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# Jewish History

We Bring Jewish History To Life

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://www.jewishhistory.org/blog/) - Jewish History blog
- [The British Mandate](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-british-mandate/) - Although the Balfour Declaration was written into the British Mandate and ratified by the League of Nations the British tried to stifle the Zionist dream.
- [Abarbanel - A Man of Many Worlds](https://www.jewishhistory.org/abarbanel-a-man-of-many-worlds/) - Born in Lisbon, Portugal, the Abarbanel was a direct descendant of King David. He made his home first in Portugal and then in Spain but in both instances was forced to flee due to prejudice and oppression. Though he attempted to convince King Ferdinand in Spain to cease persecuting the Jews, he was unable to
- [The Mussar Movement](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-mussar-movement/) - The Mussar Movement combined with the Yeshiva Movement held together the Jewish people from being swept away by the tide of Haskalah and assimilation.
- [Chanuka](https://www.jewishhistory.org/chanukah-3/) - Jews the world over will celebrate the holiday of Chanuka this month. Chanuka is a difficult holiday to define. It is of rabbinic origin commemorating the victory of the Hasmoneans over their Syrian/Greek oppressors and the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem to monotheistic worship. The great candelabra in the Temple was relit with
- [The Crusades](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-crusades/) - The attacks against the Jews during the Crusades wiped out entire communities, making it the first Holocaust in Europe. Tragically, it would not be the last.
- [The Pursuit of Bad Through Good Means](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-pursuit-of-bad-through-good-means/) - One of the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of a democratic society is that it allows evil forces to operate with impunity under the protection of democratic processes and guarantees. In our time, freedoms of expression, assembly and speech have been greatly expanded so that there is almost nothing outside their purview and definition. We see that
- [Vishniac’s Vision](https://www.jewishhistory.org/vishniacs-vision/) - In the 1930s, Roman Vishnaic went through Eastern Europe taking pictures of Jewish life, later collected in albums such as “A Vanished Life.”
- [The Mystery of the Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jews-short-movie/) - "The Mystery of the Jews" challenges the normative conception of human history.
- [Jewish History Crash Course Videos](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-history-videos/) - Crash Course in Jewish History video series
- [Rambam Trailer](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rambam-trailer/) - Physician - Philosopher - Codifier - Commentator - Spiritual Leader
- [Rashi Trailer](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rashi-trailer/) - In the calm before the crusades, one man forever changed the way the world would understand the Bible.
- [Faith and Fate 7 - A New Beginning: 1948-1957](https://www.jewishhistory.org/a-new-beginning/) - Faith and Fate, Episode 7: A New Beginning: 1948-1957.
- [The Miracle of Israel - 1945-1948](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-miracle-of-israel/) - The Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel.
- [Faith and Fate: Series Preview](https://www.jewishhistory.org/faith-fate-preview/) - Faith & Fate Series Preview
- [A Mystical View of Exile](https://www.jewishhistory.org/a-mystical-view-of-exile/) - The emergence of Kabbalah from small secret circles to the Jewish masses by the 16th century helped transform the way Jews viewed their long, painful exile.
- [The War After Chanukah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-war-after-chanukah/) - Elephants were the tanks of the ancient world and figured prominently in the wars of the Hasmoneans.
- [THE 10TH OF TEVET](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-10th-of-tevet/) - The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Torah, was viewed as a reason for mourning by the Talmudic sages.
- [THE MILITARY ASPECT OF CHANUKA](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-military-aspect-of-chanuka/) - Why is Chanuka the only day on the Jewish calendar devoted to military victory?
- [Tu B’Shevat](https://www.jewishhistory.org/tu-b’shevat/) - In the long winter night of Jewish exile, the coming of the month of Shevat signifies renewed hope for a better and more secure Jewish future.
- [Tu B’Shevat Thoughts](https://www.jewishhistory.org/tu-bshevat-thoughts/) - Jewish thought and practice has been influenced by this use of trees as the metaphor for human life in the Bible and Talmud. Trees, therefore, bear study and contemplation. They can aid us in our never-ending search for ourselves and our destiny. So here are a few thoughts for us wooden-headed humans.
- [Yom Kippur and Jewish Memory](https://www.jewishhistory.org/yom-kippur-and-jewish-memory/) - The central theme of Yom Kippur is naturally repentance and heavenly forgiveness. This theme is emphasized in the order of the prayer services of the day. Yet, there is another, more subtle idea that haunts the Yom Kippur prayer services. That is the recollection of the story of the Jewish people, of our past troubles and triumphs and our ability to endure all and survive and remain vital.
- [Chanukah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/chanukah/) - The wonderfully joyous holiday of Chanuka occurs this month. In light of the horrific events of the past few months, the message and lights of Chanuka could not come at a more appropriate and necessary time. For Chanuka, in its essence, represents the ability to withstand oppression and evil, coercion and bigotry, and to believe in the improbable miracles that have always marked Jewish history and advanced the cause of all human civilization.
- [Mubarak’s Egypt – No Surprise](https://www.jewishhistory.org/mubarak’s-egypt-–-no-surprise/) - About 10 years ago, Rabbi Wein described why Mubarak’s Egypt was “a disaster waiting to happen.
- [THE SERVANT CANDLE](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-servant-candle/) - A non-Jew offers an enlightening interpretation of the Chanuka candles.
- [Unleavened Bread & Modern Technology](https://www.jewishhistory.org/unleavened-bread-modern-technology/) - Technology has enormously benefited the consumer of kosher food, but has also raised new questions that have challenged scholars of Jewish law.
- [Stalin’s Anti-Semitism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/stalin’s-anti-semitism/) - In addition to being the champion mass murderer of the twentieth century (in a century renowned for mass murderers), Joseph Stalin was a virulent anti-Semite.
- [Revival of Jewish Life in the Soviet Union](https://www.jewishhistory.org/soviet-union/) - Jewish nationalism is rooted in the ideas of Torah and Jewish tradition, as evidenced by the plight of Soviet Jewry in the 1970s and 1980s.
- [Love, Jewish Style](https://www.jewishhistory.org/love/) - Today is the 15th of the Jewish month of Av, known as Tu B’Av. In Israel, it is called “the holiday of love,” or “Chag Ha Ahava.” Some have called it “a Jewish Valentine’s Day,” but the history and customs of the two days are very different.
- [Don't Tread On Me](https://www.jewishhistory.org/dont-tread-on-me/) - This week’s Parshah is Eikev, which, in the context of the opening verse, means “since” or “because.” It usually denotes a cause and effect relationship, such as, “Because you will observe God’s commandments, then blessings and physical rewards will descend upon you.”
- [The New York Giants and Tefillin](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-new-york-giants-and-tefillin/) - This is an “only in America” type of story. On January 11, 2009 the New York Giants professional football team played the Philadelphia Eagles in a divisional championship playoff game at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Since all New Yorkers are convinced that they own New Jersey as well there is no problem that the
- [RABBI MEIR SHAPIRO](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-meir-shapiro-2/) - The daf hayomi learning cycle of studying one page of the Babylonian Talmud every day was inaugurated at the instigation of Rabbi Meir Shapiro in 1923 (Rosh Hashana, 5684.) This program of daily Talmud study has tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of participants, and has grown in popularity and strength over the
- [In Ishmael’s House](https://www.jewishhistory.org/in-ishmaels-house/) - Sir Martin Gilbert has written “In Ishmael’s House” a popular history of the Jewish experience over almost fifteen centuries of life under Moslem rule. The book, is an eye opener for it will destroy with hard evidence some of the current most cherished myths of Western society and history-ignorant Jews about the root problems in
- [BIOGRAPHIES](https://www.jewishhistory.org/biographies/) - I have recently completed reading two biographies about two very diverse but influential people. I will admit going from the sublime to the very less sublime in the choice of reading these biographies. But all human beings are fascinating, and their life’s stories are always engrossing. This is especially true when the biography book is
- [The Frighteningly Familiar New Russia](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-frighteningly-familiar-new-russia/) - His political opponents are either in Western exile or in Russian prison on dubious charges of tax evasion and money crimes- this in a country where financial corruption is rampant on every level of its commercial, political, governmental and social society and its court system is classic case of cronyism and blatant corruption. And Russia
- [LOOKING BACK](https://www.jewishhistory.org/looking-back/) - Whereas younger people in their adolescent and early adulthood years constantly look forward (I think that is why history teachers find it so difficult to interest them in the subject at hand) we older folks are much more prone to look back and restudy past events that were meaningful to us. The advantage of age
- [Herman Wouk](https://www.jewishhistory.org/herman-wouk/) - I know that it sounds strange but Herman Wouk is an important person in my life. I met him only three times in my life and probably we exchanged no more than twenty words between us in all of those meetings. Wouk passed away at the age of 104 on May 15, 2019 but remarkably
- [The History of Kabbala](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-history-of-kabbala/) - The popularity of Kabbala lies in the fact that it attempts to explain the ultimate question of Jewish history: what is the spiritual purpose of our suffering?
