The Siege of Jerusalem

The Jewish calendar includes six days of fasting.  Four of these days are linked to the destruction of the Temples and the exile of the Jewish people.  These will be the focus of the following chapter.  The other two, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and the Fast of Esther, Ta’anit Esther, will be considered along with the holidays to which they are closely related: Yom Kippur with the High ...

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The Old-New Shul in Prague

Whitewashing History in 2019

I recently gave a class on a Thursday night at a shul in Monsey on Forshay Road.  Tragically, that was next door to the site of a horrific anti-Semitic attack this Chanukah.  I taught using some ideas from two great Rabbis of Prague, the Maharal and Rabbi Yechezkel Landau (Noda BiYehudah). Prague was an extraordinary center of the Jewish community and Jewish learning.  In Prague, the Altneu Shul, has been ...

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