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Skeletons and Scandals

Who were the thousands of people whose skeletons were found in a cave on the Temple Mount?  Were they victims of a Second Temple-era massacre or simply corpses buried in a Byzantine gravesite?  Danger from Damascus

Israel’s delicate balancing act with Syria has been calculated to avoid bolstering the Assad regime, which was hostile in control and may be even more so as it collapses. Listening to the Lemba

In Zimbabwe, the most well-known group of Africa’s “lost Jews” have maintained a distinct ritual, culture, and mythology—along with their own musical tradition. (With audio)Mistaken on Mossadegh

“Mossadegh’s Iran would have tilted to the West in foreign affairs . . . In home affairs, it would have been democratic to a degree unthinkable in any Middle Eastern country of the time except Israel.”Craftsman or Collaborator?

Sayed Kashua’s writing probes a common question about assimilation: not whether it is good or bad but whether it is possible.Observant at the Olympics

There are under a dozen Jewish chaplains of all denominations at the international games this summer.  “Perhaps we as rabbis need to see if we can get involved in sports chaplaincy.” The Egyptologist

Flinders Petrie willed his head (“as a specimen of a typical British skull”) to London’s Royal College of Surgeons, and when he died in 1942, the doctors in Jerusalem duly cut it off and prepared it for shipping . . . Chabad: The Operation

Many leadership experts focus on the Hasidic sect’s organizing model, but can it be copied and reproduced elsewhere? Hashemites Hanging in the Balance

In the wake of the Arab Spring, Jordan’s King Abdullah II has tried to strike a delicate balance between loosening his power and maintaining his rule.A Very Long Jump

Of the 37 Olympians representing Israel at this year’s games, a mere 20 were born in Israel.  Two American-born athletes only became Israeli citizens since the last Olympic cycle.