William Hechler in Arab dress while visiting the land of Israel
Evangelical Prophet of Zion
Even before Herzl dreamed of a Jewish state, Evangelical minister William Hechler was meeting with pioneering Zionists in Odessa. Calculating that redemption would begin in 1897, the same year as the first Zionist Congress, Hechler lent a hand by arranging an audience for Herzl with Kaiser Wilhelm II. Who was the Zionist visionary’s Christian sidekick, and what were his motives? //
Yehuda Moraly
Waiting for Elijah
Though mentioned nowhere in the haggadah, Elijah the prophet has his own cup at the Seder, we open the door for him, and he appears in many illustrated haggadot. How did Elijah become part of Passover? 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 Ba-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