American Archivist
Selma Stern-Taeubler (1890-1981) was a natural achiever. Not only was this doctor’s daughter the first woman to be accepted to the Baden-Baden Gymnasium in Germany, she even graduated…
Mezuzah: Complete Fulfillment
A mezuzah on the doorpost is a public sign of a Jewish home. If you open the decorative container of the mezuzah, you will find a piece of parchment with two sets of Hebrew verses from…
I Am To My Beloved
The Torah verse that most epitomizes the emotion of love is: “Anee l’dodi v’dodi lee” – I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me (Song of Songs 6:3). The ideal love relationship,…
Bereshith 5783-2022
“The Book of Humankind” (updated and revised from Bereshith 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald More than 2000 years ago, the rabbis of the Babylonian Jewish community divided the…
The Seven Mitzvot
Jewish law places great emphasis on the way a Jew must live and the rewards for living according to Jewish law. Laws such as Shabbat and kashrut create a lifestyle in which Jews mingle…
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, literally the Night of Crystal, but generally translated as the Night of Broken Glass, was a tragic turning point in the fate of Germany’s Jewish community. The…
You Border on the Adriatic
For many Americans, knowledge of Albania may derive from a famous scene in the sitcom “Cheers,” where “Coach” helps “Sam” study geography via the use of songs. They did this by singing,…
All-American Giver
Mervin Pregulman earned his initial fame as a college football star, but his real success was achieved later as a man of business and as a philanthropist. Born in Lansing, Michigan, on…
The Challenge of Fitting In
The weekly Torah reading of Mikeitz (Genesis 41:1-44:17), which almost always coincides with Chanukah, tells the story of the rise of Joseph the son of Jacob from slave to viceroy. And…
Painting Our People
Born on December 26, 1902, in Rahachow, Belarus (in the Pale of Settlement), Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan was a Jewish painter who celebrated his Jewish heritage and the Jewish world in his…