Bnei Brak: A Unique City
In Israel, there are any number of towns that identify themselves as primarily religious. There are none, however, that are as distinct or well-known for being as intensely religious as…
Golem
The story of the Golem of Prague is one of the best-known, fantastic and romantic Eastern European tales. It has been retold in both prose and play-form and is perpetuated in the oral…
Rescuing Bukharan Jews
The bleak and challenging history of the Jewish community under Soviet rule is well known. When most people think of the Russian Jewish community, however, they focus on the Ashkenazi…
Josephus
Some historians are scholars, others are propagandists, and still others live the history that they go on to record. Yosef ben Matityahu, better known as Flavius Josephus (or just…
Hide The Knives
Rabbi Yosef Caro, author of the legal compendium the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, relates the disturbing story of a man who became so emotional while reciting the third…
Golem
The story of the Golem of Prague is one of the best-known, fantastic and romantic Eastern European tales. It has been retold in both prose and play-form and is perpetuated in the oral…
Nap Time
The world is moving at a hectic pace. People seem to always be busy--running from meeting to social engagement until they finally fall thoroughly exhausted into their beds at night.…
What Is Chabad?
Chabad-Lubavitch is a chassidic movement founded by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) in the White Russian town of Lubavitch. Chabad is an acronym for chochma (wisdom), binah…
The Jews of Ethiopia
In May 1991, Operation Solomon transported 14,500 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. This was the third great rescue mission of the Ethiopian community (Operation Moses, 1984 and Operation Joshua,…
Earthshattering Moments in One of Israel’s Holiest Cities
Tzfat (Safed), the Israeli city in the rolling hills of the Galilee, is known as one of the four holy cities of Israel, along with Tiberias, Hebron and, of course, Jerusalem. It was the…