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Issues 51-100

Articles

Who Invited the Rabbi? – Rabbis at Weddings

Ariel Picard

Rabbis have officiated at weddings for centuries, but the Talmud mentions no such practice. So how did Jewish clergy become an integral part of the ceremony? Ariel Picard Many human endeavors begin spontaneously but gradually be

A World in Words – S.Y Agnon

Michal Shir-el

Nobel Prize–winning author Shmuel Yosef Agnon recreated a lost world in his prose. In Hebrew echoing the majesty of the prophets and the clarity of the Mishna, he peeled away nostalgia for the distant shtetl. Yet the pity and longing with w

A Zionist Life – Chaim Weizmann

Yemima Hovav

When requesting that Chaim Weizmann become Israel’s first president, Ben-Gurion described him as having done more to create the state than anyone else. Yet Weizmann’s new role effectively removed the lifelong activist from Israeli politics

Bar Mitzvas Coming of Age – Bar Mitzva

Hizky Shoham

Thirteenth birthdays haven’t always been cause for Jewish celebration. When were the first bar and bat mitzva ceremonies, and why their enduring appeal even among otherwise unaffiliated Jews? Hizky Shoham Why celebrate bar and b

Warner Brothers’ Leading – Harry Warner

Yuval Rivlin

On the eve of World War II, Jews’ domination of Hollywood got political. How Harry Warner’s testimony before the Senate redefined Americanism Yuval Rivlin Harry Warner wasn’t a nice guy. Years of Hollywood wheeling and dealing h

Game of Thrones – Hasmonean Civil War

Ilan Abecassis

The Hasmonean story began with the heroic Hanukka tale but ended in a civil war sparked by two rival royal brothers. Two cultural elites – Pharisee and Sadducee – vied for dominance in the death throes of the Hasmonean dynasty Ilan Abecassi

Clothed in Kindness – Clothing Sabbath

Levi Cooper and Itai Cooper

Teaser: The Jews who dominated Thessaloniki’s garment industry celebrated Hanukka by displaying their best wares – and by ensuring the community’s schoolboys were well clothed for winter. This worthy example spread far and wide  Levi Cooper

Greatness in Store – Gittel Dinowitz

Tamar HaYardeni

Very few know anything about her, and even the street sign bearing her name says precious little. Yet Gittel Dinowitz was a pillar of pre-state Jerusalem’s Old City, her leadership growing out of the store she ran through thick and thin, si

Columns

Tale of a Trail | Muristan Market

Tamar HaYardeni

Like the center of a five-pointed star, marked by a fountain and surrounded by storefronts, the Muristan Market in Jerusalem’s Old City draws tourists, garment manufacturers, and serious shoppers alike Tamar HaYardeni Where To?

Book Review | The Many Lives of Anne Frank

Sara Jo Ben-Zvi

Sara Jo Ben-Zvi The Many Lives of Anne Frank Ruth FranklinJewish Lives series, Yale University Press, 2025424 pages   Is Anne Frank a symbol of Jewish oppression or a universal model of courage in the face of persecution? As v

Book Review | Herod the Great

Sara Jo Ben-Zvi

Sara Jo Ben-Zvi Herod the Great: Jewish King in a Roman World Martin GoodmanJewish Lives series, Yale University Press, 2024227 pages   Martin Goodman begins this masterful chronicle of Herod’s tempestuous life by asking wheth