Despite the Pandemic, War and Struggle Persist in the Middle East
In light of European incompetence, Chinese influence might even grow in the region.
April 14, 2020
The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century
The Chmielnicki uprising left thousands of Jews dead, and changed intercommunal dynamics.
In his book Refugees or Migrants: Pre-Modern Jewish Population Movement (reviewed in Mosaic here), the medievalist Robert Chazan argues that for much of history Jews were more likely to leave their homes in exile not because of expulsions, or to flee violent persecution, but to seek new economic opportunities. One of the many examples Chazan cites is the wave of massacres of Jews in Ukraine—then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth—carried out by the followers of the Cossack leader Bodgan Chmielnicki in 1648 and 1649. While the violence inflicted on Jews during the Chmielnicki uprising and the subsequent period of unrest would not be matched until the Holocaust, Chazan notes that the affected communities quickly reconstructed themselves.
April 14, 2020
In the Fight against the Coronavirus, Israel Has Handled the Big Challenges Well, but Risks Bungling the Details
Blame the government, not the citizenry, for the mistakes.
Israel Can’t Afford to Be Distracted from the Iranian Threat
Even as the pandemic places new pressures on the bottom line.
The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the 17th Century
The Chmielnicki uprising left thousands of Jews dead, and changed intercommunal dynamics.
The Earliest Recorded Children’s Song Might Be Found in the Haggadah
The history of Ḥad Gadya.