On the National Mall, American Jewry Became a Small Town in the Midst of a Big Country
The wonderful gathering.
November 16, 2023
The Jew Who Wrote One of the Middle Ages’ Most Famous Travel Books
Benjamin of Tudela.
Historians are fortunate to have a wealth of material composed by medieval Jews that has been preserved through the centuries. But since most of these writings are rabbinic commentaries, legal analyses, and philosophy, they provide little information of the kind historians are often most eager to find out. The exception is the extraordinary 12th-century travelogue of Benjamin of Tudela, whom Tamar Marvin describes as “one of the most famed . . . of all premodern travelers,” Jewish or otherwise:
November 16, 2023
Hamas Expected Israeli Restraint. It Got Something Else
A fatal miscalculation.
The White House Just Decided to Give $10 Billion to Iran. Congress Can Stop It
Funding both sides of the Israel-Hamas war.
The Jew Who Wrote One of the Middle Ages’ Most Famous Travel Books
Benjamin of Tudela.
The Dutch Woman Who Helped to Rescue Thousands of Jews during the Holocaust
Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer.