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Allies in Azerbaijan

Sharing intelligence and trading defense hardware for oil, Israel has quietly built a strategic alliance with Azerbaijan, and thus joined Europe, Russia, Turkey, and Iran in the competition for the Caucasus.The Lost Tribe of New Mexico

Straddling the border between Colorado and New Mexico, San Luis Valley is home to Hispano communities, where research shows that almost everyone is related by blood. Jewish blood.On the Hatred of Haredim

Contrary to media hype, Israel is not becoming an ultra-Orthodox theocracy. Rather, the recent violence is a reaction to increasing integration, and a symptom of the Haredi leadership losing its grip.Why Not Covet?

Reasons for the tenth commandment (found in this week's Torah portion): practical, psychological, moral, spiritual.Land of Milk and Honey

A 3,000-year-old apiary sheds light on the economy of the biblical period.Man is the Tree of the Field

Contemplating Deuteronomy 20:19, a contemporary Israeli poet seeks a grim comfort in the arboreal bond.The Politics of Tree Planting

Aiming to transform Israel's aridity, earlier functionaries imported trees unsuited to the Middle-Eastern landscape, putting pressure on a scarce environmental resource: water.Oak Tree

"I will keep standing," sings the Israeli jazz bassist (Video; performance begins at 1:30.)     Yitro: Three Acts of Leadership

This week's portion describes the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the Torah spares no expense to bring us special effects worthy of the event: smoke and fire, thunder and lightning, and an earthquake, all accompanied by the blare of a shofar growing louder and louder. The Israelites are about to experience God's self-revelation, in a most dramatic fashion. But this week also has something for those who like their dramatic moments more subtle.Plant a Tree in Israel?

Perhaps not; in the wake of recent forest fires there is general agreement that the focus should be on sustainable management and a decades-long process of natural regeneration.