- [The Origins of Sephardim and Ashkenazim](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sephardim-and-ashkenazim/) - The different cultural styles of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews are the result of distinct forces of history.
- [Religious vs. Racial Anti-Semitism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/anti-semitism/) - In medieval times, Jews were persecuted for rejecting Christianity. After the Enlightenment, the idea of racial impurity arose. Which view killed more people?
- [The Spanish Expulsion](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-spanish-expulsion/) - For centuries, Spanish Jewry enjoyed a Golden Age, but when the Christians took over and instituted the Inquisition, Spain became one of our bitterest exiles.
- [“Christ-Killers” & The Witness People](https://www.jewishhistory.org/“christ-killers”-the-witness-people/) - While the Pope’s new book exonerates the Jews of deicide it triggers thoughts about another Church doctrine that caused untold pain to Jews: the Witness People.
- [The Burning of the Talmud](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-burning-of-the-talmud/) - In 1242, Louis IX, later St. Louis, had 24 cartloads of the Talmud burned, effectively ending Jewish life in France and paving the way for Nazi book burnings.
- [The Nightmare of the Knights](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-nightmare-of-the-knights/) - The knights of the First Crusade were unholy warriors who killed 25,000 innocent Jews on the way to conquer the Holy Land.
- [Tashlich and the Black Death](https://www.jewishhistory.org/tashlich-and-the-black-death/) - During the Black Death, Jews were accused of well poisoning. As a result they changed a nuance of the age-old Tashlich custom observed on Rosh Hashanah.
- [Sir Herbert Samuel](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sir-herbert-samuel/) - Sir Herbert Samuel was the first British High Commissioner of Palestine, but found his conscience torn between dual loyalties.
- [Why Jewish History?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/why-jewish-history/) - Henry Ford, the founder of modern manufacturing processes, was a great hater and a classic anti-Semite. He posed himself as champion of the “plain people,” he described history as “bunk.” In an interview he gave to The Chicago Tribune in 1916 he stated, “History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition.
- [Shavuot: The Forgotten Holiday](https://www.jewishhistory.org/shavuot-the-forgotten-holiday/) - The Jewish holiday of Shavuot is almost forgotten in the Diaspora, but as the celebration of the Ten Commandments, it is really the backbone of Jewish history.
- [CHANUKA VS. CHRISTMAS](https://www.jewishhistory.org/chanuka-vs-christmas/) - What is the uniquely Jewish dimension of Chanuka?
- [THE BLOOD LIBEL: CANARD OF JEWISH HISTORY](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-blood-libel-canard-of-jewish-history/) - Sarah Palin claims to be the victim of a blood libel, but the term refers to a specific accusation in Jewish history–ritual murder. How and when was it wielded?
- [Judges Gone Mad](https://www.jewishhistory.org/judges-gone-mad/) - Today, rulings of judges that defy any common sense are not limited to radical regimes, but are alive and well in parts of the Western world as well.
- [Prayer](https://www.jewishhistory.org/prayer/) - Surveys have shown that 90% of American Jews do not pray regularly. 9/11, however, has apparently changed that a little. What is prayer and how does it help?
- [Will You Carry the Torah?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/will-you-carry-the-torah/) - "Will you carry the Torah?" ...our trip captain asked me. "What would be involved?" I wondered aloud, contemplating the gravity of transporting, guarding, and actually carrying a borrowed Sefer Torah in an army issue duffel through 4 South African countries over I 0 days. The word of G-d, given to the Jewish
- [Rosh Pina, Phase Two: The 20th Century](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rosh-pina-history2/) - Through the pioneering efforts of Dr. Gideon Mer to cure malaria, Rosh Pina "made it" on the map of Israel in the 20th century.
- [The Birth of Greater Jerusalem](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-birth-of-greater-jerusalem/) - The development of Jerusalem outside the Old City is due to a remarkable yet unlikely team: philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore and Chief Rabbi Shmuel Salant.
- [Rosh Pina: The History of an Israeli Town](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rosh-pina-history1/) - The history of Rosh Pina in northern Israel is a microcosm of the settlement of Israel overall, complete with early struggles and the help of Baron Rothschild.
- [Hostages, Then and Now](https://www.jewishhistory.org/hostages-then-and-now/) - The issue of ransoming Jewish hostages is old and painful. Israel deals with it now, but the classic case of refusal to pay ransom occurred in the 13th century.
- [A Passover Message from an Unexpected Source: Ben Gurion's Speech at the Peel Commission](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ben-gurion-peel-commission/) - Though an ardent secularist, Ben Gurion knew that the Passover seder preserves Jewish history, as seen in his speech to the Peel Commission in 1936.
- [The End of the British Mandate Over Palestine](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-end-of-the-british-mandate-over-palestine/) - The birth of the state of Israel came about through many surprising twists of fate, not the least of which was the political defeat of Winston Churchill.
- [The Churva Synagogue](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-churva-synagogue/) - The rebuilding of the ancient Churva synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem has inspired Jews and infuriated Arabs, especially those who destroyed it in 1967.
- [The Six Day War and Nasser’s Pan-Arab Dream](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-six-day-war-and-nasser/) - Nasser of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan were archenemies, but they were willing to unite for one common goal: wiping Israel off the face of the earth.
- [Deniers And Denial](https://www.jewishhistory.org/deniers-and-denial/) - Palestinian government officially denies Jewish claim to the Western Wall.
- [May Day & Shavuot](https://www.jewishhistory.org/may-day-shavuot/) - New and innovative programs celebrating Shavuot were all the rage in the kibbutzim and in much of the new Israeli society of the 1920s and 1930s
- [How Many Arabs In Pre-Zionist Palestine?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/how-many-arabs-in-pre-zionist-palestine/) - The issue of Arab demographics before and during the pre- and early Zionist period has long been a sore point. Research indicates the vast majority came after.
- [Birobidzhan – The First Jewish State before the Jewish State](https://www.jewishhistory.org/birobidzhan/) - : In their attempt to mollify the Jews, the Soviets set up a Jewish state in Birobidzhan, a God-forsaken area of the Soviet empire near the Caucuses.
- [The Kastner Affair](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-kastner-affair/) - The trial of Rudolf Kastner trial in Israel tore apart the nation less than a decade after the Holocaust, pitting Jew against Jew.
- [Israel’s Declaration of Independence - To Include God or Not to Include God](https://www.jewishhistory.org/israels-declaration-of-independence/) - The religious-secular divide in Israel is poignantly illustrated in the wrangling that occurred when deciding how to word its Declaration of Independence in 1948.
- [Sinai Again](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sinai-again/) - Israel won the Sinai and gave it back 3 times until they kept it in 1973. Then they returned in the 1978 Israel-Egypt peace accords. Will the treaty hold?
- [Miracles – During the War of Independence](https://www.jewishhistory.org/miracles-during-the-war-of-independence/) - The pendulum of history has never swung more widely than in the three years from the end of the Holocaust in 1945 to the emergence of the Jewish state in 1948.
- [The PLO & Modern Terrorism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/plo/) - Since 9/11, the West lives in fear of sudden terror. The roots of modern terrorism are linked to Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization
- [The Raucous Nature of Israeli Politics](https://www.jewishhistory.org/israeli-politics/) - Israeli politics are arguably the most raucous in the world. The tone for them was set in the very first election in 1949 for President of Israel.
- [Jerusalem Liberated: Unleashing 2,000 Years of Bottled Emotion](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jerusalem-liberated/) - 2,000 years of bottled up emotion exploded when Israeli soldiers suddenly chanced upon the newly liberated Western Wall during the Six Day War in 1967.
- [THE JUDEAN DESERT](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-judean-desert/) - One of the most beautiful areas in Israel is the Judean Desert. Even though the word desert in English conjures up a sandy wasteland such as the Sahara and much of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, the Judean desert does not fit that description. The area is not devoid of animal, vegetable and human life. It
- [Mistakes](https://www.jewishhistory.org/mistakes/) - Mistakes, large and small, national and personal, are part of human existence. They also have a tendency to come back to bite us. The current wave of terror, lone wolf as it may be, is pretty much directly traceable to a number of major mistakes made by well-meaning leaders of Israel
- [A Survivor's Story](https://www.jewishhistory.org/a-survivors-story/) - “Miami Beach is exile,” said Grunwald, “but if you’ve got to be in exile, it’s not bad.” A Holocaust survivor, he’d already seen the worst exile.
- [Days of Memory](https://www.jewishhistory.org/days-of-memory/) - Solemn thoughts for the Jewish memorial days of the season: Holocaust Memorial Day, Memorial Day for Fallen IDF Soldiers, and Israeli Independence Day.
