Just Because the Knesset Closed for a Few Days, Israeli Democracy Was Not about to Collapse
The political crisis is real, but the hysteria is unwarranted.
March 24, 2020
How a Once-in-a-Generation 19th-Century Rabbi Responded to Cholera
Clean your houses, wash your hands, don’t eat pickles—and avoid crowds.
In 1831, a cholera epidemic swept through Europe. Elijah Guttmacher, the rabbi of a West Prussian community, wrote for guidance to his mentor, the famed Rabbi Akiva Eger. In response, Eger gave a long list of advice, from reciting the biblical and talmudic descriptions of the Temple’s incense service to “modern” medical instructions: clean your houses, wash your hands, don’t eat pickles, and avoid crowding by holding prayer services in groups of no more than fifteen. Around the same time, writes Elli Fischer, Eger issued a seminal ruling:
March 24, 2020
Raed Salah, Who Spread Islamism among Arab Israelis, Goes to Jail
The man behind Temple Mount violence.
Gaza’s Rich Jewish History Includes Decades of Friendship with Local Arabs
From the Hasmoneans, to a famed poet, to the rabbi and imam who coauthored a book.
Does Talmud Study Really Explain Jews’ Remarkable Contributions to Modern Civilization?
Genius and Anxiety.
How a Once-in-a-Generation 19th-Century Rabbi Responded to Cholera
Clean your houses, wash your hands, don’t eat pickles—and avoid crowds.