Jewish history

Prague’s spires whisper Maharal’s hidden history

Europe’s safe sanctuary lets visitors explore timeless history that waits behind Josefov’s heavy doors.

THE COLORFUL and beautiful Jerusalem Synagogue.
The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai

Outrage after Jewish custodian of tomb of Esther, Mordechai in Iran faces antisemitic abuse

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, cast their vote during elections for the Likud Central Committee, at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, Nov. 25, 2025.

Jewish voting: How ancient Jewish tradition helped shape modern democracy - opinion

Workers and volunteers on an archaeological dig sift through dirt at Alexandrion/Sartaba in the Jordan Valley.

Jewish educators should stop relying on archaeology to prove Israel’s history - opinion


Zionism didn’t start in Europe, and Ethiopian Jews can prove it - opinion

For more than 2,500 years, Ethiopian Jewish leaders preserved Jewish law, ritual, and identity in one of the most isolated Jewish communities on Earth.

ETHIOPIAN JEWS take part in a prayer of the Sigd holiday on the Armon Hanatziv Promenade overlooking Jerusalem, in November 2025.

Vayigash after October 7: Tears, envy, and consolation pedagogy - opinion

What Joseph teaches Israeli society today

 Rembrandt - Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife

Hanukkah: The Maccabees weren’t symbols; they were fighters - opinion

The Maccabees prevailed because they refused erasure – militarily, culturally, and spiritually. Contemporary Jewish survival requires the same multi-front refusal.

The Maccabees receive their father's blessing, 1873.

The Great Inversion: When Israel became the Diaspora's shield - opinion

It is no longer the Diaspora nurturing and protecting tenuous Israel. Now it is the reverse.

An illustrative image of a Star of David.

This week in Jewish history: Yearning for Zion

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

PORTRAIT OF Jewish poet Naftali Herz Imber, from The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1920.

Prophet Zechariah: Not by might nor power, but by spirit

These words are a declaration of faith and a clear-cut explanation of Jewish survival.

Mourners accompany the body of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered during the Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, on December 14.

Beyond the Headlines: First night of Hanukkah in Australia - opinion

A weekly glimpse into the Israel you won’t read about in the news

Rabbi Aharon Tzohar with Saba Shmuel.

This Hanukkah, my synagogue is illuminating our walls with relics of our Jewish immigrant stories

What better place to encourage people to learn and share their own immigrant history, digging out the details of who came when, from where and why?

An exhibition launching in December 2025 at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in New York City celebrates congregants' family immigration stories.

Jews need new story of Hanukkah or risk losing next Jewish generation to disillusionment - opinion

It is time for a new Hanukkah, kind and compassionate, turning narrow nationalism into a universalist pursuit of the world to come promised by our prophets.

 An illustrative image of Hanukkah candles lit.

The struggle to perceive miracles in real time links Hanukkah’s origins to recent events - opinion

From the Maccabees to modern Israel, people miss miracles as they occur and grasp them only later.

The site of the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last year, in Beirut’s southern suburbs: Today’s Jews can’t perceive the miraculous nature of the events of the last two years, the writer maintains.