Opinion

Unpacked’s opinion hub: incisive editorials, expert viewpoints, and persuasive analysis on Israel, Judaism and Jewish life. Our writers and guest thinkers push beyond the headlines to unpack complex history, policy and culture with the nuance and insight Unpacked is known for: challenging assumptions, proposing bold ideas, and offering original takes that spark conversation and help readers make sense of the big questions shaping Jewish life today.

What Israelis and Diaspora Jews get wrong about each other

As a new immigrant to Israel, I keep being asked: why move here now? The answer says as much about the Diaspora as it does about Israeli life.

Hugging, Hitting, and Helping: Mitch Julis on the Future of Jewish Giving

We came to Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah. Then the gunshots began

Chavi Israel thought she heard fireworks. Then the security guards yelled, “Down, down.” A mother’s first-person account of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack.

Did Jews ‘steal the land’ in Israel? What the 1945 JNF map reveals about the partition plan

Jews didn’t just “show up” in 1947 and get handed Israel. This piece breaks down how much land Jews bought before the UN voted on partition.

Do Jews benefit from or lose out under DEI?

DEI was meant to make institutions fairer — but for many Jews, its categories erase Jewish identity instead of protecting it.

When friendship meets the front lines: How standing with Israel cost me my ‘chosen family’

Aliya Zigman writes about losing friendships for enlisting in the IDF: “I chose, and will always choose, to stand with the Jewish people.”

I still don’t want this: A rabbi’s take on ‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 2

“Nobody Wants This” must move beyond challah jokes and show what choosing Judaism really looks like, Rabbi Rebecca Jablonski argues.

Jews in the pews: Finding hope during the High Holidays

During the High Holidays, Zibby Owens reflects on personal loss and collective grief, urging Jews to find hope through unity, action, and community in a fractured world.

Why Zionism is still important to so many today | Opinion

Jews should reaffirm their faith in Zionism; the world should appreciate this gutsy, visionary movement which rescued a shattered people by reuniting a scattered people.

My pet peeves on Yom HaShoah | Opinion

Please, you can acknowledge the ones who have passed, but stop saying that survivors, like all people, are going to die eventually.

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