The Fifth Question - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper

The Fifth Question

by Mira Sucharov

Quinoa and Orthodox Judaism's relevancy problem

The question of long-term vitality of Judaism may ultimately come down to the question of relevance and whether Orthodox Jews are seen more as keepers of the faith or gatekeepers of the faith.

By Mira Sucharov | Mar 15, 2013 | 12:57 PM | 2

Quinoa and butternut squash salad with dried tomato powder

House of Cards, the Oscars 2013 and Jewish power
By Allison Kaplan Sommer | 17
Blackface on Purim: Is anybody listening?
By Mira Sucharov | 2
Valentine's Day may not be a Jewish holiday, but I wouldn't want it to disappear
By Mira Sucharov | 4

Police arresting Anat Hoffman at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Women of the Wall, breaking down walls

Here in Canada, I can bring my tallit to an Orthodox shul with no fear of arrest. If only Israeli women were so lucky.

By Mira Sucharov | Nov 8, 2012 | 10:52 AM | 9

Reviving the Israeli left, with elections in sight

Many committed Diaspora Jews relish the ability to ask curious questions of our Israeli cousins. As yet another set of Israeli elections approaches, we can only marvel as the answers are being worked out before our very eyes.

By Mira Sucharov | Oct 26, 2012 | 11:27 AM

An opportunity to save a life

This week Debra Karby made the biggest 'ask' of her life. Faced with death by Sarcoma, a rare form of aggressive cancer in her liver, Debra is asking for a live liver donor. Her heartfelt plea, posted on Facebook, has since gone viral.

By Mira Sucharov | Oct 12, 2012 | 11:50 PM

Intimacy or divorce? The paradox of peacemaking

Thoughts on the premier of 'My So-Called Enemy,' a documentary bringing viewers into the lives of six teenage girls from Israel and Palestine.

By Mira Sucharov | Oct 5, 2012 | 07:14 PM

How I came to fund the groups that wish to muzzle me

A High Holy Day's look at the incredible shrinking tent of Diaspora dialogue.

By Mira Sucharov | Sep 22, 2012 | 01:28 AM

Israel U.S. Jewish Americans May 22, 2011

Diaspora Jews can love Israel, and also help right its wrongs

This Rosh Hashanah, let’s whisper not only the many sweet nothings we’re moved to utter when we think about the Tel Aviv surf, the sun glinting off the Jerusalem stones, the music of Shlomo Artzi and Idan Raichel, and the heady kibbutz memories that many of us treasure, but also the hard truths that need to be told.

By Mira Sucharov | Sep 6, 2012 | 10:04 AM

Yiddish-style curses as a tool for political debate on U.S. elections

The creators of the new Yiddish Curses for Republican Jews website hope to invoke serious political debate against the background of the Jewish experience.

By Mira Sucharov | Aug 31, 2012 | 12:49 AM

In Israeli and Jewish politics, turning love and hate on their heads is just what we need

How Internet-meme campaigns are reshaping Jewish discourse in Israel and beyond.

By Mira Sucharov | Aug 25, 2012 | 05:56 AM

Marvin Hamlisch, a Broadway composer with a Hasidic soul

Hamlisch taught us that beauty can be discovered if we shut our eyes and listen closely.

By Mira Sucharov | Aug 10, 2012 | 08:51 PM

Debunking the Palestinian claim that a moment of silence for Munich victims is 'racist'

The Palestinian refusal to support a moment of silence for the 11 slain Israeli athletes from the 1972 Munich Olympics under grounds that it is 'racist' prompts laughter of the tragic sort.

By Mira Sucharov | Jul 27, 2012 | 08:14 PM | 10

About this blog

Mira Sucharov is Associate Professor of Political Science and Assistant Dean, Faculty of Public Affairs, at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. A child of the 70s and 80s in two tight-knit Canadian Jewish communities, Mira wrestles with the role of tradition in light of contemporary values, the links between narratives and identity, and the Diaspora relationship with Israel. She is the author of The International Self: Psychoanalysis and the Search for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (SUNY Press), and is a 2010 recipient of a Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. She is currently writing a book on nostalgia and political change.