See my latest at the Jewish Link https://jewishlink.news/features/48862-avraham-the-wanderer ..read more

This post will continue on theme of a previous post where I discussed how Chassidim switched from the Ashkenazic rite to a modified Sephardic rite. Rabbi Nathan Adler of Frankfurt, Germany (one of the mentors of Rabbi Moses Sofer known as the Chatam Sofer) was another Ashkenazic Jew who switched from nusach ashkenaz to nusach sefard under the influence of Lurianic Kaballah. However- unlike the Eastern European Chassidim- he also switched to the Sephardic pronunciation of Hebrew (H.Z. Zimmels hypothesized that the Chassidim did not switch to the Sephardic pronunciation because it would have be ..read more

It was Memorial Day 1984. My grandfather was sitting at the desk in his small sefarim filled study, at my grandparents’ Highland Park, New Jersey, home, working on the budget of the yeshivah elementary school he’d founded 39 years earlier. Back then much courage had been needed to start a yeshivah. Today it is hard for us to grasp the intense opposition there was to yeshivah education in this country just two or three generations ago. Opposition from Yidden who were members of Orthodox shuls! My Jersey hometown was typical. When my grandfather wanted to start a kindergarten and first grade ..read more

The portrait of Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Falk (1710-1782) known as the “Baal Shem of London” is often confused with that of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov and founder of the Chassidic movement. Former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain Rabbi Dr. Herman Adler (1839-1911) wrote several  fascinating biographical sketches of Rabbi Falk for the Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England. When perusing his papers he was surprised to find that Falk referred to himself in his diary as “the son of Raphael the Sefardi.” Initially Adler prudently pointed out that the te ..read more

It’s September in Sparta, and the merciless Mediterranean sun beats down on the assembled crowd. The observer picks up a mingling of Greek and Hebrew words and phrases. Pleasantries are exchanged, with promises to keep in touch and strengthen cooperation and friendship and the like. This conference, titled SPARTA-ISRAEL CONFERENCE 2018: Renewing an Ancient Friendship, took place this previous September and was organized by the Greek branch of the fraternal B’nai Brith Organization. The advertisers of this conference drew on history and current geopolitical realities to encourage an alliance b ..read more

at my other blog https://toldotyisrael.wordpress.com/2018/01/04/the-rabbi-who-recorded-the-holocaust-as-it-unfolded-before-his-eyes ..read more

Yannai was one of the great liturgical poets who flourished in the Land of Israel in either the 6th or 7th centuries. For many years little of his poetry was thought to have survived. This changed with the gradual discovery of numerous fragments from the Cairo Genizah. In 1937, the scholar Menachem Zulai (formerly Billig), published a collection of his poetry recovered from the Genizah http://hebrewbooks.org/39280 In 2010, Dr. Laura Lieber published a selection of Yannai's "Qedushtaot" (a Qedushta was the section of liturgical poetry recited in Eretz Israel congregations during the Sabbath mor ..read more

Timisoara in Transylvania (either Hungary or Romania depending which side you're rooting for) was one of the more intesting and unique communities of pre war Jewish Eastern Europe. Here is a list of Rabbis who served this community. As you can see there are a mix of Sephardim and Ashkenazim. At times the communities maintained separate kehillot -each one with its own respective spiritual leader. However this was not always feasible and often a sole Rabbbi (sometimes a Sephardi, at other times an Ashkenazi) served both communities. There was a degree of intermarriage as well between the two gr ..read more

"כך רימה אלגאזי את סבא",  עיתון מקור ראשון 8.6.2007, מאת שאול וידר" כך רימה אלגאזי את סבא  אינטרס כלכלי שחבר לתמימות יהודית הביא לטלטלה בעולם התורני של טרום מלחמת העולם הראשונה. סיפור על ירושלמי מזויף ועל המדפיס התמים, סבי, שנהרג בשואה  שאול וידר  ..read more

So begins Eric Maroney’s ever fascinating book The Other Zions. Maroney provides an important overview of Jewish history in various locations and time periods, focusing on Jews who formed their own autonomous or independent entities throughout history. This is a refreshing read for one who wants to a break from the emotionally taxing and towering literature about Jewish persecution. Maroney’s book is about tough Jews, clever Jews, the heroes, the rogues and all those in between. As a young boy I remember reading Monroe Rosenthal and Isaac Mozeson’s Wars of the Jews and how it ..read more