Jewish history

Written roughly in the time of Isaiah, The Odyssey had nothing to do with the Jews. Its narrative, however, sure is relevant to the Jews, as their own narrative comes under assault. 

Thanks to the Hebrew calendar, Jewish history is never abandoned or forgotten. Jews celebrate or commemorate – from destruction to rebirth.

The point of no return in the destruction of the Temple, that we mourn for on Tisha B’Av, actually took place on the eve of Tamuz 17, in what is known in the Talmud as the burning of the barns. 

This year, we will fast and observe the customs of our national day of mourning. We will go through the motions, yet the conclusion is unavoidable: we have forgotten.

Had the Jews studied their history impartially, they would've understood centuries before Herzl that regaining their land and restoring their power is their task, not God's.

Jewish tradition attributes Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah, who was persecuted in part because he warned against relying on Egypt. He thought Babylon would determine Judea's fate.

"Our first priority was just to connect with people on a personal level, on an individual level, and find out what people felt was missing," Rabbi Feldman told The Jerusalem Post.

At once playful, spiritual, and unsettling, Nabatele imagines a Jewish house of worship without ground beneath it.

Public debate has become louder, more bitter, and less capable of self-correction because opinions have hardened into identities.

The most important movement is not always what is visible externally, but what takes place within a person.