Israel has signed an historic free trade deal with the United Arab Emirates, its first with an Arab country. The agreement will eliminate customs duties on 96% of food and agricultural products, cosmetics, medical equipment and medicine, according to Israel’s economic ministry.

Meanwhile, an Israeli news station has reported that a senior Israeli official visited Saudi Arabia for talks on security, one of several recent signs indicating that Riyadh could be the next capital to move toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state.

Rendering of architect Daniel Libeskind’s design for the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman entered the synagogue and opened fire, killing 11 congregants and wounding 6 others. The new design plan was revealed by Lifang Vision Technology.

For those interested, an entire genre of storytelling about leaving insular religious communities exists. Only a few years ago, Tara Westover’s knockout bestseller, Educated, told of her escape from her fundamentalist Mormon family in rural Idaho.

In the Jewish world, a spate of stories about leaving various threads of the Orthodox religious world caught fire first with Deborah Feldman’s memoir in 2012, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, which later became a Netflix miniseries. In 2017, Tova Mirvis published The Book of Separation in which she wrote about abandoning her marriage and her Modern Orthodox faith.

Julia Haart’s new memoir, Brazen, is the latest. Her rejection of her Haredi enclave and her meteoric rise to the elite world of fashion was partly captured in the Netflix reality TV show, “My Unorthodox Life.

An ancient tablet discovered near the Palestinian city of Nablus may contain the earliest known mention of God’s name in proto-alphabetic Hebrew. Scott Stripling, director of the Archaeological Studies Institute at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Tx, announced the discovery of the lead tablet. He said it could push back the written record of the name “Yahweh” a couple of centuries earlier, to at least 1200 B.C. and perhaps as early as 1400 B.C. The finding may also spur renewed debate on the dating of biblical events, especially those told in the Book of Exodus. A peer-reviewed article is in progress.

The artifact, less than one inch in length and width, is known as a curse tablet, from the Late Bronze Age. The inscription reads: “Cursed, cursed, cursed — cursed by the God YHW. Cursed you will surely die. Cursed by YHW — cursed, curse, cursed.” In making the announcement, Stripling was joined by Museum of the Bible CEO Harry Hargrave, who noted, “This little artifact helps us understand better the history, story, and impact of the Bible — all within one square inch.”

In 2006, following resolutions passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, President George W. Bush proclaimed May to be Jewish American Heritage Month. Each year since then, the sitting president has upheld the declaration.

Jewish American Heritage Month focuses on the contributions of Jewish people to this country throughout its history of nearly 250 years. This month, we also look at the history of injustice around the world. It is a time to reflect on rising antisemitism in this country and abroad. It is a time to be proud of our heritage and to assure that Jewish communities will flourish, as President Bush intended.

North Fork Reform Synagogue has announced the awarding of the second annual Linda Rie Cohen Scholarships, a $10,000 endowment from Fred Cohen to honor the memory of his late wife, who died in June 2013. The scholarships are awarded to candidates seeking to pursue education in the arts and sciences, in keeping with Linda Rie Cohen’s lifelong passion for music, the arts, and education.

Applications are posted on the synagogue’s website, northforkreformsynagogue.org, and must be received by May 15, 2022.