Who shall live and who shall die? How will it happen? And what sway do we have in our fate? These are the sobering questions we probe every year during the holidays.
Follow along from Leonard Cohen’s striking song “Who by Fire…” back to the raw prayer “Unetaneh Tokef” that inspired it… to a brutal tale in medieval Mainz… to the Cairo Genizah… then to Byzantium and beyond – as we track the season’s haunting questions in their mysterious trail through time.
‘Who By Fire’: The Questions That Haunt the Holidays
The People in the Safe Room
The documentary “Safe Room” captures the story of survivors brought together by chance on October 7, who unexpectedly become a family on the worst day of their lives. The film will be screened later this month as part of Docutext, the National Library of Israel’s documentary film festival.
Hamilton and the Jews: Tracking the Jewish Footprints of an American Founding Father
Alexander Hamilton, the brilliant statesman, helped to define a young America. His stories have been told in everything from biographies and novels to iconic Broadway show-tunes. Yet surprisingly, little of this material has focused on his meaningful connection to Judaism, which stretches back to his roots in the Caribbean…
Why Cacao is King: The Jewish History of Chocolate
How did Sephardic Jewish merchants help expand cacao’s reach, transforming chocolate into one of the world’s most sought-after luxuries?
The Rabbi, the Rebbe, and the Japanese Plan to Bring Jews to China
How one scheme to resettle Jewish World War II refugees in East Asia was serendipitously discovered by a New York rabbi.
