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.
A Journey to Paradise Lost: Why We Can’t Live Without Flowers
Since the banishment from the Garden of Eden, humanity has longed to return, to a form of nature wild enough to move us as human beings, yet tame enough not to threaten us. To a place that soothes the soul and nourishes the body. The garden is a motif that runs like a thread through countless human cultures. Why are we all yearning for Paradise?
The Continuing Evolution of Tisha B’Av
Over the centuries, the most somber day in the Hebrew calendar has become associated with different tragedies across Jewish history. It is a process that still continues.
Emma Lazarus: Overlooked at the Statue of Liberty, But Hardly Forgotten
The 19th-century writer and social activist, a Jewish resident of New York, penned what became a legendary poem symbolizing America’s embrace of immigrants. She was born 176 years ago this month.
“Here Lies a Humorist”: The Last Wish of Sholem Aleichem
What transformed the young boy Solomon Rabinovich – a simple child, orphaned of his mother – into one of the greatest Yiddish writers of his generation? Hint: a wicked stepmother, an unexpected happy ending, and a lifelong love of laughter all played a part. This is the story of the great Jewish humorist who, even in death, chose to laugh.
Maimonides’ Halakhic Revolution (and Why It Almost Worked)
Back in the Middle Ages, Maimonides set out on an extraordinary mission. His goal? To take all of Jewish law and tradition and condense it into one clear, orderly handbook that would finally get Jews to stop arguing. Spoiler alert: that didn’t quite happen.
Yesterday’s News: The Story of the Historical Jewish Press Archive
Professor Yaron Tsur—one of the founders of the NLI’s Historical Jewish Press website—has been awarded the Israel Prize. The honor recognizes, among other achievements, his role in helping create one of the National Library’s most significant initiatives. This is the story behind the Historical Jewish Press – a project that allows anyone, anywhere to explore nearly every Jewish newspaper published over the last 250 years—and embark on a captivating journey through Jewish history.
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.
The Passover Seder as Live Action Role Playing
Is it any surprise that the Passover Seder is essentially the world’s oldest Jewish role-playing game, predating “Dungeons & Dragons” by millennia? How did the Sages of yore get us to joyfully participate in Jewish rituals, and what does all this have to do with mutual scallion whippings?
Who Knows One? The Arrival of the Moss Haggadah
A unique Haggadah crafted by American-Israeli artist David Moss four decades ago joins the National Library of Israel’s collection.
