Library Corner

The Jewish Love Affair with Rembrandt

October 1, 2011

By Robin Jacobson.  No one really knows what the Dutch Protestant artist Rembrandt von Rijn (1606-1669) thought about the Jews. A provocative exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is …

Discovering a Lost World: The Cairo Genizah

June 1, 2011

By Robin Jacobson.  While traveling in the Middle East in 1896, two wealthy, erudite Scottish sisters bought some antique manuscripts. Little did they imagine that this souvenir purchase would lead …

Reading Leviticus With Henry VIII

March 1, 2010

By Robin Jacobson.  Soon the Torah cycle will come around again to Leviticus (Vayikra). After the dramatic stories of Genesis and Exodus, the litany of rules in Leviticus can seem …

A Woman Who Defied Kings

March 1, 2009

At Purim, we celebrate the heroism of the young Queen Esther who saved the Jewish people of Persia.  Less famous than Queen Esther, but equally brave and clever, Dona Gracia …