Jonas Phillips: Living in the Revolution
A few weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the BriTisha blockade intercepted a communication from Jonas Phillips to a relative on the Dutch Island of St.…
Rescuing Bukharan Jews
The bleak and challenging history of the Jewish community under Soviet rule is well known. When most people think of the Russian Jewish community, however, they focus on the Ashkenazi…
Who Was Hagar?
Stating simply that Hagar was the second wife of Abraham and the mother of Ishmael simplifies an incredibly complex character whose emotions and motivations are fleshed out in the Oral…
Supply List
What do gold, silver and copper; aqua, purple and red-dyed wool; linen, goat hair, animal skins, acacia wood, olive oil, spices and gems have in common? These were the primary items that…
My Father, Our Father
Many well-known Jewish songs are based on words from the Bible. While a vast majority of them are based on Tehillim (Psalms) one of the most famous is almost a direct quote from Genesis:…
The Divine Dwelling
In Judaism, there is a strong focus on the city of Jerusalem and the first and second Holy Temples that were built in that city. And while Jerusalem was the place God chose for His spirit…
Yente the Yiddish Writer
Yiddish literature entered its modern era in the 1860s, when Jewish writers began using the Germanic-Jewish language to compose stories and poems. Many of the early writers of this era…
Tzav 5781-2021
"Understanding Shabbat Hagadol" (updated and revised from Tzav 5762-2002) This week, we read the second parasha of the book of Leviticus, parashat Tzav. Because it immediately precedes…
On the Canadian Prairie
Thirty-three years old at the time of his immigration, Grodno-born Rabbi Israel Isaac Kahanovitch (1872-1945), was called to Winnipeg, Manitoba, after spending a year in Scranton,…
The Divine Dwelling
In Judaism, there is a strong focus on the city of Jerusalem and the first and second Holy Temples that were built in that city. And while Jerusalem was the place God chose for His spirit…