Election Results in Israel: More Uncertainty, More Hope

by Hillel Fendel

This morning's preliminary results showed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his allies had reached a clear majority of 61 MKs. However, as the hours passed and more votes were counted, a very significant change was registered: The small Arab party named Raam – which originally was thought to have not received the necessary 3.25% of the vote to even enter the Knesset – began picking up proportionately more votes. We now know that Raam will, in fact, enter the Knesset, with five seats.

And where did these seats come from? One is from the Likud, and another is from Yemina – leaving the pro-Bibi camp with only 59. 

Hag Pesah Kasher v'Same'ah!! 🍷🍷🍷🍷

Every year Bet El Institutions hosts a pop-up family matzah baking factory. Jews from all over Israel travel to Bet El to bake their own handmade matzah to use at their Seder meal. See below for photos and videos provided by Yishai Fleisher, international spokesperson of the Hebron Jewish community, who participated in the matzah baking with his family last night.

Could This Be the Last Election for Awhile?

by Hillel Fendel, based on articles by Nitzan Kedar and Ze'ev Kam in B'sheva

The national elections for Knesset and (indirectly for) Prime Minister of Israel are only two weeks away – and we may actually assume with some basis that this one will be the last one for about four years. If this in fact happens, this would be quite an accomplishment, as the current campaign is the fourth in two years – practically unheard of in the history of Western democracies.

On what is based the assumption that this election might actually produce a stable government coalition? Well, there are two possibilities: Either Netanyahu's Likud, together with Smotrich's Religious-Zionism party, the hareidi parties, and Bennett's Yemina party, can form a narrow government of 61 MKs  - or they cannot. If the former, the game is over and the anti-Bibi-ites will have lost again.

IDF Prep Academy construction moving ahead in full force!

Check out this 25-second video showing the current stage of construction of the IDF Prep Academy!

Check out the two pics below: where we're at (top) and where we're going (bottom)

Torah from Bet El: Vayikra

Kabbalistic Twist on Vayikra

Baruch Gordon looks in the Kabbalah to discover why the last letter of the first word of this week's Parshat Vayikra is smaller than the others. (Hint: it has to do with the Land of Israel)

Torah from Bet El: Vayakhel

How Is Living in the Diaspora Idolatry?

Baruch Gordon examines the two rectifications of idolatry: Shabbat and the Land of Israel.