By Robin Jacobson. As I write this, bloody street battles rage in the ancient city of Aleppo, as Syrian government and insurgent forces fight for dominance. Hard as it is to imagine, Aleppo was for centuries the peaceful dwelling place of a vibrant Jewish community and home to one of Judaism’s greatest treasures, the oldest …
By Robin Jacobson. In January 1997, Madeleine Korbel Albright made history by becoming the first female Secretary of State. Almost immediately, a startling Washington Post story shattered Secretary Albright’s lifelong belief in her Catholic Czechoslovak heritage. The Post reported that Albright’s parents were Jewish and that three of her grandparents, as well as many other relatives, perished …
Seventy years ago this July, a young Jewish girl and her family went into hiding. Fleeing the Nazis, they took refuge in a secret Amsterdam attic where the girl would pen an immortal diary. Today, Anne Frank is revered as a tragic heroine by millions, many of them young people born long after World War …
By Robin Jacobson. In March 1933, the position of the U.S. Ambassador to Germany fell vacant, and no one, it seemed, wanted the job. Hitler had been Chancellor of Germany for just five weeks, but Berlin already had lost its allure as a plum diplomatic post. President Roosevelt offered the position to at least four …
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 rekindling interest in the topic, which has tantalized scholars for generations. Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus reunites seven small paintings of Jesus and proposes …
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 to astounding discoveries in an ancient synagogue attic—known as the Cairo Genizah— that would illuminate 1000 years of Jewish history. This tale of adventure and …
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 numbingly dull. Hard as it may be to imagine, however, Leviticus was once the hottest topic in European politics. King Henry VIII of England, who …
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 Nasi was a Jewish heroine of the 16th century who also saved her people. A shrewd businesswoman and adroit negotiator, Dona Gracia rescued thousands of …
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