JL;DR

The article discusses the role of rabbis during the Selma civil rights movement, focusing on Abraham Joshua Heschel's support for the cause alongside other l...

Ziad Abu Ein, a Palestinian activist known for organizing the Olive Branch March during the First Intifada, demonstrated his commitment to nonviolent protest...

Jonatan Meir's publication of a three-volume set delves into Joseph Perl, an 18th-century maskil from Galicia who actively promoted the Haskalah ideology whi...

POLIN, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, was conceived as a tribute to Jewish life in Poland rather than another Holocaust memorial. It was...

Despite the vast knowledge found in the Babylonian Talmud about classical Jewish life, law, and culture from the 3rd to the 6th century C.E., there has been ...

In the Fateless: The Beilis Trial a Century Later, the text discusses Mendel Beilis's notorious trial in 1913, accused of a blood libel murder in Tsarist Rus...

Jacob Glatstein, the renowned Yiddish poet, wrote autobiographical novels titled Ven Yash iz geforn and Ven yash iz gekumen in response to his trip to Poland...

Shlomo Sand, a well-known anti-Israel Israeli intellectual and history professor, challenges traditional Jewish narratives in his book "How I Stopped Being a...

In 2014, Hollywood saw a resurgence of biblical movies with Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" and Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings." These films feature big-na...

The emergence of the potato latke, a staple of Chanukah celebrations today, is a relatively recent development dating back to the nineteenth century in Easte...

The Red Apple Rest was a beloved roadside restaurant in Southfields, N.Y., where travelers stopped on their way to the Catskills, serving over a million cust...

Professor Marian Turski discusses postwar Jewish life in Poland and why he and a few other Polish Jews stayed in the country despite efforts to displace them...

Dr. Moshe Lavee discusses the Cairo Geniza, a collection of Jewish texts found in Egypt detailing ten centuries of Jewish life, revealing a history often ove...

Jewish emigrants who returned to Germany after being expelled found themselves as irreplaceable teachers, contributing to German philosophy and influencing t...

Richard Eisenberg, a Jewish veteran haunted by memories of the Vietnam War, found solace in honoring a military chaplain, Rabbi Meir Engel, with Kaddish ever...

Israeli historian Otto Dov Kulka's book "Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death," based on his experience as a child in Auschwitz, is praised for its poetic a...

The article discusses a new collection of letters by Alan Jay Lerner, the lyricist behind famous musicals like My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Gigi, revealing his...

A Swiss company, Migros, has issued an apology and recalled around 2,000 creamer packets featuring images of Hitler and Mussolini found in coffee shops in Sw...

The text discusses a review by Richard Wolin of Bettina Stangneth's translated book about Adolf Eichmann, sparking a discussion on Hannah Arendt and the conc...

The legacy of Jews in the Americas may extend back to the inaugural voyage of Columbus in 1492, with Luis de Torres, a recent convert from Judaism, aboard Co...

Rabbi David Wolpe explores the complex heroism of King David in the book "David: The Divided Heart." Despite David's renowned accomplishments as a unifier of...

Adva Naama Baram, an architect and photographer, presents an exhibition at the Architects' House Gallery focusing on the architecture of ezrat nashim, the wo...

A Catskills bungalow colony with a rich history dating back to 1941, originally founded by Nathan Jacoby, was recently the site of a reunion organized by his...

The article discusses the relevance of ancient Jewish sabbatical laws, particularly the Shmita, in the modern economy. It explains how the original laws mand...

The article criticizes the upcoming film "Exodus: Gods and Kings," starring Christian Bale as Moses, comparing it unfavorably to the beloved 1998 animated fi...

In the 1960s, the memory of the Holocaust quietly haunted the era despite the intense focus on changing the world. The aftermath of World War II, McCarthyism...

David B. Dennis's works shed light on how Nazis utilized culture for political ends, as outlined in "Valhalla in Flames." Dennis examined the Völkischer Beob...

In "Letters Fall 2014," different writers offer critiques and responses regarding various topics. The Cardinal Dulles Inspiration discusses the influence of ...

In "Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, & Life in the Kingdom of Poland," Glenn Dynner challenges the myth of Jewish sobriety and explores the deep intertwining o...

Konstanty Gebert in response to "The Ukrainian Question" discusses the differing perspectives in Eastern European countries like Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, a...

Daniel Mendoza, a celebrated bare-knuckle prizefighter in late-Georgian London, was born to British-born parents of converso background in 1764. Despite a tu...

In "Sephardi Lives: A Documentary History, 1700-1950," Professors Julia Phillips Cohen and Sarah Abrevaya Stein explore the lives and experiences of Sephardi...

The article responds to Dovid Katz's views on the ethical complexities surrounding Ukrainian nationalism and Russian separatism, particularly in relation to ...

Nathan Birnbaum, often forgotten in the history of Zionism, played a significant role in the early movement. Despite initial tension with Theodor Herzl, Birn...

Stefan Zweig, a highly-translated and polarizing author in the 1930s, was both envied and criticized by his peers for his success which some saw as a symbol ...

The article discusses how Hamas and Yasser Arafat celebrated what they claimed were victories against Israel, with examples like the 2014 Gaza war and Arafat...

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inducted its 2014 class, which included Adam Greenberg, known for being hit in the head during his first at-bat with ...

"Headlines" by Dovid Lichtenstein examines contemporary issues faced by Orthodox Jews through a halachic lens, offering researched analyses based on classica...

Prof. Ofer Shiff discusses the legacy of Abba Hillel Silver, an American-Jewish leader who advocated for a diaspora-based form of Zionism but ultimately lost...

The author reflects on spending Tisha B'Av in Rome near the Arch of Titus, a symbol of the destruction of the Second Temple. Coming from a Soviet background,...

The author reflects on how her experiences at a Labor Zionist youth camp shaped her Jewish identity, particularly in relation to observing Tisha B'Av. She di...

"Amistad and Spielberg's West African Moses" discusses how Steven Spielberg's film "Amistad" explores themes of bondage and freedom through the story of Cinq...

The Torah portion discusses the story of Phinehas, a celebrated vigilante who takes violent action against Israelites engaging in impropriety with Moabite wo...

The text discusses the historical challenges faced by the Jewish community, particularly in Israel, in dealing with various political powers such as the Otto...

Tens of thousands of visitors gathered at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens to mark the 20th yahrzeit of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebb...

An exhibition and book commemorating the Evelina de Rothschild School in Jerusalem shed light on its British principal, Annie Landau's transformative impact ...

On May 13, 1948, Arab militiamen and Jordanian Legionnaires carried out a massacre of surrendering Jewish troops in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, marking one of the b...

An exhibit in Salvador, Brazil, showcasing vintage World Cup jerseys includes controversial items such as the swastika-adorned jersey of Germany's 1934 team ...

The article discusses the emotional impact of visiting the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem, focusing on the personal stories and exhibits that aim to bring th...

In the Summer 2014 issue of Letters, different authors address key points in recent articles. Saul Newman clarifies the relationship between his grandfather,...