Jewish history

Like Moses, Israel needs leaders who understand different perspectives - opinion

Moses defined the quality every great leader needs: the ability to understand every human spirit.

|ByMOSHE TARAGIN
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, learning at the Har Etzion yeshiva he led, 2014. He was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish Religious Literature that same year.
Israeli cabinet minister and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot is consoled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he attends the funeral of his son Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, an Israeli solider, who was killed in northern Gaza during the ground operation by Israel's military in Gaza.

Was Netanyahu chosen by God, or judged too harshly by man? - opinion

There was a young man who was chosen. He did not choose himself. In fact, he had no plans to enter politics and no ambition to become prime minister. Yet God often chooses people who never expect it.

|ByMIKE EVANS
Eleven minutes after Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, president Harry Truman recognized the new state, beginning one of the most consequential alliances in modern history.PremiumPremium

Thank you, America - but Israel cannot take your support for granted - opinion

From Truman’s recognition to today’s uncertainties, the US-Israel relationship remains vital, but not guaranteed

|ByNACHMAN SHAI
Samaritans are seen celebrating Shavuot.

Meeting our ancient cousins: What the Samaritans can teach about Jewish continuity - opinion

The existence of the Samaritans reminds us that possessing a text is not enough. The greater wonder is the survival of a people and a living tradition.

|ByJONATHAN LIEBERMAN

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.

JUNE 25, 2025ByGRACE GILSON/JTA
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.

JUNE 19, 2025BySTEVEN DRUCKER
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

JUNE 17, 2025ByEDUARD SHYFRIN
US President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025.

Shavuot 2025: Why do we group Jewish holidays together?

By adding Purim to the duo of Passover and Shavuot, this trio reminds us that hiddenness is not static. It is dynamic.

JUNE 2, 2025ByMICHAEL M. COHEN
PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG attends a ‘Book of Esther’ reading wearing a protective mask, at the Ahavat Tzion synagogue in Beit Shemesh in 2022. ‘God is hiding His face, and we are experiencing a world in which it seems that God is absent,’ says the writer.

Shavuot in 1948: Harvesting the first fruits of Israeli statehood under siege

It was the collision of Israel’s past with its present and future. The offerings may have been meager. The dairy dishes improvised. But the spirit was resolute.

JUNE 2, 2025ByALEX WINSTON
SHAVUOT, ONE of the three pilgrimage festivals, marked the wheat harvest in biblical Israel. It concludes the seven-week period beginning at Passover

Reaccepting the Torah: Looking back the first Shavuot after the fall of Nazi Germany

For many Holocaust survivors, May 18, 1945 was the first Shavuot they were able to celebrate after years of war.

JUNE 2, 2025ByYAEL HALFON
AMERICAN CHAPLAIN Rabbi Herschel Schacter conducts religious services at the liberated Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945

Shavuot's mystical incident: Uncovering the secrets of King David’s Tomb

“We have conclusive evidence that Kings David, King Solomon, and King Hezkiyahu are all buried on Har Zion,” one rabbi told The Jerusalem Post.

JUNE 1, 2025ByYESHARA GOLD
PEOPLE PRAYING at King David's Tomb

'The Jews, 5,000 Years and Counting:' Jewish history can be funny - review

The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting achieves an incredible feat: It covers our entire “epic journey through time, space, and guilt” in 224 pages.

JUNE 1, 2025ByABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
BEN-GURION AIRPORT security, Terminal 1, during the COVID-19 pandemic

This week in Jewish history: Shavuot, and the Six Day War

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

MAY 31, 2025BySTEVEN DRUCKER
DAVID RUBINGER’S iconic photo of the IDF paratroopers at the Kotel during the Six Day War in 1967.

14th century Shem Tov Bible comes home to Jerusalem

The Shem Tov Bible, a stunning 14th-century manuscript created by the renowned kabbalist Rabbi Shem Tov ben Abraham Ibn Gaon, will be displayed in the National Library of Israel.

MAY 28, 2025ByJOANIE MARGULIES
Presentation of the Shem Tov Bible at the National Library of Israel.