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…
Rabbi Eliezer Silver
Historians have noted the seemingly underwhelming response of the American Jewish community to the Holocaust as it unfolded in Europe. Among the few who were prominent activists was Rabbi…
Roman Vishniac: Beyond the Photographs
The poignant photographs of the shtetl by Roman Vishniac (published in his 1986 book, A Vanished World) very much shaped the cultural memories of the…
Rabbi Eliezer Silver
Historians have noted the seemingly underwhelming response of the American Jewish community to the Holocaust as it unfolded in Europe. Among the few who were prominent activists was Rabbi…
Belarus, China, Jerusalem and Brooklyn: The Odyssey of the World’s Largest Yeshiva
For 125 years, from 1814 until 1939, the Mir Yeshiva served as a beacon of elite Torah study on the European continent. Situated in the small town of Mir in Belarus, the yeshiva was…
Mishpatim 5765-2005
"The Conundrum of Charity--Who Benefits More?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Mishpatim, contains an abundance of interesting mitzvot. Among the 53…
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,…
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…