For the past several years, there has been much talk in Orthodox Jewish circles, particularly those that lean haredi, of a shiddukh (matchmaking) crisis. Usually, the crisis boils down to the fact that the supply of eligible women outnumbers that of eligible men. The situation gave its name to a movie, directed by Chaya Gurkov, that premiered earlier this month. Lauren Hakimi writes:

Gurkov, a Brooklyn College graduate and member of the Chabad-Lubavitch community, drew on personal experience to make the film, but invented the characters and dialogue. The film, which is consistently funny and heartwarming, tracks the full life cycle of one woman’s potential shiddukh, or match, from the matchmaker’s recommendation to the (spoiler alert!) proposal, which takes place two months later right outside the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights.

Gurkov also said she wanted to combat harmful on-screen stereotypes of Orthodox Jews. “I wanted to create a story that showed that many of us are comfortable in our religion,” she said.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.