
Jewish World


‘Keren Kayemeth Who?’ How the Jewish National Fund-USA Divorced Its Israeli Counterpart
‘We didn’t want to be stuck in any of the political mud that all the national institutions in Israel are stuck in,’ explains CEO Russell Robinson, who also shrugs off dire predictions about future JNF fundraising following recent settlements controversy

Steven Spielberg Wins 2021 Genesis Prize, the ‘Jewish Nobel’
The Oscar-winning director was selected in part due to his 'extraordinary work to preserve the memory of the Holocaust'

Democrats, Republicans Tell U.S. Jews: We'll Work Together to Combat Antisemitism
'It is not a bipartisan issue, it is a nonpartisan issue,' said co-chair of the Senate's Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-semitism, Republican Senator James Lankford

Benjamin De Rothschild Dies of Heart Attack at Age 57
Benjamin de Rothschild was the chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Holding SA, and the grandson of famed Israel benefactor, Baron Edmond Rothschild

The 4th-century Pope and the Great Jewish War Over New Year’s Day
How ‘the Sylvester’ on December 31 became one of the favorite holidays for some Israelis and why so many other Israelis hate it with a passion

The Road Not Taken: The Divergent Paths of Two Jewish Brothers From Fin De Siècle Warsaw
In a touching family memoir, Nadia Ragozhina weaves together a story spanning Soviet gulags, Nazi death camps, a Swiss watch factory and Mandatory Palestine. The Russian-born Londoner recounts her own odyssey and ponders the niggling question: What if....

A Church Was Built on Polish Holocaust Survivor's Land. Now Her Daughter Reclaims It
Blanka Goldman's land was sold to the Catholic Church by the Polish neighbor who saved her in WWII. After 10 years of legal battle and institutional resistance, Supreme Court rules to return land to her daughter

The Rabbis' Gambit: A Brief History of Jews and Chess
If at first the rabbis were appalled by the notion of Jews squandering time better spent on Torah study, over the centuries playing chess would become encouraged – as long as they didn’t gamble on Shabbat

How This Russian Orphan Became a Billionaire
After a feud with her late husband’s family, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus won control of commodities giant LDC and has sold 45 percent of it to an Emirati company

Opinion The Day I Forgot to Pray
During my first IVF cycles, I dissociated from wanting and wishing and hoping, out of self-preservation. But then I was asked to pray for the other women who go to war to make a family

The Little-known Meaning of the Word Hanukkah
It's not just Americans who have trouble pronouncing the name of this winter holiday. Israelis get it wrong too.

The Revolt of the Maccabees: The True Story Behind Hanukkah
The ancient Israelites, led by Judas Maccabeus, did vanquish the oppressor Antiochus - but Greek rule would only be shaken off 20 years later under Judas' younger brother. A must-read before the holiday begins

How Did Jews Come to Believe in a Messiah? A Brief History
Nowhere does the Torah mention a redeemer known as the Messiah who will appear at the end of history. The origin of this belief stems from somewhere else entirely

Dutch Right-wing Politician Resigns Following Party’s Antisemitism Scandal
'Forum for Democracy' leader Thierry Baudet resigns following accusations that the party's youth branch shared Nazi songs in a Whatsapp group
This non-Jewish Leader Is Working to Clean Up Poland’s Forgotten Jewish Cemeteries
A dozen non-Jewish teenage members of the local International Scouts spent their Independence Day cleaning up the graveyard’s 10 surviving headstones

Why Orthodox Jews Believe Studying Torah Protects From COVID-19
And how Judaism reconciled the conundrum of why the righteous may suffer and the wicked thrive over the ages

Israeli Archaeologists Are Uncovering the Lost Legacy of a Cursed Biblical King
The Bible describes King Manasseh as the wickedest monarch to ever rule in Jerusalem, but new discoveries show his reign brought peace and prosperity to First Temple period Judah

Averting Crisis, Compromise Reached on Top Jobs at Zionist Institutions
Agreement over allocation of senior positions in World Zionist Organization and its affiliates prevented deepening wedge between Israel and Diaspora

Europe Lost Nearly 60 Percent of Its Jewish Population in Past Half Century, New Study Shows
Report by London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research finds that Europe accounts for same percentage of worldwide Jews today as it did nearly 1,000 years ago ■ 70,000 Israeli-born Jews live permanently in Europe

Israeli Town Sued for Refusal to Enroll ‘non-Jew’ in Its Religious School
The Ramle school turned away the boy on the grounds that his mother, who immigrated to Israel from Azerbaijan 19 years ago, is not Jewish

U.S. Man Described as neo-Nazi Pleads Guilty in Synagogue Plot
He was arrested in 2019 for plotting to bomb a historic Colorado synagogue and had described the planned attack as a 'move for our race'

Leader of Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox Community Tests Positive for Coronavirus
The 92-year-old Chaim Kanievsky broke quarantine on Yom Kippur and hosted people at his home, despite having been exposed to an infected person

10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Sukkot
It began as a Canaanite festival, superseded Passover among Bible-era Jews and won a disloyal king a royal pelting with etrogim

Kibbutz Rescues Second Temple-period Mikveh From Builders
During groundworks to build an intersection a rare Galilean ritual bath was found, sawed out of the bedrock and moved in an extraordinary collaboration

Renowned Jewish Historian: Stop Using the Term ‘Antisemitism’
Professor David Engel insists events that occurred in different eras and different places aren’t necessarily connected

France Bolsters Security at Synagogues After Paris Stabbing
Two people were wounded in front of the Paris building where Islamist militants gunned down employees of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 ■ Suspected attacker emigrated from Pakistan three years ago

14 Tips to Make the Yom Kippur Fast Easier
And if you can’t follow these simple suggestions, see Tip No. 11 - before you start the fast.

Female Empowerment and Pickled Herring: How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Became the Notorious RBG
Filmmaker Julie Cohen on how she managed to gain access to the notoriously private Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life, and why every American woman is standing on this diminutive Jewish woman’s shoulders

Recipe For a Sweet Rosh Hashanah: Rum-soaked Date, Fig and Date-honey Cake
This desert is too delicious to only eat on Jewish New Year