Photo: Imagno/GettyImagesWilliam Hechler in Arab dress
while visiting the land of Israel
Herzl’s Evangelical Prophet
Meet William Hechler, the Zionist Christian minister who met with pioneering Zionists in Odessa and arranged for Theodor Herzl to meet with Kaiser Wilhelm II
Yehuda Moraly
The Surprise Seder Guest
We open the door for him and pour him a cup of wine. How did Elijah the prophet become part of the Passover Seder when he is not mentioned in the Haggadah? Medieval haggadot and responsa hold the key
Chana Shacham-Rosby
The Unspoken Taboo
At the end of the Seder, early American Jews squirmed. Did they really dream of “Next year in Jerusalem,” or were they loyal subjects of the land of the free? A hundred years of U.S. haggadot
Jonathan D. Sarna
Dancing to Bar Yohai’s Tomb
Since the Middle Ages, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai’s grave on Mount Meron has attracted pilgrims – not necessarily with official approval. Subversive by nature, the Lag Be-Omer celebrations marking the sage’s passing have sometimes exacted a terrible price
Dotan Goren
Columns
Snapshots
This Month in History – Nisan
Brief History – Christian Zionists
Tale of a Trail – Heletz
Portrait of a People – Friedl Dicker-Brandeis
What’s Next