About

Parasha Diplomatit presents an “Israeli diplomatic perspective on the weekly Torah reading.” An unusual experiment in Biblical diplomacy, it seeks to draw insights from the week’s parasha and relate them to an issue of concern to Israeli society and world Jewry. Each week the insight from the weekly portion is accompanied by a quotation from an Israeli leader or diplomat and – recognizing the warm force of Jewish humor – a joke or anecdote on a related theme.

The project was initiated by Israeli diplomat and legal adviser Daniel Taub after he was repeatedly approached by diplomats abroad who had been invited to speak before Jewish – or Christian – audiences, and were looking to add a Jewish flavor to their address.

As Taub points out in his introduction, the term Parasha Diplomatit usually means “diplomatic incident,” but here suggests a “fresh and diplomatic approach to the week’s Torah reading”.