Shlomo Carlebach’s musical influence endures across the Jewish world, more than a century after his birth.
Jewish Girls Studying in Secret: The “Women’s Cheder” of Eastern Europe
In Europe in the early 20th century, when the new school year would come around, there was barely anywhere for women, especially Jewish women, to go and study. What happened when Eastern European authorities tried to prevent Jewish girls from receiving an education?
Leo Frank, 1915: The Case America Still Reckons With
More than a century after the lynching of a Jewish-American man in Georgia, rising antisemitism makes the tragedy’s warning painfully clear.
The Secret Chord: Leonard Cohen Composes “Hallelujah”
He only began writing songs seriously at the age of 30, and started singing a few years later. A proud Jew who spent time living in a Buddhist monastery in California, he used poetry and music to express both the holiest and the darkest parts of the human soul. His most famous song, whose story we tell here, is likely one you know, even if you’ve never heard Leonard Cohen sing it in his own voice.
Better Together: Colombia’s Macabi Games Tell the Story of a Community
The National Macabi Games, or Macabeada, are held annually in Colombia, with Jewish athletes attending from across the country and even elsewhere. This event is about much more than sport, however. The games are a celebration of Jewish life, community, friendship and love.
Between Tehran and Tel Aviv: The Diaspora Caught in the Middle
During the latest exchange of bombardments between Israel and Iran, Jewish and Muslim emigrants in the United States looked back toward their homeland — and checked on each other.
Recalling Operation Solomon: When 14,000 Jews Left Ethiopia for Israel
A secret airlift in May 1991 brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews to their new home in the Jewish state. This is one family’s story.
Rabbi Shimon Agassi: The Boy Who Dared to Study Kabbalah
As a young man, Shimon Agassi’s desire to study Kabbalah sparked resistance. Years later, he would become one of the most influential spiritual figures in Baghdad. Preserved in his archive—now housed at the National Library of Israel—are rare manuscripts that served him in his mystical and scholarly work.
When Abraham Lincoln Intervened on Behalf of American Jews
U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant ordered the eviction of Jews in southern areas he controlled during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln reversed the edict of the man he later appointed the Union Army’s commander. Grant went on to become president.
The Lost Seder Plates: A Glimpse of a Vanished Jewish World
The centuries-old Seder plates photographed by Theodor Harburger in the 1920s may be the only remnants we have of many Jewish families from Bavaria, Germany. Harburger survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Israel, bringing with him his rare collection, which serves as a testament to the lives of German Jewish communities that were plundered and murdered in the Holocaust. These antique Seder plates preserve not only the story of the holiday throughout the generations but also the stories of the families at whose tables they once stood.
