RSS Jewish Living - History

Education: What Do You Know&about Synagogues?

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Susan Esther Barnes. Is there a traditional prayer to say upon entering a synagogue? & 9 other questions and answers about synagogue ritual objects and practices. Summer 2013.

Technology: The Talmud & the Twitterverse

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Daniel Reisel. How the democratic lessons espoused by the rabbis of Yaveh apply to the Twitterverse of today. Summer 2013.

Words, Words, Words: The Invention of Bentshn & Other Origins

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Sarah Bunin Benor. The origin stories of bentshn, shlep, mitzvah, cholent, schmooze, and pastrami. Summer 2013.

A Paragraph That Changed History?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Michael J. Cook. Why Jesus Last Supper could not have been a Passover meal, even of the pre-70 C.E. prototype. The author pinpoints 5 anomalies within a paragraph in the Gospel of Mark to prove his case. Online Exclusive within Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

Books: Does Judaism Sanction "Holy War"?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

a conversation with Reuven Firestone. Why holy war disappeared from Jewish thought for 2000 years, and how it came back. Q&A with author of Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea. Spring 2013.

Torah Is Not History

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

David Wolpe. Knowing the Exodus is not a literal historical account does not change our connection to our faith. Part of Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

Was Jesus' Last Supper a Passover Seder?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Michael J. Cook. Jesus could not have known what a seder was, let alone have modeled his Last Supper after one. Part of Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

Was Joshua the Hero of Jericho?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Rosemary Drisdelle. The Hebrew conquest of Jericho was in all likelihood not a military triumph; because of a parasite, the defenders were probably not fit to fight. Online Exclusive within Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

Was Reform Judaism the Price of Political Acceptance?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Michael A. Meyer. The vast majority of German Jews chose Judaism over a prestigious career, rejecting the pressure to convert. Part of Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

Were the Jews Moneylenders Out of Necessity?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein. Jews did not choose professions in finance because of restrictions, but because of proficiency. Part of Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

Were the Jews Slaves in Egypt?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

S. David Sperling. The biblical tradition of slavery in Egypt and the Israelite conquest of Canaan appear to be fictitious. Part of Focus: Greatest Jewish Myths. Spring 2013.

The Discontinuity of Continuity

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

conversation with Jonathan Sarna. Historian Sarna sheds lights on what history can teach us about engaging the next generation of Jews and what to make of young Jews who are questioning and disrupting the establishment. Part of Cover Story: Forum for the Future. Winter 2012.

The Sacred Circle of Sisterhood

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

a conversation with Dolores Kosberg Wilkenfeld, Lynn Magid Lazar, and Dara Amram. Three Women of Reform Judaism of different generations offer insider perspectives on the power and promise of Sisterhood (first NFTS, now WRJ) in its first 100 years. Winter 2012.

Education: What Do You Know...About Synagogues?

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Kevin Thurm. Ten multiple choice questions about synagogues past and present (answers follow) in this first of a series of educational quizzes on different topics. Fall 2012.

LincolnHe Was Like One of Us

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Gary Phillip Zola. Understanding how Abraham Lincoln became a spiritual and moral kinsman of the Jews. Spring 2012.

The Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Jonathan D. Sarna. As a Union general, Grant expelled Jews from his war zone; as U.S. president, he set a new national tone that helped usher in a brief golden age in the history of the American Jewish community. On the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, its time to set the record straight. Spring 2012.

Diplomatic Dead End

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Jeremi Suri. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger almost singlehandedly reshaped the balance of power in the Middle Easta balance which reigned in the region for nearly 40 years. How did Kissingers escape from Nazi Germany impact his foreign policy? And now, with populist Arab uprisings, how will history judge his legacy? Winter 2011.

Haze Over Harmony

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

James Rudin. Why have mainline Protestant leadersour social justice and religious coalition partnersconsistently made common cause with the Palestinians, often ignoring Israeli perspectives on the conflict? How can we strengthen our relationships with Protestant churches? Winter 2011.

The Intrinsically Good Life

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Hava Tirosh-Samuelson. Human happiness has been a central concern of Judaism since antiquity. And the ancient Jewish philosophers teachings about the intrinsically good life are just as relevant today. Part of Focus Happiness. Winter 2011.

My Monumental Bar Mitzvah Project

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Ben Greenspan. First-person account by an eighth grader of how he co-created the film The Road Through Ohrdruf, which features the stories of both survivors and liberators of a small concentration camp called Ohrdruf 65 years after the war; the article also includes historical information and a variety of survivor memories/perspectives. Fall 2011.

Birth of a Synagogue Movement

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A conversation with Daniel Freelander. The Union for Reform Judaism's senior vice president offers insider observations on what the synagogues of the 1800s were like, how Reform congregations moved from imitation to innovation, and from exclusion to inclusion—and the challenges ahead. Readers are invited to post their views. Part of Focus: Reforming Judaism. Summer 2011.

In Search of Belonging.

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Lawrence Englander. Historical review of Reform Judaism's four stages since its beginnings in Seesen, Germany in the 1800s—and the challenges ahead. Readers are invited to post their views. Part of Focus: Reforming Judaism. Summer 2011.

Rabbinic Road Out of a Wilderness

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A conversation with Steve Fox and Lance Sussman. The CCAR's chief executive and national chair of the press offer insider observations on the dramatic rise of the Reform rabbinate since the 1800s—and the challenges ahead. Readers are invited to post their views. Part of Focus: Reforming Judaism. Summer 2011.

Seminary of Unimaginable Ironies

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A conversation with David Ellenson. The HUC-JIR president offers insider observations anecdotes on how America's first rabbinic college got off the ground in the 1870s and how it continuously reinvented itselfand the challenges ahead. Readers are invited to post their views. Part of Focus: Reforming Judaism. Summer 2011.

The Ever-Evolving Faith

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Chaya Burstein. Jewish law and lore have always been reforming to adapt to the changing lives of the Jewish people. Explains the most momentous conflicts and resolutions in the history of the Jewish people from the destruction of the 1st Temple through today. Part of Focus: Reforming Judaism. Summer 2011.

RSS Jewish Living - History

Education: What Do You Know&about Synagogues?

Technology: The Talmud & the Twitterverse

Words, Words, Words: The Invention of Bentshn & Other Origins

A Paragraph That Changed History?

Books: Does Judaism Sanction "Holy War"?

Torah Is Not History

Was Jesus' Last Supper a Passover Seder?

Was Joshua the Hero of Jericho?

Was Reform Judaism the Price of Political Acceptance?

Were the Jews Moneylenders Out of Necessity?

Were the Jews Slaves in Egypt?

The Discontinuity of Continuity

The Sacred Circle of Sisterhood

Education: What Do You Know...About Synagogues?

LincolnHe Was Like One of Us

The Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant

Diplomatic Dead End

Haze Over Harmony

The Intrinsically Good Life

My Monumental Bar Mitzvah Project

Birth of a Synagogue Movement

In Search of Belonging.

Rabbinic Road Out of a Wilderness

Seminary of Unimaginable Ironies

The Ever-Evolving Faith

LincolnHe Was Like One of Us