It’s Okay To Be Afraid
“Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.” -David Ben-Gurion Within the genre of…
The Thrace Pogroms
In discussions of World War II and the decade leading up to the war, history tends to mainly focus on the major players in Europe (Germany, France and England) and the Pacific (Japan and…
A Letter of Eliyahu
The collected, and posthumously published, works of renowned rabbis often provide deep insights into the rabbis personal philosophies. An excellent example of one such work is Michtav…
The Harts of Quebec
The first Jewish settlers in the area now known as Quebec (but which was referred to as “Lower Canada” by the British) arrived with the British soldiers during the “French and Indian War”…
Memorial Day – Francis Slanger
Not many Jewish women have had ships named in their memory, but it is an honor that Lieutenant Frances Slanger earned without question. One of four nurses who braved the waves and the…
Herman Wouk
Jews, called by many the “People of the Book,” have left a distinguished mark on the literary world. In the field of American literature, few Jewish authors have been as prolific, and…
What’s In The Book: II Samuel
The Second Book of Samuel chronicles the reign of King David. After the death of King Saul, Ish-boshet, Saul’s only surviving son, declared himself king. The Tribe of Judah seceded from…
Sir “The Jew”
The first Jew to be knighted by a monarch of England was not himself English. But, then again, neither was the king! In 1688, Willem the Third of the Dutch Republic conquered England in…
The Charleston Synagogue(s)
Charleston, South Carolina is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States. The 1669 charter for the Carolina Colony explicitly included liberty of conscious for…
Virginia is for Lovers…of Israel
While cities like Charleston, Philadelphia and New York contained Jewish communities during the pre-revolutionary period, Virginia, the largest of the colonies, did not. Individual Jews…