- [The Holocaust: Systematic Sadism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/holocaust-memorial-da/) - Because the Nazis kept meticulous records, the Holocaust is the most documented genocide in world history. But stories, not statistics, convey the human impact.
- [World War I and the Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/world-war-i-and-the-jews/) - World Wars I and II were not two wars, but one fought in two phases. The death of a quarter million Jews in the first round was a sign of worse to come.
- [Thereisienstadt, the “Model” Concentration Camp](https://www.jewishhistory.org/thereisienstadt/) - Thereisienstadt had more survivors than any concentration camp, but the charade the Nazis put on for the Red Cross is one of the Holocaust’s many cruel ironies.
- [The Usury Accusation](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-usury-accusation/) - The anti-Semitic canard of usury is rooted in the discovery of paper money and the Catholic Church’s doctrine forbidding the charging of interest.
- [The Weimar Republic, Hyperinflation, and How They Paved the Way for Hitler](https://www.jewishhistory.org/weimar-republic/) - Hitler did not appear in a vacuum. The ground was paved for him by the foolish policies of the Weimar Republic, which plunged Germany into hyperinflation.
- [Yiddish: Repository of the Jewish Soul](https://www.jewishhistory.org/yiddish/) - Yiddish was more than a language to Jews. It presupposed the knowledge of Bible, Midrash and Talmud. It was the repository of the Jewish soul.
- [How Haskalah Misread 19th Century Anti-Semitism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/how-haskalah-misread-19th-century-anti-semitism/) - The Haskalah or Jewish Enlightenment movement swept through Eastern European Jewry in the mid-1800s, but misjudged the racial anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia.
- [Jews in WWI Fought on Both Sides](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jews-in-wwi/) - Jews fought on both sides in World War I, including 350,000 for the Russians and 140,000 for the Austrians and Germans.
- [Who Really Discovered The Cairo Genizah?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/who-really-discovered-the-cairo-genizah/) - Schechter is credited with discovering the Cairo Genizah but it was really a little-known Jew by the name of Yosef Shlomo Wertheim.
- [The Soccer Game and the Hassidim](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-soccer-game-and-the-hassidim/) - The events surrounding a soccer game in the 1920s served as a symbol of the hostilities created by the Versailles Treaty and the impact it had on Jews.
- [When Slobodka Moved To Hebron](https://www.jewishhistory.org/when-slobodka-moved-to-hebron/) - When the Slobodka yeshiva moved from Europe Palestine it was feared that other yeshivas would follow and Europe would be spiritually abandoned.
- [Founding A Yeshiva As Rommel Advances](https://www.jewishhistory.org/founding-a-yeshiva/) - As Rommel threatened to conquer Palestine a rabbi laid the cornerstone of a new yeshiva, to the dismay of others. Yet, today that yeshiva is Israel’s largest.
- [Turning Jewish Cemeteries Into Soccer Fields](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-cemeteries-soccer-fields/) - Despite 1,000 years of Jewish history in Europe, very few Jewish cemeteries are extant. This is the result of concerted efforts to erase any Jewish presence.
- [Jews In The Gulag After WWII](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jews-in-the-gulag-after-wwii/) - Jews lucky enough to survive the Holocaust but found themselves behind the Iron Curtain experienced an oppression in many ways as dark as German oppression.
- [Reparations From Germany?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/reparations-from-germany/) - The new State of Israel in 1952 had to face one of the most explosive and emotional issues imaginable: Should they accept reparations from Germany?
- [Jewish Law and the Mercantile System](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-law-mercantile/) - The mercantile system created a new reality for Jewish businessmen, and new challenges for Jewish law and the rabbis applying its eternal principles.
- [A Portrait of Lithuania Jewry](https://www.jewishhistory.org/a-portrait-of-lithuania-jewry/) - Jews lived in Lithuania for centuries until the Holocaust. It had been the intellectual hub of the Jewish world, producing scholars like the Vilna Gaon and the first yeshiva.
- [Vilna](https://www.jewishhistory.org/vilna/) - Once called the Jerusalem of Lithuania, the city of Vilna was a vibrant center of Jewish life for centuries until the Nazis wiped it out in the Holocaust.
- [The Name Game Among Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-name-game-among-jews/) - When the Czars decreed that every Jew had to have a last name (in order to identify and control them), Jews circumvented it in many clever ways.
- [Reviving the Messiah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/reviving-the-messiah/) - The Chassidic movement was able to reinvigorate among European belief in the Messiah, which had been toned down after so many false messiahs.
- [The Cantonist Decree](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-cantonist-decree/) - One of the worst parts of the Czarist Cantonist Decree is that it turned Jew against Jew, and created a class of kidnappers called chappers.
- [Wandering Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/wandering-jews/) - The Hasidic Movement began when bands of wondering Jews traveled to remote Jewish communities to teach and inspire the uneducated masses.
- [The Three Barons](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-three-barons/) - In Europe in the 19th century, there were three Jews whose wealth and social connections earned them a title of nobility: baron. Each of the three barons devoted their time, wealth, and efforts to help solve or at least alleviate the “Jewish problem” in Europe. But their tactics, aims and solutions were markedly different from one another
- [Yiddish](https://www.jewishhistory.org/yiddish-2/) - In the early thirteenth century Ashkenazic Jews living in Germany, Austria, Bohemia and other Germanic lands began to speak a dialect of low German that soon turned itself into a jargon of German and Hebrew with some old French and Slavic words also thrown into the mix.
- [HURRICANES AND HUMILITY](https://www.jewishhistory.org/hurricanes-and-humility/) - It is now the tenth anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It seems that natural disasters are common events in the lives of millions of human beings
- [The Damascus Blood Libel](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-damascus-blood-libel/) - The Damascus blood libel, in which Jews were falsely accused of murder, ended in victory due to Sir Moses Montefiore's diplomatic intervention.
- [Wealth: It Depends What You Do With It](https://www.jewishhistory.org/wealth/) - The philanthropy of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and Sir Moses Montefiore are shining examples of the good that wealth can produce for the world at large.
- [The Rothschilds: From Money Lending to Banking](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-rothschilds/) - The Rothschild family began, like so many Jews, as money-lenders, but their astute networking brought finance to a new level for the dawn of modernity.
- [Lasting Heroes: An Introduction to Rashi and the Rambam](https://www.jewishhistory.org/lasting-heroes/) - In a world that celebrates movie stars and athletes as heroes, Jews must remember two of their greatest heroes: the scholars Rashi and the Rambam.
- [Rashi, Teacher of the Jewish People](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rashi-as-teacher/) - Rashi made the Bible accessible to everybody from the smallest child to the greatest scholar. His life's work has done no less than preserve the Jewish people.
- [Maimonides: The Great Eagle](https://www.jewishhistory.org/maimonides-the-great-eagle/) - The Rambam reigns supreme in our time, but his own life was full of upheaval and controversy. Seen in this light, his achievements are even more astounding.
- [Maimonides' Letter to a Friend](https://www.jewishhistory.org/maimonides-letter-to-a-friend/) - If there is one document that gives the flavor of the Rambam's personal life, it is the letter he wrote it to his friend, Rabbi Samuel ibn Tibbon of Provence.
- [Who Gets the Last Word?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/who-gets-the-last-word/) - Moses Mendelssohn was revered in his day. The Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto was hounded by enemies. But who gets the last word on what each contributed?
- [President Harry Truman, Friend of the Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/president-harry-truman/) - Because of President Harry Truman’s unlikely friendship with a Jew named Eddie Jacobson, the state of Israel won American support in its most critical hour.
- [The Rescue of Rabbeinu Tam](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-rescue-of-rabbeinu-tam/) - Rabbeinu Tam, like his grandfather Rashi, was the Jewish leader of his generation. His rescue by a knight during the Second Crusade was a lucky turn of history.
- [Caligula](https://www.jewishhistory.org/caligula/) - Emperor Caligula was a raving madman, but whose madness toward the Jews was mitigated by a friendship with a man who became the last great king of the Jews. Picture: bust of Caligula
- [The Incarceration of the Maharam of Rothenburg](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-incarceration-of-the-maharam-of-rothenburg/) - The Maharam of Rothenburg, one of the greatest medieval rabbis, was kidnapped by Christians and ransomed for an exorbitant sum, but refused Jews from paying it.
- [The Great Debate](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-great-debate/) - The Great Debate between Nachmanides and an apostate Jew before King James I of Aragon marked a turning point in Jewish-Christian relations and accelerated the end of the Golden Age in Spain.
- [Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol’s, “Crown of Sovereignty”](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-solomon-ibn-gabirol’s/) - Solomon ibn Gabirol is considered one of the primary philosopher-poets in Jewish history. His masterpiece, Keter Malchut, is the poem of Jewish literature.
- [The Rabbi In Pre-Industrial Poland](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-rabbi-in-pre-industrial-poland/) - The position of rabbi took on renewed importance in Poland and Eastern Europe and helped develop the Jewish community in profound ways for the next 5 centuries.
