Yermi Brenner

Imagine living less than forty kilometers away from a big and important city, but never visiting it, and rarely hearing reports about what's going on in it. That is my relationship with Gaza.

As the draining of the Jordan River grows, the amount of water spilling into the Dead Sea is becoming smaller. In the past few years several people have been injured falling into Dead Sea sinkholes.

In the past few years, Israel's border with Egypt has become an infiltration point for Africans who have escaped from war and persecution, mainly from Sudan and Eritrea.

Shared consumption and production is a nice idea -- but it's ultimately unrealistic, especially when surrounded by an intensively capitalistic environment, as there is in Israel today.

The first time I met Rabbi Ron he was lecturing at a tolerance festival about his life as an orthodox rabbi who is also gay. He is battling against homophobia, and doing so bravely.