Facebook may not be the source of all evils – but at least many of them. Siva Vaidhyanathan argues that while Facebook has some charms, it holds special responsibility for major social and political ills today

Prof. Daniella Talmon-Heller discusses how and why practices of pilgrimage and temporal rituals evolved in the first few centuries of Islam’s existence

How did America’s political culture move from civil disagreement to visceral rage? Noam Gidron argues that intense, emotional partisanship is distinct from routine ideological differences, and possibly more dangerous. And America isn’t the only country torn apart by politics.

Is love of country a blessing or a menace? Can a citizen of the world embrace universal values but also love one’s country? Professor Steven B. Smith defends – and rebuilds – American patriotism as an antidote to America’s upheavals.

Why is Israel hacking away at its own democratic institutions and values? The assault on the judiciary, primacy of the majority at the expense of minorities, loyalty as a litmus test, corruption and illiberalism – are these Israel’s destiny?

Julius Rogenhofer studies manifestations of populism and democratic erosion in deeply divided societies. Rogenhofer identifies the causes and consequences of populist-driven democratic erosion in Turkey, India and Israel, shaped by each state’s social, ethnic and religious divisions.

Rabbi Dr Tal Sessler, the incoming Dean of the Rabbinical School at the Academy of Jewish Religion in California, discusses his forthcoming book, “Leibowitz and Levinas: Between Judaism and Universalism,” juxtaposing the political and theological thought of two of the most prominent Jewish philosophers in the 20th century

Dr Arik Rudnitzky, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, analyzes the changing voting patterns in the Arab community ahead of Israel’s fourth general election in two years

Why is the LGBTQ global movement intensely invested in the Palestinian cause, and when does a social movement grow or plateau? Sa’ed Atshan asks and answers these questions in “Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique.”

When Robert Berman, an American Jewish immigrant to Israel began studying Arabic, he didn’t stop until he had written a book full of idioms. Together with language expert Christy Bandak as editor, the linguistic duo explain what “his face is good on me” conveys in Arabic, and why there is a whole chapter on fingers.