Recently, I merited acquiring a treasure: the first Tanach printed in Amsterdam, produced in 1630 at the press of Menasseh ben Israel. In 1626, he established the first Hebrew printing press in ...

We are told that two things persuaded Yisro to convert to Judaism. The first was the splitting of the Red Sea and the second was the war with Amalek (Rashi, Shemos 18:1). What was it about these two ...

Rav Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-1865), universally known by the acronym “Shadal,” emerged in the turbulence of early nineteenth-century Italy as a figure whose combination of traditional learning, ...

Our Gemara on amud beis uses a prooftext from the story of the destruction of Sodom for a halacha regarding the handful of the Mincha offering that is burned on the altar (Vayikra 2:2). The verse ...

At the age of ten, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn was arrested for the first time. He had stepped in to defend a Jewish butcher who was being beaten by a police sergeant in the marketplace of Lubavitch.

“How many times can you hop on one foot in a minute?” Avi Avraham asked the girls in an educational Zoom workshop for girls from all over the world. Avi, director of the Coma Center for Advancement ...

Abulafia describes the initial encounter with prophetic awareness and how it impacts the recipient. The “use” that can be made of prophecy is highly contingent upon the preparation and training of the ...

Hundreds will – or should – write about the astounding accomplishments of Julie Berman during his life. He presided and managed every organization that was important in the development of American ...

At the beginning of the book of Shemot, the Torah tells us that Yosef and his brothers died. The Rabbis (Berachot 55a) interpret this to mean that Yosef died before all of his brothers. And given that ...

Karoline Leavitt, 28, is the youngest White House press secretary in history. In my opinion, she’s also the best. I’ve been a fan of the political game for over 60 years and a follower of the debates ...

There was once a public debate between a rabbi and an astrophysicist regarding the nature of our universe. The astrophysicist, representing the atheist perspective, confidently approached the podium ...

Artistic depiction of Rabbi Yehuda HeChassid, not an actual portrait. Rabbi Yehuda HeChassid was the master of the “Chassidei Ashkenaz,” including Rabbi Eleazar of Worms and Maharam of Rotenberg; he ...