- [Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-samson-raphael-hirsch/) - By the mid-1800s, the Reform Movement had in essence taken over Jewish life in Germany. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch restored traditional Judaism there.
- [Legendary Court Case: Who Would Lead The Volozhin Yeshiva?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/legendary-court-case-who-would-lead-the-volozhin-yeshiva/) - A story about the court case between two of the greatest rabbis of the 19th century, determining who would be the head of the legendary Volozhin yeshiva.
- [Nietzsche, Nazis & Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/nietzsche-nazis-jews/) - Friedrich Nietzsche's writings were used by the Nazis to make a lethal ideology that brought the world to war and led to the extermination of 6 million Jews.
- [Zionism In The Air](https://www.jewishhistory.org/zionism-in-the-air/) - Although Theodore Herzl founded Zionism the modern idea of a Jewish state had been in the air decades, originating with the Lovers of Zion movement and others.
- [The Kaiser and the Jaffa Gate](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-kaiser-and-the-jaffa-gate/) - Kaiser Wilhelm II was so arrogant that when he visited Jerusalem in 1898 he made them take down the ancient Jaffa gate so he could fit through it.
- [Creation of the Chief Rabbinate](https://www.jewishhistory.org/creation-of-the-chief-rabbinate/) - The famous Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook is credited with starting the Chief Rabbinate in the modern State of Israel but it did not turn out the way he envisioned
- [Hitler & Stalin: The Strangest of Bedfellows](https://www.jewishhistory.org/hitler-stalin-the-strangest-of-bedfellows/) - When Stalin and Hitler signed a treaty in 1939, it opened the door for Hitler to begin WWII, seek world domination and implement plans to make Europe Jew-free.
- [Rabbi Meir Shapiro: Member of the Polish Parliament](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-meir-shapiro/) - Though famous as founder of Daf Yom and the Chachmei Lublin yeshiva, Rabbi Meir Shapiro was also a member of the Polish Parliament and a great defender of Jews.
- [Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin](https://www.jewishhistory.org/yeshiva-chachmei-lublin/) - Rabbi Meir Shapiro envisioned Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin as a magnificent institution spiritually and physically, the latter a revolutionary idea in Jewish life.
- [20,000 Gold Coins Could Not Change His Mind](https://www.jewishhistory.org/gold-coins/) - Rabbi Meir Shapiro, founder of Daf Yomi, once turned down an enormous sum of money to follow his true calling in life: leading the Jewish people.
- [A Jewish King in Poland](https://www.jewishhistory.org/a-jewish-king-in-poland/) - Was a Jew appointed the King of Poland? A fascinating legend says yes. Whether this is true or not, the legend tells us something important about life for the Jews of Poland.
- [Excommunication](https://www.jewishhistory.org/excommunication/) - When the Church excommunicated Martin Luther it made him more famous. What does Judaism say about excommunication? The answer has applications today.
- [Jews and Judaism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jews-and-judaism/) - One should never confuse Jews with Judaism. No matter how disappointed you are in Jews, it should in no way diminish the beauty and greatness of Judaism.
- [A Portrait of Shtetl Life](https://www.jewishhistory.org/a-portrait-of-shtetl-life/) - Abraham Joshua Heschel penned a classic description of Jewish life in the shtetl, portraying its rich spiritual life and scholarship.
- [False Messianic Fervor and Fever](https://www.jewishhistory.org/false-messianic/) - Messianic beliefs die hard and even survive the death of obviously failed dead messiahs. Such was the case with Sabbatai Zevi, who converted to Islam.
- [The Chacham Tzvi](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-chacham-tzvi/) - Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi, the Chacham Tzvi, spearheaded the campaign to uproot all vestiges of the false messiah Sabbatai Zevi and his movement.
- [The Gaon in Exile](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-gaon-in-exile/) - Many pious Jews undertook voluntary exile to atone for sin and improve character. The legendary Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Eliyahu Kremer, was one of them.
- [Legendary Meeting with the Dubno Maggid](https://www.jewishhistory.org/legendary-meeting-with-the-dubno-maggid/) - Among the many legends about the Vilna Gaon is that he invited the Maggid of Dubno to come to him once a year so that the Maggid could chastise the Gaon.
- [Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-levi-yitzchok-of-berditchev/) - Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Bertitchev became famous for always defending otherwise indefensible Jews and see the good in every situation.
- [Rav Ovadia Yosef](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rav-ovadia-yosef/) - Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, undisputed leader of Sefardic Jewry, was able to restore the crown of Torah to its glory and unify a nation.
- [Napoleon’s Sanhedrin](https://www.jewishhistory.org/napoleons-sanhedrin/) - Napoleon attempted to revive the Great Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of Judaism in Biblical and Talmudic times, and through it to assimilate the Jews of Europe.
- [Urbanization of Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/urbanization-of-jews/) - With the urbanization of Jews in Czarist Russia came not only great wealth, but increasing assimilation and anti-Semitism.
- [Czarist Attempts At Converting Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/czarist-attempts-at-converting-jews/) - Czar Alexander gave Jews incentives to convert. But during his incentive period more Russians converted to Judaism than Jewish to Russian Orthodoxy!
- [The Chief Rabbi of Crimea](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-chief-rabbi-of-crimea/) - Rabbi Medini, chief rabbi of Crimea for 33 years, lived a remarkable life that spanned many lands, touching all types of Jews and even non-Jews.
- [Sdei Chemed: An Encyclopedia Before Its Time](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sdei-chemed-an-encyclopedia-before-its-time/) - The Sdei Chemed is a remarkable encyclopedia of topics in the Talmud and Jewish law, yet written by one man, Rabbi Chaim Chizkiya Medini, in the 1800s.
- [The Holiness of the Sdei Chemed](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-holiness-of-the-sdei-chemed/) - Rabbi Medini, the Sdei Chemed, not only authored a Talmudic encyclopedia by himself but was an extremely holy man, recognized by Jews and Arab-Muslims alike.
- [How to Read a Newspaper](https://www.jewishhistory.org/how-to-read-a-newspaper/) - A person has to know what's going on. Not what The New York Times says is going on, but what's REALLY going on. The Bible is our key to being able to do that.
- [Jewish Unity… and Disunity](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-unity…-and-disunity/) - Jacob’s twelve sons, like the Jewish people, were a cantankerous group. Jacob sought to harness their individualism and make them one nation.
- [The Philistines and the Polio Vaccine](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-philistines-and-the-polio-vaccine/) - The key to understanding Isaac and the other forefathers is that their lives were portents of what will happen to the Jewish people.
- [Jacob – Man of Truth](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jacob-–-man-of-truth/) - How does a person committed to truth deal with all the gray areas in life that necessarily arise?
- [Joseph & “Non-Jewish Jews”](https://www.jewishhistory.org/joseph-“non-jewish-jews”/) - Jewish brilliance unhinged from the parameters of Jewish morality historically becomes destructive and often creates “Non-Jewish Jews.
- [Simon - 21st of Tevet](https://www.jewishhistory.org/simon-21st-of-tevet/) - : Simon was a “man of war,” but his father’s wisdom turned into a selfless servant of his people.
- [The Weakness of Miracles](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-weakness-of-miracles/) - The 10 Plagues were unparalleled miracles. But what role do miracles play in the achievement of true faith?
- [The Fanaticism of Leaders – Then & Now](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-fanaticism-of-leaders-–-then-now/) - When they were on top of the world, the masses cheered dictators from Pharaoh to Hitler have led to masses to success, but when things turned ugly the masses were not able to stop the momentum of destruction and downfall.
- [Miniature Sanctuaries](https://www.jewishhistory.org/miniature-sanctuaries/) - When the Temple was destroyed it looked like the end of the Jewish people, but in that destruction they rediscovered the true meaning of the Tabernacle/Temple.
- [Pharaoh’s Chariots](https://www.jewishhistory.org/pharaoh’s-chariots/) - When Pharaoh’s chariots attacked the defenseless Jews backed up against the Sea of Reeds it would take a miracle to save them…
- [Jewish Origins Of Copyright Law](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-origins-of-copyright-law/) - The printing press changed civilization. Among its changes was a new area of Jewish law: copyright, which predated non-Jewish copyright law by centuries.
- [Reviving The Great Sanhedrin](https://www.jewishhistory.org/reviving-the-great-sanhedrin/) - The Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court in Judaism, originated in biblical times and existed until the 5th century. In the 1500s there was an attempt to revive it.
- [The Path of the Righteous](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-path-of-the-righteous/) - "Path of the Righteous" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto is the primer on Jewish ethics. In it he describes a series of steps to achieve the apex of saintliness.
- [Individuals and History](https://www.jewishhistory.org/individuals-and-history/) - Individuals make history. It's a simple point, but it escapes us in the modern world. In the Bible's recording of the grand sweep of history, people come first.
