Jewish Law and Abortion
A practicing physician reviews contributions of Jewish ethics and rabbinic thought to the issue of abortion.
Meet Eva Frank: The First Jewish Female Messiah
Was this revered female figurehead an empowered leader or a tragic victim in her father's wake?
A Passover Tradition to Promote Jewish Unity
Freeing a prisoner—a gesture of generosity and benevolence—may have been a way to bring together a fractured spiritual community.
The NYC –> RUS Yiddish Socialist Pipeline
At the turn of the twentieth century, Yiddish became the language of political organizing for Russian Jews, thanks to the flow of literature from New York.
Sammy Davis, Jr.’s Conversion Mishegoss
Sammy Davis Jr.'s conversion to Judaism in 1960 was met with skepticism, derision and yes, jokes by the members of the groups he claimed and embraced.
Antisemitism at the 1932 Winter Olympics
The 1932 Winter Olympics were a small foreshadowing of what was to come in 1936 Berlin.
White Shoes, WASPs and Law Firms
Law firms founded on Protestant identity necessitated the creation of firms that would hire those shut out by WASP gatekeeping.
Making the (California) Desert Bloom
The question of Zionism in post World War II America did not have a single answer. One group proposed bringing agriculture to the California desert instead.
On the Origins of the Blood Libel
The ultimate conspiracy theory may be the charge of Jews killing Christian children.
How to Revive a Dead Language
Although it was the language of sacred texts and ritual, modern Hebrew wasn't spoken in conversation till the late nineteenth century.