Editor’s note: With life in Russia increasingly under the gun, and with its Jews again in the crosshairs, we revisit this column from 2013.
How ironic that a published history of the …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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3/6/24
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It is not unusual for a book’s title to include a year. 1776 and 1912 are among my favorites. They resonate deep meaning and so does the year 1492.
“1492,” subtitled …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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12/27/23
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Perhaps the two most popular literary works on the Jewish calendar are the Megillah and the Haggadah. Here are two unusual commentaries that pull together ancient pshat and drash in a modern lingo …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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3/13/24
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Rabbi Berel Wein, in his introduction to a translation of the Kli Yakar by his friend, Elihu Levine, said in regard to the art of translation: “To be truly faithful to the original, the …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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1/4/24
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You shouldn’t judge Soviet Jewish homes by their book covers, yet their bookshelves often contained the only clues that they were Jewish homes.
The overwhelming majority …
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By Menachem Wecker, JNS
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5/3/23
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Rabbi Daniel Rose wrote the following that will serve as the keynote to this week’s essay:
“These days of Purim,” the Book of Esther says, “should be remembered and …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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3/20/24
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At over 1,000 pages, “A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad” (Random House, 2010) does not lend itself to a quick read. Nevertheless, due to this large …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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1/10/24
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Purim is now behind us and the next time we are going to witness a full moon is exactly one month from now, Pesach. With that exciting thought in mind, I was taken by an essay by Dr. Adele Berlin in …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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3/27/24
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Next Thursday, Jan. 25, in the midst of winter, we celebrate Tu B’Shvat, the beginning of spring — albeit a spiritual spring — on the Jewish calendar.
This week I will present …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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1/17/24
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Here we are, on the cusp of the holiday of Pesach that in every manner of theme and observance surely defines us as a people.
To help us prepare to respond to our children who may questions the …
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By Alan Jay Gerber
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4/3/24
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