Jewish history

DIASPORA AFFAIRS: Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla have become the center of a migration crisis, reviving geopolitical tensions while highlighting a crossroads of Jewish history and culture.

Zionism, at its foundation, is the return of an indigenous people to the hills, springs, and sacred sites that shaped its civilization long before anyone called it a nation-state.

Moldova combines Jewish history, cave monasteries, lively markets and celebrated wineries, while Transnistria offers a striking journey into Soviet nostalgia.

Written roughly in the time of Isaiah, The Odyssey had nothing to do with the Jews. Its narrative, however, sure is relevant to the Jews, as their own narrative comes under assault. 

Thanks to the Hebrew calendar, Jewish history is never abandoned or forgotten. Jews celebrate or commemorate – from destruction to rebirth.

The point of no return in the destruction of the Temple, that we mourn for on Tisha B’Av, actually took place on the eve of Tamuz 17, in what is known in the Talmud as the burning of the barns. 

This year, we will fast and observe the customs of our national day of mourning. We will go through the motions, yet the conclusion is unavoidable: we have forgotten.

Had the Jews studied their history impartially, they would've understood centuries before Herzl that regaining their land and restoring their power is their task, not God's.

Jewish tradition attributes Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah, who was persecuted in part because he warned against relying on Egypt. He thought Babylon would determine Judea's fate.

"Our first priority was just to connect with people on a personal level, on an individual level, and find out what people felt was missing," Rabbi Feldman told The Jerusalem Post.