In the middle of the 19th century, one of the most influential men on the southern Pacific island of Tahiti was a Jewish merchant named Alexander Salmon (originally "Solomon").

He was not a rabbi, communal leader or scholar. Nor did he come from one of the great centers of Jewish life in Europe or the Middle East. Born in 1820 in Hastings, England, Salmon would travel across the globe and settle in Tahiti.

Eventually, this English Jewish merchant married into Tahitian royalty, became a trusted adviser and secretary to the ruling dynasty and left an imprint on the island that is still remembered today.

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At a time when Israeli soldiers are fighting and dying to defend the country, Knesset members from Shas and United Torah Judaism recently sought to advance legislation that would have defined Torah study as a form of national service equivalent to serving in the IDF.

Following public criticism and objections from within the governing coalition, the proposal has now reportedly been revised.

While the bill's sponsors may have intended to bring honor to one of Judaism's most sacred values, the fierce public backlash demonstrates how easily efforts to legislate the status of Torah study can become entangled in political controversy.

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On a quiet street in Asmara, Eritrea's capital, stands a striking synagogue that seems almost frozen in time.

Its doors remain closed most days. The pews are largely empty. The voices that once filled the sanctuary with prayer have long since faded away. Inside, original Torah scrolls, Italian-era plaques and rows of wooden benches still stand. They appear to be waiting for a congregation that left but never returned.

Yet the building endures, serving as a silent witness to a remarkable and largely forgotten chapter in Jewish history.

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When Israel made the historic decision late last year to recognize Somaliland, it did something few nations are willing to do: it acted on principle and strategic interest rather than diplomatic convention.

After more than three decades in which Somaliland has maintained its own institutions, elections, security forces, and governing structures – including multiple competitive presidential elections with peaceful transfers of power – Israel became the first country to acknowledge Somaliland's claim to sovereign statehood.

That decision mattered.

But recognition alone is not enough.

Now comes the harder part: turning a symbolic breakthrough into diplomatic momentum.

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For decades, Sudan stood at the forefront of Arab rejectionism toward Israel. It was in Khartoum, after all, that the Arab League gathered in the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967 and issued the infamous "Three No's": no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel. Yet hidden beneath that history lies a lesser-known story, one that is at once poignant, remarkable and deeply Jewish.

It is the story of Sudan's forgotten Jewish community.

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