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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Chief Rabbi of New York

The position of Chief Rabbi is to be found in almost every major Jewish community except in the United States. Perhaps this is due to America’s separation of church and state, as the…

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Chief Rabbi of Egypt

On 13 MarCheshvan, 1960, Rabbi Haim Nahum Effendi passed away in Cairo, and thousands of people - Jews, Muslims and Christians - attended his funeral.

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Sources Commentators

Abarbanel (1437-1508, Spanish statesman, philosopher and commentator) Israel Abrahams (1858-1925) Achad Ha’Am (Asher Zvi Hirsh Ginsberg, 1856-1927) AJOP (Association for Jewish Outreach…

Curly-Headed White Chief with One Tongue

On May 30, 1854, President Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which officially defined the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and opened up a significant part of what became…

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Israel Memorial Day & Israel Independence Day

Yom HaAtzma'utIsrael Independance Day As the State of Israel marks its birthday on the 5th of Iyar, the world…

Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement

The Mussar movement, the formal study and program of ethical improvement, was developed in the mid-nineteenth century by Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810-1883). Rabbi Israel’s family name was…

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Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement

The Mussar movement, the formal study and program of ethical improvement, was developed in the mid-nineteenth century by Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810-1883). Rabbi Israel’s family name was…

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Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement

The Mussar movement, the formal study and program of ethical improvement, was developed in the mid-nineteenth century by Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810-1883). Rabbi Israel’s family name was…

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Hail to the Chief

“A blessing for the czar? Of course. May God bless and keep the czar... far away from us.” So jokes the rabbi of Anatevka during the opening number of Fiddler on the Roof. This was a real…

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