World-renowned designer Josef Frank rebelled against artistic norms, delivered scathing critiques of fellow artists, and was repeatedly forced to defend his identity. Despite this, he became one of the most famous, if also one of the most controversial, Jewish designers in history.
When Samuel Ha-Levi illegally built a synagogue in the provincial Spanish town of Toledo, no one could have known that it would one day become a church, then a military barracks in the Napoleonic war, a national monument, and finally a museum… but that’s just the beginning!
Baruch Agadati was almost certainly the most controversial Jewish dancer of his time, building up large followings both of people who loved him, and loved to hate him. He simultaneously fought against antisemitism, angered most of the Jewish community, challenged gender roles, and built long-lasting cultural traditions. Oh, and he was also the person who created Israeli Folk Dance.
In 1926, more than 100 Egyptian teachers and officials visited Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and elsewhere. What did they think of Jewish education and how did the local Arab population receive them?
A look at some of the brave souls who risked their lives to reach Israel before and just after the state’s founding…
The failed attempt on Ambassador Shlomo Argov’s life led to one of the most complicated and difficult episodes in Israel’s history
Habiba Msika reveled in the pleasures of free love in 1920s Tunis. A rejected paramour ultimately took her life
Were they men or women, rabbis or sorcerers, legal experts or ignoramuses?
Chaim Topol was originally disgusted by ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Soon after changing his mind, war in Israel took him off the stage…
Confusion and combat preceded the grand opening of Israel’s main airport, some six months after the young state’s founding
