For some time, the divisions separating Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism have been basic facts of American Jewish life—although every few years some discussion arises about the possible end or reshuffling of these categories. Zev Eleff delves into the origins of these denominations, and how Jews came to speak of denominations at all, in conversation with Dovid Bashevkin. Among much else, Eleff explains that it was pragmatism, rather than egalitarianism, that motivated early reformers to switch from the traditional sex-segregated synagogue to mixed pews. For one of the first American rabbis to assert his Orthodoxy, the sticking point was his commitment to “congregationalism”—that is the independence of local communities from governing bodies. (Audio, 128 minutes. Interview begins at 49:26.) A transcript can be found at the link below.)

While I’ve seen much speculation—some reasonable and well informed, some quite the opposite—about why Jerusalem chose Friday morning to begin its campaign against Iran, the most obvious explanation seems to be the most convincing. First, 60 days had passed since President Trump warned that Tehran had 60 days to reach an agreement with the U.S. over its nuclear program. Second, Israeli intelligence was convinced that Iran was too close to developing nuclear weapons to delay military action any longer. Edward Luttwak explains why Israel was wise to attack:

Iran was adding more and more centrifuges in increasingly vast facilities at enormous expense, which made no sense at all if the aim was to generate energy. . . . It might be hoped that Israel’s own nuclear weapons could deter an Iranian nuclear attack against its own territory. But a nuclear Iran would dominate the entire Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, with which Israel has full diplomatic relations, as well as Saudi Arabia with which Israel hopes to have full relations in the near future.

Luttwak also considers the military feats the IDF and Mossad have accomplished in the past few days:

To reach all [its] targets, Israel had to deal with the range-payload problem that its air force first overcame in 1967, when it destroyed the air forces of three Arab states in a single day. . . . This time, too, impossible solutions were found for the range problem, including the use of 65-year-old airliners converted into tankers (Boeing is years later in delivering its own). To be able to use its short-range F-16s, Israel developed the “Rampage” air-launched missile, which flies upward on a ballistic trajectory, gaining range by gliding down to the target. That should make accuracy impossible—but once again, Israeli developers overcame the odds.