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The First Zionist Visionary – Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai

Yitzhak Krausz

At first glance, 19th-century rabbi Yehuda Alkalai’s writings seem like traditional Jewish interpretations of biblical prophecies, but closer scrutiny reveals a strikingly modern redemptive vision – which had yet to be dubbed Zionism Yitzhak Krausz...

19th centuryArticlesEuropeIssue 71 | December 2024Rabbis

Coins of Rebellion – Judean Rebels’ Coins

Yinon Horesh

Unlike other freedom fighters throughout history, the Judeans rebelling against Rome even minted their own coins. Why “waste” energy and resources on mere symbols of independence? What subversive messages did they convey? Yinon Horesh The...

AntiquityArticlesCoins and StampsIssue 71 | December 2024Lag B'OmerLand of Israel

A Day at the Museum | Bialik Square

Sara Jo Ben-Zvi

A nostalgic, European-style city square has been renovated once again, this time commemorating a century since Hayim Nahman Bialik’s arrival in Tel Aviv Sara Jo Ben-Zvi Bialik Square is one of Tel Aviv’s oldest public...

ColumnsIssue 69 | June 2024Literature and CulturePre-state of IsraelTel Aviv

Portrait of a People | How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel Jews Mourning in ExileOil on canvas163 x 133 cmDusseldorf, 1832Wallraf-Richartz Museum,Cologne, Germany Eduard Bendemann1811-1889 RomanticismA reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, this late-18th-century movement in literature, philosophy, and art emphasized the subjective,...

19th centuryArtColumnsGermanyIssue 69 | June 2024

Post-Script | Village Mail

Itamar Atzmon

In the early Zionist villages, postal services were under European auspices but had their own unique flavor – until the Turks cracked down Itamar Atzmon The first Jewish agricultural colonies were established in the Holy...

Coins and StampsColumnsIssue 26 | May 2015Land of IsraelPre-state of Israel

Book review | Lincoln and the Jews

Elka Weber

Was Abraham Lincoln’s attitude to Jews just an extension of his genuine affection for all men, regardless of race or creed, or did it reflect a special regard for the people of the book? Marking...

19th centuryAmericaBook ReviewsColumnsIssue 26 | May 2015

From the Archives | Building Zion from Rhodesia

Denise Rein

A booklet produced by a Zionist youth movement in Rhodesia reflects a rich and vibrant community that lasted less than a century. Its young authors had no idea civil war was about to change their...

20th centuryAfricaColumnsIssue 26 | May 2015Jewish CommunitiesZionism

Portrait of a People | Mother of Art Therapy

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel Interrrogation IPrague, 1934-38120 X 180 cmOil on woodJewish Museum, Prague Friedl Dicher-Brandeis1898-1944 Deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto in 1942 with a fifty-kilo weight limit, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis filled her...

20th centuryArtColumnsCzech RepublicIssue 64 | March 2023Women

Woman of Worth and Wisdom – Flora Sassoon

Hezi Cohen

Even today, most boardrooms remain dominated by men, but 130 years ago a Jewish woman shattered the glass ceiling to preside over one of India’s largest mercantile empires. A philanthropist and scholar to boot, Flora...

19th centuryArticlesIndiaIssue 71 | December 2024Women

Heads and Tales | The Hole in the Coin

Itamar Atzmon

The Jewish population was agog at the thought of exchanging their Ottoman and Egyptian currency for British Mandate coins stamped with Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic characters. The Arabs, on the other hand, were more inclined...

Coins and StampsColumnsIssue 10 | April 2012Land of IsraelPre-state of Israel

From the Archives | A Bonfire of Vanities

Hadassah Assouline

A sentence in the concluding prayer of every synagogue service infuriated Christians as an anti-Christian slur aimed at their messiah. An imperial decree wiped the offending words from the prayer books of Ashkenaz Hadassah Assouline...

ColumnsEarly modern periodGermanyIssue 10 | April 2012

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The First Zionist Visionary – Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai