Ginger Ail?
Happy “Love Your Red Hair Day”! Those endowed with ginger-ness (In Israel, a redheaded person is called a “gingy”), 1% of the world’s population and 2% of that of the United States, are…
Florence
Florence, Italy, purports to be one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe, dating back to at least 1159, when Benjamin of Tudela wrote of his visit to Florence, capital of the…
The Jews of Luxembourg
When the small European nation of Luxembourg became independent in 1815, there were fewer than 100 Jews in the country. The earliest records of Jewish residence in Luxembourg, however,…
The Stolen Child
From the perspective of Jewish history, the story of Edgardo Levi Mortara was a minor event in a long history of Christian persecution. Nevertheless, it had an important impact on world…
It’s At the Lost and Found
Many a comic strip cartoon has tried to gain a laugh by focusing on the strange objects returned to the “lost and found” department of large stores or buildings. Anyone who has ever…
The Ghetto Of Venice
The Jewish ghetto of Venice, made famous in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice ( “Shylock” ), was actually the very first “ghetto.” That does not mean that when the Venetian…
The Stolen Child
From the perspective of Jewish history, the story of Edgardo Levi Mortara was a minor event in a long history of Christian persecution. Nevertheless, it had an important impact on world…