Michael Freund

Michael Freund served as deputy communications director in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office under Benjamin Netanyahu. He is the founder and chairman of Shavei Israel -- www.shavei.org -- a Jerusalem-based organization that searches for and assists the Lost Tribes of Israel and other "hidden Jews" seeking to return to Israel and the Jewish people. For his work with Shavei Israel he has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Jerusalem Prize and the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism. In addition, Freund has been a correspondent and syndicated columnist for The Jerusalem Post for more than 20 years. A native New Yorker, he is a graduate of Princeton University and holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University. Freund has authored two books and received rabbinical ordination. He made aliyah to Israel in 1995 and is the proud father of 5 sons, one of whom is a Captain in the IDF and four of whom are combat reservists in elite units. Freund remains an avid New York Mets fan. Email Michael at michael@shavei.org. View Michael's website at www.michaelfreund.net

That mission is rooted in the fusion of the sacred and the everyday.

Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: The promise of permanence

FIJI’S FIRST resident ambassador to Israel: Jesoni Vitusagavulu (L) presents his credentials to President Isaac Herzog, Feb. 3.

Small nations, strong ties: Fiji’s ambassador talks faith, friendship, and Israel - interview

HAYM SALOMON played a pivotal role in financing the revolution.  Pictured: Salomon statue in Pan-Pacific Park, Los Angeles.

Answering the call: The overlooked Jewish role in America’s revolution - opinion


Shabbat Rosh Hodesh: At the threshold of renewal

Shabbat Rosh Hodesh is an invitation to renew not only the month but also ourselves.

‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all who love her.’

In the shadow of the Holocaust, survivors kept Passover alive in 1946 - opinion

The first post-Holocaust Passover brought survivors together to reclaim dignity, remember loss, and celebrate survival.

Dachau (seen 2020): The stench, the skeletal figures, the degradation.

Beyond buffer zones: Southern Lebanon may need a permanent Israeli presence - opinion

After decades of temporary buffer zones, Israel may need civilian presence in southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah’s return.

Litani river, Bekaa Valley.

Shabbat Hachodesh: A time to cleanse and begin again

Shabbat Hachodesh reminds us that national rebirth is not only a matter of borders, armies, and institutions. It is also a matter of values.

Ezekiel teaches that a true beginning requires cleansing.

Purification by fire: The red heifer and Iran

The struggle against the Iranian regime is not simply another round in an endless regional rivalry. It is a confrontation with a force that has sown instability and death for decades.

Like the red heifer's ashes, the destruction of Iran's instruments of death can become the catalyst for cleansing. A woman walks on the street following an Israeli and U.S. strike on a police station, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 3, 2026.

Israel and Iran once shared a future - now, they may do so again - opinion

Before 1979, Iran and Israel traded openly, there were flights between the countries, and they cooperated on security, agriculture, and oil.

THE HISTORY of Jewish-Persian friendship goes back over 2,500 years, and it is unlikely there is any other example of two civilizations enjoying such a long and prosperous relationship.

Beyond the Golan: The Israeli case for reclaiming southern Syria's Bashan - opinion

The Bashan is knocking, awaiting the return of its children, the Jewish people. Israel must now decide whether it hears it as noise or as a call.

VIEW OF snow on Mount Hermon in Syria, as seen from the northern Golan Heights, in Jan.

Jewish return to Temple Mount brings renewed memory and hope - opinion

Jews are returning to the Temple Mount, reconnecting prayer, memory, and faith in the place their hearts have longed for.

At first glance, it reads like an architectural blueprint rather than sacred literature.

Syria's old dangers remain: Don’t be fooled by the Syrian strongman’s suit - opinion

Israel saw elected Hamas turn Gaza into a terror enclave, Hezbollah enter Lebanese politics while building a missile empire, and now al-Shaara massacre minorities while wearing a suit.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) is welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, on January 28.

Parashat Beshalach's lessons on unity, shared risk, and IDF service

A segment of Israeli society – largely comprising traditional, Religious-Zionist, and secular Jews – carries the overwhelming weight of military service.

A STATUE of Deborah dated 1792 stands in Aix-en-Provence, France.