The concept of Shemittah – the Jewish Sabbatical Year – includes among other things a provision to release people from debts owed to others. Though clearly a noble and moral sentiment, such a law can easily lead to problematic situations and even exploitation. Levi Cooper delves into one possible solution to this issue, provided by a 2000 year-old legal loophole…
Martha, Daughter of Boethus, Who Died From Stepping Out Onto Jerusalem’s Streets
More delicate than the princess from “The Princess and the Pea”, more spoiled than a Kardashian. Among the Talmudic legends surrounding the destruction of ancient Jerusalem is the strange story of a wealthy woman who was unaccustomed to contact with the outside world. Why did the Talmudic sages choose to focus on this particular tale, and is there a modern lesson to be learned from it?
Stolen by the Nazis: A Book’s Rediscovery in Jerusalem
The long journey of a book of Leviticus that was hidden in a Vienna basement during the Nazi era, before eventually making its way to the National Library of Israel’s Conservation Lab…
The Hebrew Manuscript That Dared to Depict God
We decided to examine the manuscript that boldly violated the explicit commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness”
The Opera That Survived the Ghetto: The Story of “The Kaiser of Atlantis”
Under a perpetual shadow of death, as train after train was sent to Auschwitz, Viktor Ullmann and Peter Kien, imprisoned in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, composed a searing opera satirizing the awful reality in Europe. Both were murdered, but a suitcase filled with Ullmann’s works survived to tell the story of the human spirit’s triumph over death
Who Wrote These Magical Ancient Jewish Bowls?
Were they men or women, rabbis or sorcerers, legal experts or ignoramuses?
When Topol Fled From ‘Fiddler’… Twice
Chaim Topol was originally disgusted by ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Soon after changing his mind, war in Israel took him off the stage…
Two Scholarly Giants: Prof. David Halivni & Prof. Gershom Scholem
Dr. Zvi Leshem, Director of the Gershom Scholem Collection, shares some personal memories of his own Rabbi and mentor, Prof. David Halivni, who recently passed away and whose path crossed with that of the legendary Kabbalah scholar…
What Made This Top Russian Jewish Author Descend into Madness?
Lev Levanda spent decades advocating for Jewish assimilation into Russian culture. It all changed after pogroms shook the empire…
Judith Montefiore on How to Cook Like a Proper Jewish Lady
The name Judith Montefiore is probably not famous enough in Israel. A brief search of the National Library archives revealed that not only was she an equal partner in her husband’s charitable endeavors, but she was also likely the anonymous editor of the first Jewish cookbook published in England…