- [Jews, Money, and the Talmud](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jews-money-and-the-talmud/) - The world has always associated Jews with money, and though that’s often negative, the Jews really were financial innovators, even in ancient times.
- [How the Jews Invented Checks](https://www.jewishhistory.org/how-the-jews-invented-checks/) - Paper money was first invented by the Chinese, but checking came from the Jews. While everybody else was using coinage, Jews carried “letters of credit.”
- [The Purim Story: The Rise of Ahasuerus](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-purim-story-the-rise-of-ahasuerus/) - The Purim story plays out on the tapestry of a world empire, but it is really the story of four people: King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther, Haman, and Mordechai.
- [The Purim Story: The Triumph of Esther and Mordechai](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-purim-story3/) - That pious Esther should end up married to the tyrant Ahasuerus is one of the strange twists of history. But that put her in the ideal place to save the Jews.
- [The Purim Story: The Rise of Haman](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-purim-story2/) - Haman, the villain of the Purim story, was the classic anti-Semite. Not only was he opportunistic and cruel, he was obsessed with a desire to destroy the Jews.
- [The Four Captives: The Kidnappings that Spread the Diaspora](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-four-captives/) - The spread of the Diaspora from Babylonia to Morocco and Spain came about from an unexpected event: the kidnapping of four prominent rabbis.
- [Egyptology Meets Bible History](https://www.jewishhistory.org/egyptology-meets-bible-history/) - The Nile made Egypt uniquely self-sufficient in the ancient world. That and its pagan and despotic leadership set it up for a dark but powerful future.
- [Hyksos or Hebrews? The Middle Kingdom of Egypt](https://www.jewishhistory.org/hyksos-or-hebrews/) - Until 1560 BCE, six Pharaohs called "the Hyksos kings" ruled Egypt. Their striking similarities to the Hebrews is the subject of much scholarly debate.
- [The New Empire: The Beginning of Imperialism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-new-empire/) - The New Empire of ancient Egypt was the first to attempt world conquest. That took manpower - mass slavery. The Exodus story begins with Egypt's imperialism.
- [Rabbi Akiva, Jewish Hero](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-akiva/) - Rabbi Akiva, a descendant of converts, began life as an outsider. But with diligence and faith, he became one of the most beloved heroes of Jewish history.
- [Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-shimon-bar-yochai/) - For his opposition to Roman rule, the sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was forced into hiding. Yet even in a cave, he wrote the great work of Kabbala, The Zohar.
- [The New Empire](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-new-empire-2/) - Akhenaten is sometimes mistakenly thought of as a monotheist, but he was the Pharaoh who helped set the groundwork for Jewish bondage.
- [The Missing Pieces](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-missing-pieces/) - Egyptian hieroglyphics leave out the story of the Jewish people. Is that proof against the Bible?
- [Julius Caesar and the Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/julius-caesar-and-the-jews/) - When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon he changed history, but few know how the Jews changed the history of Caesar, and how he rewarded them for it.
- [The Most Desperate Hour](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-most-desperate-hour/) - The story of the Exodus provides a seminal life lesson about how to deal with all types of troubles from getting fired to the most desperate suffering.
- [Chanukah’s Two Aspects](https://www.jewishhistory.org/chanukah’s-two-aspects/) - Chanukah is made up of 2 radically different components. One is the war. The other is the miraculous event of the small pitcher of oil that burned for 8 days.
- [The Unlikeliest Heroine](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-unlikeliest-heroine/) - When King Ahasuerus of Persia took Esther as queen it set into motion improbable events that saved the Jewish people from extermination some 2,500 years ago.
- [Two Legacies of the Hasmoneans](https://www.jewishhistory.org/two-legacies-of-the-hasmoneans/) - The great fortifications that the Hasmonean kings built and a law about Chanukah that teaches us a tremendous lesson about peace, shalom.
- [Mourning Transformed](https://www.jewishhistory.org/mourning-transformed/) - We are currently in the midst of the weeks of mourning that mark the commemoration of the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem. The loss of the Temples was not only a blow to the religion of the Jews, but it also symbolized the loss of Jewish national sovereignty in Israel and was the beginning of the Exile and the Diaspora.
- [The Ninth of Tevet](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-ninth-of-tevet/) - The fast day of the tenth of Tevet, which is tomorrow, marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, which eventually led to the destruction of the Holy Temple and the exile of the Jewish people from their homeland. However, Jewish tradition records that today, the ninth day of Tevet, is also a sad day
- [Chanukah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/chanukah-2/) - The wonderfully joyous holiday of Chanuka occurs this month. In light of the horrific events of the past few months, the message and lights of Chanuka could not come at a more appropriate and necessary time. For Chanuka, in its essence, represents the ability to withstand oppression and evil, coercion and bigotry, and to
- [Louis Brandeis, The First Jewish Justice](https://www.jewishhistory.org/louis-brandeis/) - A forerunner of the Warren Court, Brandeis was the first to articulate the care a democracy should show to its disadvantaged. He was truly a Jewish justice.
- [Felix Frankfurter, The "Other" Jewish Justice](https://www.jewishhistory.org/felix-frankfurter-the-other-jewish-justice/) - When Justice Felix Frankfurter met with Jan Karski, a Polish eye witness to the Holocaust, his reaction was to look away and do nothing for his people.
- [Thomas Jefferson, Champion of the Jews](https://www.jewishhistory.org/thomas-jefferson/) - Of all the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson was the fiercest advocate of religious tolerance. And the best test case for this principle were the Jews.
- [Ben Franklin… Jewish Ethicist?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ben-franklin/) - One of the strange quirks in history is that Rabbi Israel Salanter and the followers of his Mussar Movement were strongly influenced by Benjamin Franklin.
- [Daf Yomi](https://www.jewishhistory.org/daf-yomi/) - When Rabbi Meir Shapiro began daf yomi in 1923 did he envision it attracting hundreds of thousands of participants and be hosted in a gigantic football stadium?
- [Rumors About the Demise of Orthodoxy…](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rumors-about-the-demise-of-orthodoxy/) - From the Greeks and Romans to 19th century Reform Jews and today’s pundits, the death of Orthodox Judaism has been assumed. Yet, it remains strong and vibrant.
- [Pilot Project For The Entire Human Race](https://www.jewishhistory.org/pilot-project-for-the-entire-human-race/) - Many non-Jews such as Mark Twain and Leo Tolstoy have penned keen insights into the Jewish people. Paul Johnson in his "A History of the Jews" is another.
- [Jewish Self-Hatred And Ignorance](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-self-hatred-and-ignorance/) - Self-hating Jews have plagued the Jewish people since time immemorial. David Mamet wrote a powerful book that addresses the phenomenon in an elegant fashion.
- [THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-pursuit-of-happiness/) - The Jewish meaning of Happiness ans oppossed to the one espoused by our founding father, Thomas Jefferson.
- [Black Friday](https://www.jewishhistory.org/black-friday/) - In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday because the stores have the largest volume of sales for the year, and the merchants are therefore “in the black” as far as their ledgers are concerned, while otherwise they could be in the red with negative balances and sparse sales.
- [Endgame](https://www.jewishhistory.org/endgame/) - Bobby Fischer was perhaps the greatest chess champion of all time. He certainly was the greatest native born American chess champion. He was a genius at chess but a completely despicable and neurotic individual as a human being. His long time follower and himself a chess expert Frank Brady has written a fascinating biography about
- [Joshua](https://www.jewishhistory.org/joshua/) - Joshua conquered the land and then transitioned the nation to a confederacy, but his achievements were beset by self-doubt and conflict.
- [Era of the Judges](https://www.jewishhistory.org/era-of-the-judges/) - The Era of the Judges was characterized by a steep decline, but included great moments and memorable heroes and heroines.
- [Samuel and The Seeds of Monarchy](https://www.jewishhistory.org/samuel-and-the-seeds-of-monarchy/) - Samuel was judge, prophet, warrior and educator. He led the people during a time of great turmoil and gave them hope for the future.
- [David](https://www.jewishhistory.org/david/) - King David, forerunner of the Messiah, was misunderstood by many of his contemporaries. In that way his life epitomizes that of his people, the Jews.
- [Saul: The First King](https://www.jewishhistory.org/saul-the-first-king/) - There is no more tragic figure than Saul, first king of Israel. He was good, heroic and modest – yet was destroyed by the crown he never wanted to begin with.
- [The Divided Kingdom](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-divided-kingdom/) - After King Solomon’s death, the Jewish kingdom was torn apart by civil war that permanently changed the landscape of the Jewish world.
- [The Prophets](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-prophets/) - More than mere fortune tellers, the prophets were the moral conscience of the people, and as such, often found themselves in mortal danger from those in power.
