Sephardic Women: The Heroes of the S&P
In the 19th century five remarkable Sephardic women laboured to preserve Jewish life. They defended it from threats of conversion, assimilation and change, and they did so with the pen. […]
Tag Archives: America
Shofetim – Cutting Down Trees, People, and Monuments
Monuments mean something. They remind us of people and history. Sometimes they recall movements that are meaningful to some whilst not to others. Other times, they celebrate dictators or regimes. More […]
Sephardic Jews and the American Revolution
The American Revolution pitted British subjects against one another. Patriots vs. Loyalists, Englishmen vs. Americans, brother vs. brother, and Jew vs. Jew. At that time there were only Sephardic congregations […]
Vayhi – The S&P and Ashkenazim
Narratives are important. The same series of events can take on a completely different meaning depending on how they are told. A prime example of this is the story of Yosef and […]
Hamburg, Germany – Gateway to the West
I recently discovered more significant Jewish history in Hamburg than I had ever expected to find there. It turns out that Hamburg played an instrumental role in both the early […]
11th Street Cemetery – New York
Tiny and hidden away is the second cemetery of New York’s first Jewish congregation, Shearith Israel. Located in Greenwich Village on West 11th st., it was in use from 1805-1829. This […]
The Touro Trial and the Legacy of Anglo-American Jewry
The Jewish trial of the century has just concluded. The trial pitted the oldest American Jewish community against the oldest American synagogue. At stake was the legacy of America’s Colonial era Jews. […]
Shearith Israel – New York
Shearith Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in America, founded in 1654. It was there that I first encountered and then became inspired by and engrossed in the history and […]
Colonial Jewish New York
I spent one of my last evenings in NY before moving to London at the location where it all began. In 1730 Congregation Shearith Israel constructed the first ever synagogue in […]
Behar – Let Freedom Ring!
In 1751 a bell was cast. The work was carried out by the firm Lester and Pack, today named Whitechapel Bell Foundry, located just a few blocks away from London’s […]
