Clues in Babylonian texts lead to a Zoroastrian fertility rite as a plausible source for the custom of casting away one's sins.

The rabbis had to reinvent Judaic practices after the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, and it seems they invented the Jewish New Year out of thin air.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that the removal of settlers from the West Bank would be ‘ethnic cleansing’ is utter nonsense. If he wants to know what ethnic cleansing, he has to revisit 1948, not 2005.

In contrast to its behavior in other international forums, Israel trusts to quiet diplomacy at the IAEA – and it has worked brilliantly.

The author known for her realistic portrayal of the life of poor Neapolitan women is a daughter of a Jewish refugee who escaped Nazi Germany.

This Rosh Hashanah, mark the Jewish New Year and take a look back with Haaretz's photographers at some of the most moving images from the last 12 months.

Why is honey better than white sugar, even for diabetics? Why is it kosher if bees are not? Everything you wanted to know about honey.

Two years after Operation Protective Edge, a visit to an army base suggests the IDF has learned a valuable lesson — designing more complex training exercises and focusing on an underground threat.