- [Life and Times of Elijah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/life-and-times-of-elijah/) - Elijah was one of the most influential prophets even though his words fell on the deaf ears of the wayward northern kingdom and its wicked king Ahab.
- [The Ten Tribes -- Lost](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-ten-tribes-lost/) - After generations of spiritual decline, the dramatic fall of the Ten Tribes was shocking. Known now as the "Lost Tribes" the question is: Will they ever return?
- [The Judean Monarchy](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-judean-monarchy/) - After civil war split the Jewish people, Judea was a small, defenseless country, but outlived its counterpart because of its adherence to its spiritual calling.
- [Jeremiah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jeremiah/) - The prophet Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of the Temple and suffering of his people, yet penned some of the most beautiful lines of hope ever written.
- [Hezekiah: The Messiah Who Was Not](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-messiah-who-was-not/) - Aided by the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah led his nation so faithfully through Armageddon-like times that he almost became the Messiah, save for one character flaw.
- [The Last King of Judea](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-last-king-of-judea/) - The last king of Judea was caught in the vice of almost irresistible forces unleashed by earlier generations, but gained a measure of redemption before he died.
- [The End Nears](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-end-near/) - Judea deteriorated badly after Josiah died, but a tiny seed planted in Babylon would take root and serve as a symbol of Jewish rejuvenation for all posterity.
- [Review of the Judean Kings](https://www.jewishhistory.org/review-of-the-judean-kings/) - A brief summary of each of the Judean kings who ruled Judea for more than four centuries.
- [Destruction of The First Temple](https://www.jewishhistory.org/destruction-of-the-first-temple/) - The destruction of the First Temple was devastating, but the Jewish people took the lessons to heart and solidified their identity as an Eternal People.
- [Chaos After The Destruction](https://www.jewishhistory.org/chaos-after-the-destruction/) - After the destruction there was hope that the survivors would rally around a new leader, Gedaliah, but instead it was another tragic chapter in Jewish history.
- [By The Rivers of Babylon](https://www.jewishhistory.org/by-the-rivers-of-babylon/) - The success of the Jews in Babylon is all the more remarkable when seen in the context of the terror that was Babylonian society and its tyrannical leader.
- [Babylon and Beyond](https://www.jewishhistory.org/babylon-and-beyond/) - The Babylonian exile set into motion patterns of Jewish history that have held true throughout the ages down to our time in uncanny ways.
- [Purim and The Persian Period](https://www.jewishhistory.org/purim-and-the-persian-period/) - The Persian exile began positively for the Jewish people, but turned dark with the threat of holocaust at the hands of one of history’s great anti-Semites.
- [The Beginning of the Second Commonwealth](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-beginning-2nd-commonwealth/) - Was the Persian king Cyrus who permitted the Jews to return to their land a Jew himself? This is just one of the intrigues surrounding the Second Commonwealth.
- [Ezra and Nehemiah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ezra-and-nehemiah/) - If not for legendary efforts of Ezra and Nehemiah the fledgling Jewish community in Israel would not have survived as we know it.
- [The Men of the Great Assembly](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-men-of-the-great-assembly/) - The Men of the Great Assembly passed decrees that ensured the Jewish peoples’ survival in the post-Temple era down to our times.
- [The Coming of the Greeks](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-coming-of-the-greeks/) - Greek culture would tempt Jews like no other, threatening to destroy Judaism. It would be as much an exile of mind as of the body.
- [The Hell in Hellenism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-hell-in-hellenism/) - Greek culture slowly infiltrated Jewish culture, threatening to destroy the Jewish people in ways tyrants could not do through brute force.
- [Alexander the Great](https://www.jewishhistory.org/alexander-the-great/) - The story of Alexander the Great and the Jews is intimately intertwined. However, its after-effects shook the Jewish world to its roots.
- [The Hasmoneans](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-hasmoneans/) - The Hasmonean era is among the most glorious in Jewish history, yet contained seeds of self-destruction that almost destroyed everything.
- [The Miracle of Chanukah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-miracle-of-chanukah/) - Chanukah was a miraculous military victory, but a tiny cruse of oil proved more miraculous and enduring in the memory of the Jewish people.
- [Sadducees and Pharisees](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sadducees-and-pharisees/) - The seeds of strife planted earlier took root as the Hasmonean era produced sacrilegious heirs and pitted Jew vs. Jew in a bloody civil war.
- [The End of the Hasmoneans, The Rise of Rome](https://www.jewishhistory.org/end-of-hasmoneans-rise-of-rome-4/) - The decline of the Hasmoneans coincided with the rise of Rome, but it wasn't coincidence, for the once great Jewish family had become a shell of its holy roots.
- [Review of the Hasmonean Era](https://www.jewishhistory.org/review-of-the-hasmonean-era/) - The Hasmonean Era was one of the most glorious and tragic in Jewish history – as well as for understanding Jewish history and destiny.
- [Herod](https://www.jewishhistory.org/herod/) - Herod was a certified madman, but had moments of genuine concern for the country. In the end, though, his legacy was one of paranoia, terror, murder and evil.
- [The Herodian Era](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-herodian-era/) - Herod was a murderer, and a builder- his two greatest buildings, the Temple and his palace. His son Archelaus succeeded him followed by Agrippas and Caligula.
- [Hillel and Shammai](https://www.jewishhistory.org/hillel-and-shammai/) - It was Hillel, not Herod, who reestablished the true Kingdom of the Jews, which is the Kingdom of Torah, nobility of character, patience, goodness and kindness.
- [The Rise of Christianity](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-rise-of-christianity/) - The rise of Christianity occurred during the Herodian Era. It began as a Jewish religion- all of its founders were Jewish. The Jewish world was tumultuous then.
- [The Times of the Roman War](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-times-of-the-roman-war/) - The Times of the Roman War As Roman corruption and culture destroyed the social fabric of Jewish life, Judea revolted. But horrific in-fighting among Jews doomed the spirited rebellion. At the death of Agrippa I (Herod Agrippa) in 44 CE, the Jewish people were divided very sharply into warring factions: the Sicarii were the
- [Bar Kochba](https://www.jewishhistory.org/bar-kochba/) - After the destruction, the surviving Jewish leaders tried and were able to reestablish relations with Rome rather rapidly. It is remarkable considering that the Romans had never suffered as many casualties in any of their wars. They had never experienced such as bitter war as the ten year war they had with the Jews. Therefore,
- [The Destruction of the Second Temple](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-destruction-of-the-second-temple/) - The destruction of the Temple, and the subsequent destruction of the national entity of the Jewish people, occurred to a great degree because of warfare among the Jews themselves. The warring groups besieged in Jerusalem destroyed all hopes of victory. In the midst of all the carnage, the leadership of the Jewish people passed, on
- [Rabbi Akiva](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-akiva-2/) - Rabbi Akiva is not only one of the most beloved and heroic figures in Jewish history, but a source of inspiration to all peoples throughout all of the ages.
- [After The Bar Kochba Holocaust](https://www.jewishhistory.org/after-the-bar-kochba-holocaust/) - Out of the suffering of the Bar Kochba holocaust Jewish leaders emerged who made it possible for the Jewish people to survive into the long night of exile.
- [The Mishnah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-mishnah/) - The Mishnah, the first written record of the Oral Law, a remarkable testament to the intellectual capacity of the Jewish people, became the basis of Judaism.
- [The Beginnings of the Talmud](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-beginnings-of-the-talmud/) - The shift of Jewish life from Israel to Babylon marked a transitional period fraught with danger. Luckily, such leaders emerged and set the foundation for Jewish life until today. Rabbi Judah the Prince marks the end of a period known as the era of the Tannaim, which lasted approximately until 200 CE. A Tanna (pl.
- [The Roman Empire Adopts Christianity](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-roman-empire-adopts-christianity/) - When Constantine, the emperor of Rome, became a Christian it meant that the empire became Christian, with momentous consequences for the Jewish and pagan worlds.
- [The Spread of Christianity](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-spread-of-christianity/) - From a sect of Jews to a world dominating religion that defeated the Roman Empire, the story of Christianity is - for better or worse - intimately intertwined with Jewish history.
- [The Rise of Islam](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-rise-of-islam/) - In less than a century, Islam swept through the Arabian Peninsula. Even as the Muslims became the new leaders of civilization, Jewish reaction was ambivalent.
- [Christian Expansion & the End of the Talmudic Era](https://www.jewishhistory.org/christian-expansion/) - As Europe entered the Dark Ages, and the Church formulated anti-Semitic doctrines, the Jews completed the Talmud and preserved Judaism for future generations.
- [The Middle Geonic Period](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-middle-geonic-period/) - Despite his turbulent life, Rabbi Saadiah Gaon's clear insight and influence of knowledge have remained part and parcel of the Jewish people until today.
- [The Early Geonic Period](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-early-geonic-period/) - As the Jews settled into life under the Muslims, dealing with its good and bad influences, the heretical Karaite movement threatened both Jews and Judaism.
