Queen Helene of Adiabene
Louis Felicien de Saulcy was searching for ancient coins. It was 1863 and the prominent French numismatist was excavating an area in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, not far from where […]
The Custom of Hanging an Effigy of Haman
Since the times of the Gemara there has been a custom to not only hang Haman in effigy, but to burn the figure as well. Today, though, you’d be hard […]
Purim of Cairo
For more than four centuries, up until the the years between the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956, when a mass […]
The Role of the Esrog in Childbirth
Rectifying the Sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Back in the 18th century, a fascinating story circulated among Jews that the Queen of Prussia, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King […]
The Schvartze Chasuneh – The Wedding in a Cemetery
Ten years ago a delightful, illustrated children’s book entitled “The Wedding that Saved a Town,” focused on an obscure Jewish custom in Eastern Europe , known as a “Shvartze Chasuneh” […]
Partaking of Twelve Challos and other Shabbos Customs
Many summers ago, when I was single and studying in Paris at the Sorbonne, I decided to spend Shabbos Mevarchim in Strasbourg in the south of France. I stayed at […]
The Corfu Blood Libel of 1891
And the Disappearance of the Ethrog from Corfu For several centuries Corfu was one of the chief suppliers of Ethrogim to Jews all over the world. The use of Corfu […]
Captain Barros Basto Ger Tzedek and Portuguese Dreyfus
Many readers are familiar with the notorious Dreyfus Affair, which took place in 1894 in France when a Jewish career soldier, a captain in the French army, was falsely accused […]
Queen Esterke
In the ancient Jewish quarter of the Kazimir district in Cracow, Poland, you’ll find a street called Ulica Estery. It’s named after Queen Esterke, as she was referred to in […]
Temerl Bergson
‘Mother’ of Polish Chassidus Polish King Graces Temerl’s Wedding In Shevat 5547/February 1787 a glorious wedding took place in a suburb of Warsaw that was attended by many prominent members […]