Jewish history

Why So Many of the Greatest Leaders in Jewish History Began Life as Jewish Outsiders

An investigation, and a tribute to the 2022 Herzl Prize laureate Roger Hertog.

Eric Cohen
June 21 2022 12:01AM

The Drought That May Have Led to the Fall of a Jewish Kingdom in Arabia, and Paved the Way for Islam

The stalagmites’ tale.

Ariel David
June 20 2022 12:01AM

The Paradox at the Heart of Hebrew Literature’s Most Famous Rejection of the Diaspora

Haim Hazaz’s “The Sermon.”

Ruth R. Wisse
June 7 2022 12:01AM

The Complicated Legacy of Eva Frank, Perhaps the Only Jewish, Female Messianic Figure

Jacob Frank and his daughter Eva claimed the mantle of Shabbetai Tzvi.

Shira Telushkin
May 19 2022 12:01AM

The Women’s Prayers of 18th-Century Jewry, and the Women Who Wrote Them

Leah Horovitz’s tkhines.

Leah Sarna
May 16 2022 12:01AM

The Paradoxes of Ukrainian Jewish History

How a country broke dramatically from its long history of anti-Semitism.

Andrew N. Koss
April 18 2022 12:01AM

The Orthodox Jew Who Developed the Cholera and Bubonic Plague Vaccines

Mordechai Wolff Haffkine “savior of humanity.”

Saul Jay Singer
April 7 2022 12:01AM

Rediscovering a Prewar Jewish Community in Poland Through Three Minutes of Film

A new documentary attempts to depict the life of Jews in 1938 Nasielsk.

Glenn Kurtz
April 6 2022 12:01AM

The History of the Karaites—the Millennium-Old Jewish Sect Who Rejected the Rabbis and the Talmud

Judaism’s path not taken.

Daniel Lasker
April 4 2022 12:01AM

The History of Ukraine through a Jewish Lens

Economic flourishing, murderous anti-Semitism, and spiritual creativity.

Henry Abramson
March 4 2022 12:01AM

A Genealogy Website to Publish 5.8 Million Records from Jewish Communities

Building upon the world’s largest collection of Jewish family trees.

Jerusalem Post
March 2 2022 12:01AM

The Polish Jew Who Became One of the 20th Century’s Major Muslim Thinkers

When Leopold Weiss turned into Muhammad Asad.

Martin Kramer
Feb. 28 2022 12:01AM

The Forgotten Story of the Jewish Tavernkeepers of Poland and Russia

Alcohol, trade, and kosher food.

Glenn Dynner
Feb. 21 2022 12:01AM

Finding Hope in the Jewish Story

What Jews can learn from what the Wampanoag wanted to learn about them.

Dara Horn
Jan. 27 2022 12:01AM
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