Jewish History

A new Haggadah reveals a stunning act of cultural appropriation.

The last surviving fighter, Michael Smuss, died last week.

The perils of the new historical revisionism

Two Centuries of Rebellion

How a commandment about grain offerings shows that God is sensitive to the economic status of all His subjects.

Jews are prohibited from placing a stumbling block before the blind. What does that have to do with a unique Holocaust memorial project?

This psalm’s tenor is the opposite of the previous one, but in fact, both of the psalms are meant to be taken together.

The wonders of early Israelite history are described in this psalm, as well as why God brought these miracles about.

The Jewish communities of Renaissance Italy were unusual in their interactions with their Christian neighbors.

The miraculous nature of Jerusalem and Jewish history is the subject of this psalm.

Psalm 83 seems to be linked to a righteous king many have forgotten. 

By evoking the intimacy of spousal love, Psalm 80 conveys the Israelites' profound emotional yearning for the God of Jerusalem.

In Psalm 78, David’s background as a shepherd becomes the key to understanding his kingship.

Psalm 78 describes the story of the Israelites from the Exodus to the Davidic monarchy.

A story about Rome and Jerusalem helps us ponder this psalm of Asaf.

Psalm 66 can be read as reflecting on the wonder of being part of the Jewish story.

One of the greatest miracles in Jewish history may be the subject of this psalm.

How the State of Israel became a robust democracy, an economic powerhouse, and a true home for the Jewish people.

Dr. Polisar analyzes the strategic reality in which Israel has functioned during the last four decades and its successes and failures in that time.

How Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War laid the groundwork for the most important peace agreement in its history.

Dr. Polisar explores how the Six-Day War transformed Israel's reality, the War of Attrition, and birth of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

In the Sinai War and the Six-Day War, Israel acted decisively to defend itself against its Arab neighbors and lay the basis for long-term security.

How Israel—led by David Ben-Gurion—overcame its early challenges and laid the foundations for a thriving society and state.

Dr. Polisar breaks down the causes and consequences of Israel's victory in the War of Independence, as well as its Declaration of Independence.

Dr. Polisar analyzes the decisions made within the Land of Israel and outside it that revived the prospects for a Jewish state after it seemed impossible.

Arabs escalate violence against Jews as the British try to appease them. Meanwhile, Jews build the institutions that could serve as the nucleus for their state.

Efforts to move to the Land of Israel and build a state accelerate just as Zionist diplomacy pays off with the Balfour Declaration.

How Theodor Herzl became Zionism's chief diplomat, institution-builder, and ideological visionary.

Dr. Polisar explores how the Jews revived the Hebrew language, developed the Zionist idea, and began to resettle the land beginning in the early 19th century.

How did the Jews overcome seemingly impossible odds to establish a state whose accomplishments are described as miraculous even by secular people?