The Jew Who Bombed Both Hiroshima And Nagasaki And Bob Caron’s Contempt for Holocaust...
Recently, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth caused a stir when, pursuant to President Trump’s long overdue purge of content deemed to promote DEI, he absurdly flagged the name Enola Gay for removal, apparently because the name contained the word “gay” (sigh). In fact, the Enola Gay was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets.
The Jewish World of Elvis Presley
There are stories – some plausible, albeit not well documented – that Elvis’s managers advised him, in the racially charged environment of mid-century America, not to emphasize a Jewish heritage because of concerns about the prejudices of Southern audiences.
The Judaism and “Zionism” of Hannah Arendt And Eichmann in Jerusalem
Arendt shrugged off her inaccuracies and errors by arguing that much of the public onslaught was little more than a political campaign to discredit her and that criticism often misrepresented the book.
The True – And Unrecognized – Hero of The Six-Day War: Levi Eshkol
One of Eshkol’s last major political battles was over the question of electoral reform. He favored a mixed system that would preserve proportional representation but introduce regional elements to strengthen the bond between elected officials and local communities, and he believed that Israel’s political fragmentation hindered effective governance.
The Role of the Dreyfus Affair in Ending the Impressionist Era
The impressionists differed in their political and social opinions well before the Affair, and their varying attitudes toward France’s Jewish population proved to be one of the most divisive issues.
The History of the Swastika: Was It a Jewish Symbol?
When scholars consider whether the swastika was a Jewish symbol in the sense that the Star of David or the Menorah is a Jewish emblem, the answer from mainstream academic literature is that there is no evidence that Jewish religious authorities, rabbinic leadership, or organized Jewish communities adopted the swastika as a recognized symbol of Judaism.
How Georg Duckwitz & Rabbi Marcus Melchior Saved Danish Jewry During the Holocaust
It is interesting that Duckwitz was required to forward a simple autograph request up the chain of command and to obtain formal approval from the Reich Foreign Minister in Berlin to provide the signature.
Pablo Picasso and The Old Jew
Art historians and commentators, who are fascinated by the question of why Picasso singled out a specifically Jewish figure for The Old Jew, have presented many theories on the subject.
Zishe Breitbart, Shtarker for the Ages
Breitbart became a great source of hope to all sorts of Jews, ranging from the wholly unaffiliated to Orthodox and Charedi rabbis, who could dream of a future of national empowerment and, ultimately, a Jewish state defended by Jewish strength.
How William Friedman, the Jewish Dean of Modern Cryptology, Enabled the Allies Victory in...
When the United States entered World War I, the Army lacked an official cryptographic service, and Riverbank’s Department of Codes and Ciphers, where the Friedmans worked, became the de facto center for American codebreaking.
The Versatile Halachic World of the Shadal
Perhaps the most enduring aspect of the Shadal’s legacy is his personal integrity.
How Morris ‘Two-Gun’ Cohen Saved the Nascent State of Israel
According to Drage’s biography, Cohen was born in London in 1889 to a family that had just arrived from Poland, but most analysts agree that he was actually born in 1887 to a poor Jewish family in a Radzanów, Poland shtetl shortly before his family fled Eastern European pogroms and emigrated to London.
A Refuge for the Jews – in Alaska?
Slattery’s administrative record, like that of many career public servants of his era, was primarily secular and bureaucratic; he was not known as a leader of Jewish communal life nor as a voice on Zionist issues prior to the Slattery Report’s association with his name.
The Astonishing Reign of Joshua Abraham Norton, ‘Emperor of the United States and Protector of...
Much has been written about the theatrical elements of his “reign” and the popular tolerance that allowed a self-declared emperor to roam a major American city free of serious harassment.
Isaac Nathan’s and Lord Byron’s Hebrew Melodies
As the Romantic movement reached its crescendo across Europe in the early nineteenth century, few collaborations seemed as unlikely – and as fruitful – as that between Lord Byron, the scion of English nobility and a literary enfant terrible, and Isaac Nathan, an observant Anglo-Jewish composer and musicologist.
The Judaism Of Arthur Miller
Most of Miller’s plays were performed in Israel, beginning with Salesman, which was performed at the Habimah National Theatre in Tel Aviv (1951). He visited Israel several times, once attending a presentation of his All My Sons and sitting next to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on his last day in office, May 17, 1977.
Von Hindenburg and the Jews
Hindenburg never visited Eretz Yisrael, nor did he express particular interest in Zionism.... At the same time, there is also no evidence that he was hostile to Zionist aspirations; it simply lay far outside his field of concern, as his worldview was shaped by Germany’s past, not by the national movements of other peoples.
Moses Montefiore’s One Hundredth Birthday
Five decades before Herzl’s Der Jundenstaat, Montefiore was arguably the first contemporary Zionist.
The Jewish Art of Samuel Hirszenberg
Hirszenberg was born in Łódź, in the Russian partition of Poland, the eldest son of a poor Jewish weaver, who was initially opposed to Samuel's artistic ambitions, which were viewed as incompatible with the values of traditional Jewish life.
The Philosemitism and Zionism of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
In assessing Rousseau’s relationship to Judaism, it is crucial to recognize how distinctive his position was within the intellectual milieu of his day.
The Cultural Judaism of Lise Meitner
After the war, Meitner moved to Cambridge, England, where she spent the last decades of her life and remained active as a lecturer and mentor, especially encouraging young women to pursue careers in science.
The History and Meaning of Tashlich
Although it has become one of the most familiar and participatory rituals of the High Holiday season that is embedded in contemporary Jewish practice, the extralegal origins of Tashlich and the controversies it once generated have largely been forgotten.
Migdal David: A Chronicle of Jerusalem’s Citadel Through the Ages
Contrary to its name, the Tower has no direct connection to King David, yet its name and its stones tell a complex story of conquest, religion, empire, destruction, and preservation.
The Strange Case of Menachem Begin’s Last Correspondence & Betar’s Tagar Institute of Education
He rarely left the apartment; his only outings were to visit his wife’s gravesite and recite the traditional Kaddish on the anniversary of her death.
The Barbary Pirates and the ‘Valenzin Affair’
That Congress acted for “the legal representatives of David Valenzin, deceased” in March 1804 indicates both that a formal attempt at redress was recognized and that Valenzin had passed away by that date.
The Incredible Gershwin Brothers
According to most authorities, the family's Judaism was neither religious nor political but, rather, cultural and casual.
Passover Before & During The Holocaust
Collins was a passionate critic of antisemitism, as to which he advised his troops: “I know that there exists, in some divisions, what your people call antisemitism. It will not be tolerated in my division. Should it crop up, I will hold you personally responsible if I am not made aware of it immediately.
Shavuot At The Kotel In 1967
The Boston Globe reported that by the end of November 1967, more than 400,000 members of the Jewish faith are estimated to have observed the commandment to wear Phylacteries (tefillin) at the city’s Western Wall, formerly known as the Wailing Wall.
Ronald Reagan’s Mixed Record On Israel
Upon assuming office as an anti-Communist conservative, he strongly opposed the notion of a P.L.O. state and supported a militarily strong Israel as America's most reliable Middle East ally. Within a few months of his election, however, he had altered his position and began to encourage "moderate" P.L.O. leaders toward possible autonomy and statehood.
They All Sang In Hebrew (Continued From Last Week)
Many of Dylan’s songs are replete with biblical references hearkening back to his Jewish studies in childhood.