Jewish history

Middle Israel: How Jews and Palestinians became masters of historical denial

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.

Palestinian women walk past a mural of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Hebron on the 21st anniversary of Arafat’s death. Ruth Wasserman Lande argues that the Palestinian narrative was created by the Soviet Union.
Worshipers are seen at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Tisha B'Av.

The foreign policy lesson hidden in Lamentations - opinion

Jewish community at the opening ceremony of the Beit Shvidler Jewish Center of Iceland.

Chabad couple turns a small dream into Iceland's historic first Jewish cultural center - interview

Image of the Nabatele installation at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia

Venice art installation grapples with its Jewish history at 61st International Art Exhibition


Dr. Yoav Heller on October 7: sexual violence and confronting evil

Dr. Heller: 'This wasn’t just another attack between Israelis and Palestinians. It was an attempt at genocide.'

 IDF soldiers seen in the aftermath of Hamas's Nova music festival massacre in Re'im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023.

This week in Jewish history: Miracle aids and antibiotics

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars – Today in Jewish History.

 THANK YOU, Selman Waksman, for isolating streptomycin.

Parashat Pinchas: Every Jew is torn between hope and history

Moses does not stand alone on Nevo – we stand with him. Together, we gaze toward a future we build but may never fully enter. Together with him, many Jews look toward a land they may never cross.

 An illustrative image of a man in a robe on a mountaintop with the sun shining.

This week in Jewish history: Moses breaks the Tablets

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars – Today in Jewish History.

 Moses is seen breaking the Tablets after coming down from Mount Sinai.

This northern Norway city has adopted a one-of-a-kind approach to observing Shabbat

Located on the outskirts of the Arctic Circle, this Norwegian city has a unique approach to observing Shabbat and a history of handling challenging situations.

 The river Nid offers picturesque views in Trondheim, Norway, home to one of the northernmost Jewish communities in the world.

Israel’s war doctrine is ancient wisdom wrapped in modern warfare - opinion

Israel’s willingness to act decisively and preemptively is sometimes misunderstood by outsiders but rarely questioned within the Jewish world.

 Smoke seen rising from a building after a reported Israeli strike in the southwest of Iran, June 21, 2025

Staro Sajmiste: Belgrade's fairground of death for the Balkans' Jews

From formidable fairground to a camp of death, the dark history of the Nazi camp within Belgrade’s borders

 Prisoners of the Staro Sajmište concentration camp in Belgrade.

Maryland man arrested for threats to Philadelphia Jewish museum  

Clift A. Seferlis was arrested on June 17 and charged with mailing threatening communications, one of which made reference to “Kristallnacht,” a Nazi pogrom carried out in 1938.

 Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, March 16, 2024

This week in Jewish history: Haganah formed in Israel, Google acquires Waze

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars – Today in Jewish History.

 THE WAZE app came out in 2013 (hence, the older-model smartphone pictured)

A Name Worthy of Gratitude

Why “Donald” should join “Alexander” as a name of honor in Jewish history

US President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025.