had sparked a vigorous online debate in the kingdom, whose king also holds the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques – Islam’s most revered places in Mecca and Medina.
Social liberalization has proceeded at a breakneck pace but the leadership has taken a more gradual and cautious approach on the question of alcohol.
Saudi Arabia has been aggressively expanding its local tourism portfolio with the giant Red Sea Global development, which includes plans to open 17 new hotels by next May.
These ultra-luxury resorts remain dry.
Asked by Reuters this month if there were any plans to ease restrictions on alcohol to help attract foreign visitors, Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb said: “We do understand that some of the international travelers want to enjoy alcohol when they visit the Saudi destinations but nothing has changed yet.”
Pressed on whether “yet” meant that could soon change, he said: “I will leave it to you on how to elaborate on it.”