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Issues 51-100

Articles

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

Living on the Edge – Forced Conversions in Spain

Shalom Sadik

The Spanish expulsion is usually considered the nadir of Judeo-Christian relations on the Iberian Peninsula, but in many ways the largely overlooked mass conversion of Jews a century earlier was far worse Shalom Sadik For much o

Zoroastrians at Heart – Iran’s Zoroastrian Heritage

Thamar E. Gindin

Beneath the veil of Iran’s current regime, its people have nurtured their pre-Islamic roots with pride. Until June 12, 2025, the Zoroastrian faith, the Sassanid-Persian Empire, and above all Cyrus, “king of kings,” were all part of an ident

Amsterdam Festival Prayer Book

Ephraim Shoham-Steiner

Two rabbis, a stonemason’s guild, a Jewish merchant, and the archbishop of Cologne all helped solve the riddle presented by a magnificent, medieval prayer book found in Amsterdam Ephraim Shoham-Steiner In September 2019, an armo

Persian Riddle – Iran and Israel

David Menashri

Fifty years ago, Israelis lived and worked freely in Iran. How did those peaceful relations turn to war, and how do Iranians perceive Israel now, after half a century under the Islamic Republic? David Menashri The Islamic Revolu

Behind the Veil – Mashhadi Jews

Hilda Nissimi

Crypto-Jews are usually associated with the conversos of early modern Spain and Portugal, but less than two hundred years ago, the Jews of Mashhad, Iran, met a similar fate. How did a century in hiding affect Jewish life in this community?

Columns

Tale of a Trail | Gihon Spring

Tamar HaYardeni

Jerusalem’s water supply has been vulnerable to attack since antiquity, prompting ingenious solutions that have long intrigued archaeologists. What made the city’s water source so unusual – and how was it protected from enemies? Tamar HaYar

Portrait of a People | Everyday Miracles

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel Abraham, Sarah, and the AngelOil on wood58 X 71 cmBelgium, 1520Louvre, Paris Jan Provoost1465-1529 Northern RenaissanceNort

Tale of a Trail | Nicanor’s Cave

Tamar HaYardeni

Nestled in the botanical gardens on the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus is a small burial cave dating from the Second Temple period. A century ago, this ancient site briefly came to life Tamar HaYardeni Where To?  Nican