Memorial Prayer
According to Jewish belief, when people pass away, they move on to sojourn in the “next world,” to hopefully enjoy the spiritual rewards they have earned from their good acts in “this…
Krymchaks: The Unique Jews of Crimea
The Crimean Peninsula, which extends into the Black Sea, has been home to a succession of dominant cultures. Among the many who have settled in this region have been Jews, whose presence…
Building Off Failure
Today, October 13, is marked as the “International Day for Failure,” a day meant to encourage people to “celebrate our shortcomings and failures, share our experiences and promote the…
Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day
Today, the 27th of Nissan, Jews around the world are marking Yom Ha’shoah (Officially Yom Ha’zikaron La’shoah V’la’g'vurah, which translates to The Day of Memorial for…
A Truly Jewish Hospital
It happened during the Holocaust that Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam was shot in the arm by the Nazis. Afraid to go to the Nazi infirmary, which he felt meant certain death, Rabbi…
The Jews of Bucharest
The history of the Jews of Europe is a narrative of highs, when communities flourished, and terrible lows, when anti-Semitism turned life into a harrowing nightmare. Each region has its…
Pictures Worth Countless Words
Dawid Szymin, better known by his nickname Chim (or by his Americanized name David Seymour), was born in Warsaw on November 20, 1911. His father, Benjamin, was a publisher of many of the…
Hail to Brotherhood
In the earliest days of humankind, a man named Cain asked God the now famous question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). Cain’s question was meant to be a distraction from the…
The Memorial Prayer
According to Jewish belief, when people pass away, they move on to sojourn in the “next world,” to hopefully enjoy the spiritual rewards they have earned from their good acts in “this…
Harem Power
The place: Istanbul/Constantinople. The Time: The Sixteenth Century In the sixteenth century, the…