The ongoing fighting in Iraq and Syria has caused the destruction of many Jewish sites—remnants of once great Jewish communities—and threatened many others. One of them is the tomb of Ezra the Scribe in Iraq, where the nearby synagogue seems to have been turned into a mosque. Lyn Julius reports (with video):

Neglect, destruction, or Islamization are the triple threats facing historic Jewish shrines in Iraq.

Since 2010, there has been concern that the shrine of Ezekiel at Al-Kifl south of Baghdad, the most important of Jewish holy sites in Iraq, was also being converted into a mosque, and Hebrew inscriptions were being painted over. These reports turned out to be mostly false, but one visitor testified to the loudspeakers affixed to the outside to call the Muslim faithful to prayer.

After several weeks of passionate political conflict in Israel over judical reform, the tensions seem to be defused, or at least dialed down, for the time being. In light of this, and in anticipation of the Passover holiday soon upon us, Eric Cohen considers the way forward for both the Jewish state and the Jewish people. (Video, 8 minutes. A text is available at the link below.)