Home > Issues > Issue 55 | December 2020

    Issue 55 | December 2020

    Issue 55 | December 2020

    Jewish National Fund poster designed by Zvi Berger, 1962 | Courtesy of the JNF Photo Archive

    Articles

  • What can we learn from the divided steps leading down into this mikveh? Ancient ritual bath below the Temple Mount | Photo: Rudko

    Pure Life – Ancient Ritual Baths

    Eyal Regev

    Recently discovered ancient mikveh installations suggest that they were used much more than required by Jewish law. What can archaeology teach us about the role of ritual purity in our ancestors’ everyday lives? Eyal Regev Can m

  • The focal point of every new settlement. Children by a water tower in Kfar Vitkin (near Netanya), 1935

    Reaching for the Sky – Water Towers

    Tehila Bigman

    Water towers have long been one of the most obvious landmarks of Zionist settlements, often becoming a focus of civic pride as well. What made these clumsy-looking utilities local icons? Tehila Bigman Water towers have been arou

  • Babylonian Deluge – Flood Myths

    Uri Gabbay

    The myth of a flood destroying mankind recurs time and again in ancient Near Eastern cultures – but without the biblical emphasis on divine justice and retribution Uri Gabbay George Smith, a low-level assistant in the Western As

  • Columns

  • Book Review | Next Year in Marienbad

    Yemima Hovav

    Resorts are a world unto themselves, with their own mores and culture. In the 19th century, the spa towns of western Bohemia were patronized largely by Jews from all over Europe, creating a transient, highly diverse community Yemima Hovav

  • Quick Looks at Books

    Sara Jo Ben-Zvi

    Ani Maamin | Walter Kaufmann | Hannah’s War  Sara Jo Ben-Zvi Ani Maamin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith Joshu

  • Hebrew Hum | One Cup of Water

    Anat Hoffman

    Sieges make us think of medieval walled cities, but elderly Jerusalemites still remember the siege they lived through during the War of Independence – and may still retain some of the habits it engrained. A cheerful song about tough times 

  • From the Archives | Too Much of a Good Thing

    Yochai Ben-Ghedalia

    Jews have always prayed for rain, but those in northern Italy suffered from too much rather than too little, inspiring prayers for protection from flooding Yochai Ben-Ghedalia The Mishnaic tractate Ta’anit (Fasting) devotes exte

  • Portrait of a People | Westward Ho!

    Naomi Samuel

    Naomi Samuel Courtesy of the Library of Congress Rio Grande (Colorado River)Oil on canvas51 x 76 cmColo

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