- [Ashkenazic And Sephardic Jewry](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ashkenazic-and-sephardic-jewry/) - The spread of the Jews from Babylon to North Africa and Europe is remarkable and based on the legend of four great rabbis who were kidnapped by Arab pirates.
- [End of the Geonic Era](https://www.jewishhistory.org/end-of-the-geonic-era/) - There were three major reasons that the center of Jewish life shifted from Babylon to Spain starting around the year 1000 CE: division, migration and assimilation.
- [Beginnings of the Golden Age in Spain](https://www.jewishhistory.org/golden-age-in-spain/) - The Golden Age of Spanish Jewry, despite eruptions of Islamic fanaticism, was marked by expansion of Jewish wealth and influence in politics and philosophy.
- [Zenith of the Golden Age](https://www.jewishhistory.org/zenith-of-the-golden-age/) - Solomon ibn Gabirol, Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra were three of the greatest Jews of the Golden Age. Their lives give us a personalized glimpse of the era.
- [Nachmanides](https://www.jewishhistory.org/nachmanides/) - Nachmanides is one of the greatest Jewish scholars ever. His resounding victory in a with the Church marked a turning point in Jewish-Christian relations.
- [Maimonides](https://www.jewishhistory.org/maimonides/) - The Golden Age of the Jews in Spain can be symbolized by one person, arguably the greatest person that the people produced from the time of the Talmud until our day: Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides or the Rambam. The epitaph on his grave reads, “From Moses to Moses, there arose none
- [Ashkenazic Jewry in France](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ashkenazic-jewry-in-france/) - The Jews fulfilled three roles in Europe: money-lender, scapegoat and harbinger of new ideas. All three made him necessary as it made his life precarious.
- [The Christian Reconquest of Spain](https://www.jewishhistory.org/reconquest-of-spain/) - Jews faced increasingly harsher persecutions Christian dominated Spain, including accusations from usury, desecrating the host, blood libels and well poisoning.
- [The House of Rashi](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-house-of-rashi/) - For 900 years, no Jew studies Torah or Talmud without Rashi. He is the guiding hand and gentle teacher who explains the words and inspires all who study Torah.
- [The First Crusade](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-first-crusade/) - The Crusades changed all of Jewish life in Europe. It changed the attitude of Christians towards Jews and Jews toward Christians… and even Jews towards Jews.
- [The Age of Rabbeinu Tam](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-age-of-rabbeinu-tam/) - Even as the situation of the Jews in Christian Europe rapidly deteriorated, one sage put his stamp on Jewry for all time: Rabbeinu Tam, the grandson of Rashi.
- [Expulsions and Burnings](https://www.jewishhistory.org/expulsions-and-burnings/) - Between blood libels, pogroms, the burning of the Talmud and expulsions from England and France in the 13th century, it is a miracle the Jewish people survived.
- [The Ashkenazim Come To Spain](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-ashkenazim-come-to-spain/) - During the 1200s, persecutions pushed Ashkenazic-European Jewry to the precipice of physical and spiritual extinction. But three men turned everything around.
- [The Black Death](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-black-death/) - Although the Black Death devastated all Europe, for the Jews it is was compounded by Christian persecution that blamed them for the disaster.
- [The End of Spanish Jewry](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-end-of-spanish-jewry/) - Don Isaac Abarbanel almost prevented the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, but could not. The end of Spanish Jewry was a blow unequaled until the Holocaust.
- [The Jews and the Renaissance](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-jews-and-the-renaissance/) - The Renaissance brought a new intellectual spirit to Europe but also challenged the power of the Church. For the Jews, it opened new possibilities and dangers.
- [The Marranos](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-marranos/) - The Marranos suffered greatly, but some managed to flee Spain, finding tolerance and success with other Jews in lands such as Italy, Turkey, Israel and Holland.
- [The Jews Come To Poland](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-jews-come-to-poland/) - Jewish life in Poland remained vibrant for 500 years. Though filled with extreme hardship, it had a spiritual richness that helped Jews transcend the mundane.
- [Rabbi Joseph Caro](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-joseph-caro/) - Among the Jews who left Spain during the expulsion in 1492 was a boy not even 13 who would become one of the great figures in the history of the Jewish people, Rabbi Joseph Caro.
- [The Reformation](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-reformation/) - The Protestant Reformation changed forever the face of Western civilization, and in so doing changed world Jewry, shifting its center to Eastern Europe.
- [Kabbalah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/kabbalah/) - In the 1600s, Jewish mysticism became widespread, but was countered by Renaissance skepticism. This laid the ground for the calamitous events of the 1700s.
- [Dawn of the 17th Century](https://www.jewishhistory.org/dawn-of-the-17th-century/) - The 17th century marks the rise of mercantilism. Jews were active in it on many levels. At the same time, Jews like Spinoza were challenging it internally.
- [Tach V’Tat](https://www.jewishhistory.org/tach-vtat/) - The years 1648 and 1649 (Tach V’tat) were supposed to be messianic. Instead, they turned into a catastrophe on par with the Holocaust in many ways.
- [Sabbatai Zevi](https://www.jewishhistory.org/sabbatai-zevi/) - According to Kabbalistic tradition 1648 was destined to be a messianic year, and hopes for the coming of the messiah were raised throughout the Jewish world. It is, therefore, ironic that in 1648 a Messiah did reveal himself and gained wide popularity throughout the Jewish world – but caused a disaster of historic proportions, the
- [Regrets and Recriminations](https://www.jewishhistory.org/regrets-and-recriminations/) - In the struggle to uproot vestiges of Sabbatai Zevi, Rabbis Jacob Emden and Jonathan Eybeschutz engaged in a bitter controversy that undermined world Jewry.
- [The Coming of Reform](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-coming-of-reform/) - Enlightenment ideals brought great upheaval to world Jewry. Frederick the Great, Amschel Mayer Rothschild and Moses Mendelssohn define the era and the upheaval.
- [Reform and the Enlightenment](https://www.jewishhistory.org/reform-and-the-enlightenment/) - As the French Revolution raged, Jews in Western Europe created Reform Judaism, which provided a greased slide into assimilation and Christian European society.
- [The Baal Shem Tov](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-baal-shem-tov/) - The spiritual vacuum created by false messiahs, poverty and persecution in Eastern Europe was filled by the Chassidic Movement, founded by the Baal Shem Tov.
- [Spread of the Chassidic Movement](https://www.jewishhistory.org/spread-of-the-chassidic-movement/) - Chassidus spread through Eastern Europe but only through a surprising counter revolution within the movement that eventually made it the establishment.
- [The Gaon of Vilna](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-gaon-of-vilna/) - The Vilna Gaon was a once-in-a-thousand years genius who spent his days in secluded study, yet had the most profound impact on the world, including ours today.
- [Napoleon](https://www.jewishhistory.org/napoleon/) - Napoleon profoundly influenced not only the world generally, but the Jewish world as well, even attempting to revive the Great Sanhedrin.
- [Jewish Russia, 1800-1850](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-russia-1800-1850/) - Jews in Russia in the 1800s faced a series of anti-Semitic decrees by the Czars that sought to destroy them. The reverberations of these decrees are felt today.
- [The 1850s](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-1850s/) - In the 1800s, the Czar of Russia dealt with his “Jewish problem” in three ways: conversion, emigration and destruction. Through a series of harsh decrees Jews would convert to Russian Orthodoxy, emigrate out of Russia or face destruction.
- [Haskalah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/haskalah/) - In the 19th century in Russia there occurred a drastic change in Jewish life whose ripple effects are still felt today. For the first time in perhaps seven or eight centuries Jews orchestrated a direct confrontation with traditional Judaism.
- [The Volozhin Revolution](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-volozhin-revolution/) - The Yeshiva movement 200 years ago was revolutionary in its time, and the main defense against Haskalah, guaranteeing the furtherance of traditional Judaism.
- [Rabbi Moses Sofer](https://www.jewishhistory.org/rabbi-moses-sofer/) - Rabbi Moses Sofer started the first yeshiva in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It differed from yeshivas in Poland, but turned back the tide of assimilation.
- [Dispute & Dissemination:  Expansion of the Mussar Movement](https://www.jewishhistory.org/dispute-dissemination/) - The Mussar Movement met opposition from within and without after the death of its founder, Rabbi Israel Salanter, but spread wider because of it.
- [The Lovers Of Zion](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-lovers-of-zion/) - The modern day return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel began over 150 years ago with a strange mix of rabbis and atheists called the Lovers of Zion.
- [The New World](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-new-world/) - Between 1882 and WWI, despite great obstacles, Jews immigrated in droves to America, the New World, changing not only Jewish life but America as well.
- [The Dreyfus Affair](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-dreyfus-affair/) - A new type of anti-Semitism arose in the 1800s - one based on race, not religion. The culmination of this new anti-Semitism was the infamous Dreyfus Affair.
