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Seder Under Siege – Seder in Jerusalem 1948

bracha.beth

As the sun set on the British Mandate and rose over the new State of Israel, civil war raged between Arabs and Jews. Jerusalem’s hundred thousand Jewish residents prepared to celebrate Pesach under siege, unsure...

ArticlesIssues 51-100

Seeking The Hidden Face Of God – Hillel Zeitlin

bracha.beth

Though he saw the Jewish people as trapped in a fatal, dead-end existence, writer Hillel Zeitlin labored to bring redemption. Struggling with doubt, he kept hoping and praying, wrestling with contradictions to create a role...

ArticlesIssues 51-100ללא קטגוריה

Loving Zion From Gaza – Pioneers in Gaza – Ido Yisraeli

bracha.beth

After touring the land of Israel, an early Zionist delegation proposed resettling European Jews not just in agricultural colonies but in cities. A pioneer group from Jaffa agreed to pave the way in Gaza, writing...

ArticlesIssues 51-100ללא קטגוריה

Judaism’s Service Entrance – Moshe Yagur

bracha.beth

Though viewed today as an outmoded evil, slavery was part of medieval Jewish life in Arab lands. Somewhat surprisingly, slaves owned by Jews were considered semi-Jewish; having entered the Jewish people through this “back door,”...

ArticlesIssues 51-100ללא קטגוריה

Body & Soul – Ottoman Jewish Midwifery

Tali Buskila

Among Jews in the Ottoman Middle East, birth took place in the mother’s home, where close friends and family assisted in an evolving social and spiritual experience. This safe, female space was seminal in women’s...

ArticlesIssue 70 | September 2024

Birth Rite – Birthing Amulets

Chen Avizohar-Hagay

Prior to effective medical techniques, amulets were a trusted method of protecting believers at their most vulnerable. To keep newborns and their motheres safe, Jews drew on prayers, incantations, and legends of creation as well...

ArticlesEarly modern periodIssue 70 | September 2024LifecycleMiddle East

Breakthrough to the Negev – Jewish Settlement of the Negev

Dotan Goren

At the end of the 1930s, the land of Israel’s parched south was devoid of Jewish settlement. In the decade leading up to the establishment of the State of Israel, however, the region suddenly boomed,...

ArticlesIssue 70 | September 2024Land of IsraelPre-state of IsraelZionism

Feeding the Heavens – Jewish Birdfeeding Customs

Yossi Ziv

Both Polish and Ethiopian Jews traditionally fed birds at specific times of year, ascribing deep meaning to this practice. Did the custom spread from south to north with the migratory flocks, or was it simply...

ArticlesEarly modern periodEthiopiaGermanyIssue 71 | December 2024Jewish CommunitiesTu Bishvat

The First Zionist Visionary – Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai

Yitzhak Krausz

At first glance, 19th-century rabbi Yehuda Alkalai’s writings seem like traditional Jewish interpretations of biblical prophecies, but closer scrutiny reveals a strikingly modern redemptive vision – which had yet to be dubbed Zionism In 1865,...

19th centuryArticlesEuropeIssue 71 | December 2024Rabbis

Coins of Rebellion – Judean Rebels’ Coins

Yinon Horesh

Unlike other freedom fighters throughout history, the Judeans rebelling against Rome even minted their own coins. Why “waste” energy and resources on mere symbols of independence? What subversive messages did they convey? The first coins...

AntiquityArticlesCoins and StampsIssue 71 | December 2024Lag B'OmerLand of Israel

Woman of Worth and Wisdom – Flora Sassoon

Hezi Cohen

Even today, most boardrooms remain dominated by men, but 130 years ago a Jewish woman shattered the glass ceiling to preside over one of India’s largest mercantile empires. A philanthropist and scholar to boot, Flora...

19th centuryArticlesIndiaIssue 71 | December 2024Women

Articles

Seder Under Siege – Seder in Jerusalem 1948

Seeking The Hidden Face Of God – Hillel Zeitlin