The Flying Rabbi
On October 24, 2011, a memorial to 14 Jewish chaplains of the United States Armed Services was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery. The 14 Jewish chaplains whose names were inscribed…
The Chazon Ish
Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Chazon Ish, was considered to be one of the most important rabbinic voices in Europe and Israel in the period before World War II and its…
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…
Sigd, The Ethiopian Holiday
While most of the Jews of Ethiopia–the Beta Israel, as the Ethiopian community is properly called, have made aliyah and rejoined the global Jewish community, they have their own unique…
A Diplomat to Romania
In July 1944, it was announced that a new Liberty ship under construction was to be named for Benjamin Franklin Peixotto (November 1834-September 1890). The descendant of a distinguished…
The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service
While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately traces to a source in Judaism.…
Albania and the Jews
Albania, which today marks its Independence Day, is a small Balkan country with an almost minute Jewish population. While it was never a country with a large Jewish population, there have…
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…
Natural Born Athlete
In the world of sports, Bobbie Rosenfeld had, what a person might call, the “magic touch.” As it was once noted: “The most efficient way to summarize Bobbie Rosenfeld’s career…is to say…
Hardened Hearts of a Leader
Upon the death of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il twelve years ago, the press rehashed what was known about the repressive regime, certainly causing many to wonder how any leader could cause…