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Issues 1-50

Articles

Once Bitten, Twice Shy – Portuguese Jewry

Moti Benmelech

  Manuel of Portugal had to choose between his Spanish bride – and her powerful parents – and his faithful Jewish subjects. The Portuguese monarch preferred to have his cake and eat it too, and as usual the Jews, who’d already endured one e

A Dig Full of Holes – Maresha

Sara Jo Ben-Zvi

Has the Maresha excavation unearthed a pile of junk or the key to a Judea much more diverse than we’d supposed? The best thing is, you can find out for yourself Sara Jo Ben-Zvi Maresha is an archaeological oddity. First of all,

Fastest Jew in the West – Wild West Synagogues

Louis Davidson

Among the many immigrants to the U.S. who went west to seek their fortunes, most Jews struck gold selling dry goods rather than prospecting. Once settled, these pioneers built towns, communities – and a surprising variety of synagogues Loui

My Son, the Pirate – Samuel Pallache

Yoav Pulver

Few rabbis have lived as colorful a life as Samuel Pallache. Merchant, diplomat, and emissary to the king of Morocco, Pallache even resorted to piracy to exact his people׳s revenge on the Spanish fleet Yoav Pulver A summer’s day

A Beautiful Mind – Hedy Lamarr

Yemima Hovav

Actress Hedy Lamarr may have owed her fame to ״standing still and looking stupid,״ but she was anything but. This assimilated Jewess combined aspects of her colorful past to patent something that could have torpedoed the Nazi threat to Alli

Columns

From the Archives | The Wedding That Wasn’t

Yochai Ben-Ghedalia

Certification that a husband and wife are both in fact single? This was a peculiarly Orthodox method of fighting British restrictions on immigration to Palestine Yochai Ben-Ghedalia One might suppose that a local rabbinate’s arc

From the Archives | The Angry Convert

Hadassah Assouline

A letter sent by Lenin’s great-grandfather to the czar was intended to make as much trouble as possible for the Jews of Russia Hadassah Assouline The letter below, sent to Czar Nicholas I of Russia in January 1845 by one Moses s

Portrait of a People | Sabbath Peace

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel Friday EveningOil on canvas73 x 91 cmVienna, 1920 Jewish Museum, New York(Gift of Mr. &amp

Portrait of a People | The Truth Behind the Title

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel The Jewish BrideOil on canvas122 x 166 cmRijksmuseum, Amsterdam Rembrandt van Rijn – Self

Portrait of a People | Father of French Impressionism

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel Boulevard Montmartre, Afternoon SunOil on canvas92.8 x 74 cmParis, 1897Hermitage Museum,St

Tale of a Trail | Hattin National Park

Tamar HaYardeni

The Crusaders lost the Battle of Hattin not because they were fewer, weaker, or less fierce than Saladin’s army. Ill-prepared for the climate and terrain, they were just too thirsty to fight Tamar HaYardeni Where To? Hattin Nati