Athlete and Architect
When Arnold Guttmann was 13 years old, his father drowned in the Danube River, and Arnold decided that he needed to learn how to swim. Six years later, after changing his name to Alfred…
Shoftim 5765-2005
"The Extent of Rabbinic Authority" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Shoftim, 41 new Torah laws--14 positive and 27 negative mitzvot--are introduced.…
The Nuremberg Trials
On October 16, 1946, ten leaders of the Nazi party were executed after the first of the twelve Nuremberg Trials sentenced them to death. The trials of over 100 defendants took place in…
Do You Use A Shopping Cart?
To most Americans, shopping carts are a mundane item to which very little thought is given. Shopping carts, like most of the little conveniences of modern life, were once a wonder of…
Hail The Accuser
In the era of social media, it is almost an everyday occurrence to be asked to sign a petition or to “like” a cause. When Emile Zola, the celebrated French novelist, published J’Accuse on…
A Day for Publishers
The American world of books and letters owes a great deal to the date of September 12th, for on this date, in 1891 and 1892, two giants of the American publishing industry were born:…
An Interesting Philologist
Language is considered to be one of the unique characteristics of humankind. Lazarus (Eliezer Solomon ) Geiger believed that there was a great deal to learn about humanity from studying…
The Mother of Women’s Basketball
Did you know that the mother of women’s basketball was Jewish? Senda Berenson revolutionized women’s athletics. Ironically, Berenson,* who was born on March 19, 1868, in Vilna, was a…
Hail the Accuser
In the era of social media, it is an almost everyday occurrence to be asked to sign a petition or to “like” a cause. When Emile Zola, the celebrated French novelist, published J’Accuse on…
The Nathan Sisters
The Suffragist Movement of the early twentieth century was a political cause about which many people felt strongly, either one way or the other. Maud Nathan and her sister Annie Nathan…