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How many Jews are there in Poland? This seems a simple and reasonable question, but the answer depends to a great degree on who is asking whom, when, and why. This should not be surprising: in Poland…
The new hybrid rightist-Jewish narrative spread into mainstream Israeli society especially strongly after the Six Day War (1967), when the right began to make deep inroads in both political and public…
Let us begin with the most basic questions: Can oral traditions of music constitute a reliable source for historical research? While this question is applicable to most music…
“Practically everyone has seen the prize-winning musical about the lovable people in that little village in Old Russia called Anetevka [sic]. Well, as far as we’re concerned, ‘Fiddler’ made a goof!” M…
Kashruth was not only redefined but repositioned as a growing number of American Jews restricted its observance to the home. The new geography of kashruth promoted a more flexible approach toward…
The belated adoption of the first law of Jewish emancipation has led to the assumption that it had no practical value. True as this statement may be technically, it nevertheless needs further…
Drawing of a wooden synagogue from Maximilian Syrkin’s 1910 article, “Drevníya derevyannyye sinagogi v pol’she litve” (Wooden Synagogues in Polish Lithuania). Wooden synagogues were a common form of…
I have always regretted one thing. When I ponder the Hebrew literature of all periods I ask myself: Why is it that our forefathers, who spent so much time on the study of matters of religion and law…
To make the history of antisemitism complete, omitting none of the manifestations of this sentiment and following its divers phases and modifications, it is necessary to go into the history of Israel…
The Birth of the Ba‘al Shem Tov
One of the greatest phenomena, running like a thread throughout the spiritual history of the Jewish people, is mysticism, a remnant of ancient mythology, which could…