Mourning Jerusalem: A Brief History of the First Temple

On Sunday, Jews all over the world will observe the fast of Tisha b’Av. It is on this day that the Jewish people mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temples. The First…

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Whose First Fruits?

When the Oral Law was first codified, most Jews lived in agrarian settings. Today, being less familiar with agrarian culture, some people find it difficult to relate to some of the…

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North Star State’s First Jewish Senator

Rudolph Ely Boschwitz was born on November 7, 1930 in Berlin, Germany to his Jewish parents Lucy (Dawidowicz) and Eli. When he was 3, coinciding with Hitler’s rise to power, the Boschwitz…

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North Star State’s First Jewish Senator

Rudolph Ely Boschwitz was born on November 7, 1930, in Berlin, Germany to his Jewish parents Lucy (Dawidowicz) and Eli. When he was 3, coinciding with Hitler’s rise to power, the…

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The First American Jewish Poetess

In celebration of National Poetry Month: When asked to name early American Jewish poets, the first name that comes to most people’s mind is Emma Lazarus. It may therefore be surprising…

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The Light of the First Day

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the…

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The Light of the First Day

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the…

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The Light Of The First Day

When most people think of natural light, they think of the sun. Strangely enough, the sun (along with the moon and stars) was not created until the fourth day. So what was the “light”…

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The First Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel

When history books discuss immigration to the land of Israel at the beginning of the twentieth century, the waves of immigrants to which they refer were, for the most part, Ashkenazim…

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America’s First Synagogue

In 1656, Shearith Israel, the first synagogue was established in the territory that came to be known as the United States. The synagogue, also known as the Spanish and Portuguese…

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