- [Political Zionism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/political-zionism/) - In 1897, Theodore Herzl declared at the First Zionist Congress, “Today, I have founded the Jewish state. It will take you 50 years to see it.” It was visionary.
- [The First Aliyah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-first-aliyah/) - The First Aliyah, Jewish settlers to the Holy Land from 1881-1901, were secular, idealist and extremely naïve about Arab reaction to their arrival.
- [Dawn of the Century & Jewish Despair](https://www.jewishhistory.org/dawn-of-the-century/) - At the dawn of the 1900s, the horrific Kishinev pogrom and the Beilus trial dashed Jewish hopes of a future and made them socialists, Zionists or pessimists.
- [The Zionist Movement](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-zionist-movement/) - As Herzl tried to hold his Zionist movement together contentious battles were fought over questions like: Will it be a Jewish state? What type of Jewish state?
- [Coming of the Great War](https://www.jewishhistory.org/coming-of-the-great-war/) - In decade before WWI Eastern European Jewry was disintegrating externally and internally due to urbanization, revolution and virulently anti-religious Jews.
- [The First World War](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-first-world-war/) - WWI uprooted Jewish communities and destroyed the infrastructure of Jewish life, forever changing the face of Jewry. But an event at the end gave Jews hope.
- [The Treaty of Versailles](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-treaty-of-versailles/) - Rather than solve Europe's problems the Versailles Treaty perpetuated them. However, one provision had a profound impact on Jewish history, the British Mandate.
- [The Third Aliyah](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-third-aliyah/) - The wave of immigration known as the Third Aliyah was fueled by idealism. But the reality that confronted them would shake their dreams to the foundation.
- [Jewish Europe Between the Wars](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jewish-europe-between-the-wars/) - Jewish life between WWI and WWII was in turmoil. Anti-Semitism and assimilation decimated Jewish numbers and morale. It was a harbinger of what was to follow.
- [The Coming of Hitler](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-coming-of-hitler/) - The rise and fall of Adolf Hitler is one of the most terrible, dramatic and unbelievable stories in history.
- [American Jewry Between the Wars](https://www.jewishhistory.org/american-jewry-between-the-wars/) - Jewish life today in the US is very different than before 1948. Forces like poverty, bigotry and the Melting Pot caused Jews to drop tradition and assimilate.
- [The Second World War](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-second-world-war/) - The Second World War unleashed forces undreamed of in their potential and terror. If a war could be called just, it was the Allied efforts against Hitler.
- [The Destruction of European History](https://www.jewishhistory.org/destruction-of-european-history/) - The Holocaust is the most difficult topic in Jewish history. Its scope is beyond human understanding. However,its impact on Jewish life can't be ignored.
- [Guilt and Horror](https://www.jewishhistory.org/guilt-and-horror/) - World guilt over the Holocaust opened a brief window of opportunity which, along with some obvious divine intervention, launched the Jewish state.
- [The State of Israel](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-state-of-israel/) - The declaration of the State of Israel in 1948 was met with great emotion from Jews - and the invasion of 5 Arab armies. Many expected a second Holocaust...
- [Ingathering of the Exiles](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ingathering-of-the-exiles/) - Israel had to absorb more than a million immigrants in its first years. It faced enormous housing, economic, political, cultural and military problems.
- [The Sinai Campaign](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-sinai-campaign/) - As Nasser rose to power in Egypt and unleashed terrorists attacks, Israel mounted the Sinai Campaign. Military victory turned into diplomatic defeat, however.
- [The Six Day War](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-six-day-war/) - The 6 Day War in 1967 was a major turning point. On the verge of annihilation, Israel emerged victorious and regained Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall.
- [The Yom Kippur War](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-yom-kippur-war/) - The Yom Kippur War was the darkest time since the Holocaust for the Jewish people. But ultimately it came to emphasize the miraculous nature of Jewish survival.
- [Peace?](https://www.jewishhistory.org/peace/) - The turmoil in Israel after the Yom Kippur War led to the election of Menachem Begin and the historical peace agreement with Anwar Sadat. But was it peace?
- [Solomon](https://www.jewishhistory.org/solomon/) - Solomon was an immensely complex and layered personality. The wisest of men was truly pious and noble, yet torn apart by self-destructive tendencies.
- [The Wilderness Years](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-wilderness-years/) - The 40 years in the desert was both harsh and necessary for the Jewish people to become who they would be
- [Revelation and Beyond](https://www.jewishhistory.org/revelation-and-beyond/) - The revelation of God on Mt. Sinai. The grandeur and challenges of living up to the greatest event in human history.
- [The Exodus](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-exodus/) - The redemption and the test after the temptation afterward of returning to Egypt
- [Redemption](https://www.jewishhistory.org/redemption/) - Human nature and the nature of miracles
- [The Egyptian Holocaust](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-egyptian-holocaust/) - Jews in Egypt: Eerie parallels between the situation of the Jews in Egypt and Nazi Germany
- [Ancient Egypt](https://www.jewishhistory.org/ancient-egypt/) - Understanding ancient Egypt is important to grasping the backdrop of the Bible
- [The End of the Beginning](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-end-of-the-beginning/) - Judaism is uniquely universal and particular – and establishes this pattern in the Book of Genesis, as Rabbi Wein explains in this panoramic overview.
- [Joseph and His Brothers](https://www.jewishhistory.org/joseph-and-his-brothers/) - Jacob’s twelve sons, like the Jewish people, were a cantankerous group. Jacob sought to harness their individualism and make them one nation.
- [Joseph and the Wild Animals](https://www.jewishhistory.org/joseph-and-the-wild-animals/) - The story of Joseph’s sale into slavery and reconciliation with his brothers is unmatched drama. Beyond the facts is a deep message about the human condition.
- [Isaac: Most Mysterious of the Forefathers](https://www.jewishhistory.org/isaac/) - Isaac: Why he embodies the “survivor” personality
- [Jacob: The Paradigm of Jewish History](https://www.jewishhistory.org/jacob-paradigm-of-jewish-history/) - Jacob: What it takes to become a "man of truth"
- [Abraham: Altering the Course of History](https://www.jewishhistory.org/abraham-history/) - Abraham - The man who really did change the course of history.
- [The Tower of Babel and Paganism](https://www.jewishhistory.org/tower-of-babel/) - The ten generations between Noah and Abraham saw the birth of technology. It also saw the rise of the tyrant Nimrod, the antithesis of Abraham and morality.
- [The Great Flood](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-great-flood/) - The story of the flood, found in many ancient civilizations, is etched into the consciousness of humankind, feeding fears of a world-ending cataclysmic event.
- [The Dawn of Civilization](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-dawn-of-civilization/) - The Dawn of Civilization There are many theories how the human race began. Relatively recently, Science concluded that all of us share a common female ancestor. In recognition of the biblical account they even called her Eve. The Torah’s account of Adam and Eve is meant as a primer on the human condition. Among the
- [Free Advice](https://www.jewishhistory.org/free-advice/) - One of the many blessings bestowed upon the fortunate residents in Jerusalem is free advice from strangers about all sorts of issues, petty and great. I was once again made aware of this compassionate bent of Israelis on my last visit accompanying my wife to our local shmitta approved fruit and vegetable store. As we
- [SECOND CHOICE](https://www.jewishhistory.org/second-choice/) - A friend of mine told me of an interesting conversation that occurred between two professors at a Catholic university in the United States. One of the professors was a nun, while the other professor was an observant Orthodox Jew. The nun said to the Jewish professor: “You know, that after long deliberation on the
- [EMPTY PROMISES](https://www.jewishhistory.org/empty-promises-2/) - In an article in Commentary magazine, Professor Ruth Wisse wrote a very thoughtful article about anti-Semitism in our time. She discussed the anti-Semitism of the outside world, especially that of the Arab world, which persists in blaming the West and especially Israel for all of its own ills and societal dysfunctions. But she also touched
- [May Day](https://www.jewishhistory.org/may-day/) - May 1 was always the traditional day of commemoration and inspiration of the Socialists and Communists and their supporters and fellow travelers. Parades of workers, scouts, pioneers and sundry members of the proletariat, gigantic displays of armies and military hardware including intercontinental ballistic missiles, speeches about the socialist paradise and the bright Marxist future of
- [The Christmas Tree](https://www.jewishhistory.org/the-christmas-tree/) - Rabbi Berel Wein was once invited to a meeting with the editor of the Detroit Free Press. After introductions had been made, the editor told him the following story. His mother, Mary, had immigrated to America from Ireland as an uneducated, 18-year-old peasant girl. She was hired as a domestic maid by an observant family. The head of the house was the president of the neighboring Orthodox shul.
- [FIFE ON FIFA](https://www.jewishhistory.org/fife-on-fifa/) - This month has seen drama surrounding the international soccer association known as FIFA.

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