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Oswald Pohl receives his sentence of death by hanging, Nov. 3, 1947
Oswald Pohl receives his sentence of death by hanging, Nov. 3, 1947

Omer Objects

The seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot is known as the period of the omer, named for the measure of barley brought to the Temple as an offering on the second day of Passover. Starting on that day, the Torah instructs: “you shall count off seven weeks,” 49 days. The counting of the omer (S’firat HaOmer) takes place at night. The festival of Shavuot is observed on the fiftieth day.

An Omer counter that dates to late 18th century/early 19th century Amsterdam/Bordeaux with script in Hebrew and Spanish (Courtesy MahJ)

An Omer Calendar from 18th century Netherlands (courtesy the Jewish Museum)

Memorial Tablet and Omer Calendar created by the artist Baruch Zvi Ring in Rochester, New York in 1904 (Courtesy Jewish Museum)

Boys in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1938
Boys in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1938
The Naked Vegan Tolstoy of the Lower East Side

Moyshe Littauer introduces urban Jews to nature, and the world to Jews in their natural state

byEddy Portnoy
The American Left’s Milošević Moment

The incitement of tribal hatreds and historical grievances under the cover of Marxist-Leninist language led to the destruction of the multiethnic nation-state of Yugoslavia and the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. The parallels to American wokeism are hard to ignore.

byAndrew Nutting
The Naked Vegan Tolstoy of the Lower East Side

Moyshe Littauer introduces urban Jews to nature, and the world to Jews in their natural state

byEddy Portnoy
The American Left’s Milošević Moment
byAndrew Nutting
The American Left’s Milošević Moment

The incitement of tribal hatreds and historical grievances under the cover of Marxist-Leninist language led to the destruction of the multiethnic nation-state of Yugoslavia and the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. The parallels to American wokeism are hard to ignore.

byAndrew Nutting
The American Left’s Milošević Moment
byAndrew Nutting

Listen to Tablet

Navigate to Episode 3: The Hearing podcast page

Covering Their Tracks

Episode 3: The Hearing

We meet a second person connected to the SNCF deportations, Rosette Goldstein, and the fight for justice gets political

January 31, 2024

Listen to Tablet

Navigate to Episode 2: Convoy #42 podcast page

Covering Their Tracks

Episode 2: Convoy #42

A young Leo Bretholz is boarded onto a cattle car headed toward Auschwitz, and after a daring escape, begins the long journey toward safety, and sharing his story in America

January 24, 2024

Reading Origen in Jerusalem

A collection of 29 recently discovered homilies by the early Church Father offers dazzling insight into a shared late antique universe of Christians and Jews

byGuy Stroumsa
Jerusalem as the Omphalos of the World

For Jerusalem Day, the origins of a geographical concept in Jewish anti-Greek and anti-Roman polemic

byPhilip Alexander
Reading Origen in Jerusalem

A collection of 29 recently discovered homilies by the early Church Father offers dazzling insight into a shared late antique universe of Christians and Jews

byGuy Stroumsa
Jerusalem as the Omphalos of the World

For Jerusalem Day, the origins of a geographical concept in Jewish anti-Greek and anti-Roman polemic

byPhilip Alexander

on resurrection

‘He sits and plays with Leviathan, as it says, “There is Leviathan, whom you formed to play there.”’
‘He sits and plays with Leviathan, as it says, “There is Leviathan, whom you formed to play there.”’
The 12 Covenants of Pinchas Hurwitz

How an 18th-century Eastern European kabbalist Jew produced one of the first Hebrew bestsellers

byDavid B. Ruderman
Gay, Muslim, and Jewish in Berlin

A new biography explores the life of Hugo Marcus, a gay Jew who played a key role in the establishment of Islam in Germany before fleeing from Hitler

byMardean Isaac
The God That Failed

The collection of essays by disillusioned former communists has been largely forgotten after decades of global popularity. In our age of ideological extremism, it’s well worth revisiting.

byShalom Goldman
The 12 Covenants of Pinchas Hurwitz

How an 18th-century Eastern European kabbalist Jew produced one of the first Hebrew bestsellers

byDavid B. Ruderman
Gay, Muslim, and Jewish in Berlin

A new biography explores the life of Hugo Marcus, a gay Jew who played a key role in the establishment of Islam in Germany before fleeing from Hitler

byMardean Isaac
How Felix Frankfurter traded Judaism for the 'true democratic faith'
How Felix Frankfurter traded Judaism for the 'true democratic faith'
In the early 1800s, no American trader smuggled more opium into China than Thomas Perkins. Known for aggressive risk-taking, Perkins commanded a global trading empire from his headquarters in Boston.
In the early 1800s, no American trader smuggled more opium into China than Thomas Perkins. Known for aggressive risk-taking, Perkins commanded a global trading empire from his headquarters in Boston.

judaica americana

A recent auction at Kestenbaum and Company included a large offering of Americana that focused on Jews in the American Civil War, featuring photographs, autograph letters, and printed books.

A carte-de-visite photograph of General Quincy Gilmore (seated with walking stick) posing with four staff members including Alfred Mordechai Jr. (1840-1920), back row, middle. Mordechai graduated West Point like his father and became an authority in the field of ordnance (mounted guns and artillery) and ended his career with the rank of brigadier general.

A photograph taken at St. Peter’s Church in Yorktown depicting a camp of soldiers that includes “French’s Brigade,” a distinguished regiment that contained a large number of Jewish soldiers.

A carte-de-visite photograph of Captain Solomon Myers (1829-86) of the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry. Myers served from September 13, 1861 to October 13, 1864.

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Those who do not remember the past are ... probably not Jewish

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Jasper Johns, 'Flags I,' 1973
Jasper Johns, 'Flags I,' 1973
Hillel Unsdorfer carries a Torah on his way to Egyptian captivity along with his unit, 1973. About his decision, he said, ‘Most of us felt we should take the Torah with us to Egypt because it watched over us while we were fighting. We felt it should stay with us and continue to guard us.’
Hillel Unsdorfer carries a Torah on his way to Egyptian captivity along with his unit, 1973. About his decision, he said, ‘Most of us felt we should take the Torah with us to Egypt because it watched over us while we were fighting. We felt it should stay with us and continue to guard us.’
Hillel Unsdorfer carries a Torah on his way to Egyptian captivity along with his unit, 1973. About his decision, he said, ‘Most of us felt we should take the Torah with us to Egypt because it watched over us while we were fighting. We felt it should stay with us and continue to guard us.’
Hillel Unsdorfer carries a Torah on his way to Egyptian captivity along with his unit, 1973. About his decision, he said, ‘Most of us felt we should take the Torah with us to Egypt because it watched over us while we were fighting. We felt it should stay with us and continue to guard us.’

Miriam, Music, and the Exodus

Top left, a man standing, lifting up a bunch of green leaves and pointing to the word ‘maror.’ Below, also in blue, Miriam, plays the timbrel accompanied by a group of maidens. Some consider Miriam (sister of Moses) a prophetess who played a significant role in the Exodus.

Image of a folio from the Yahuda Haggadah that dates to 1470-80 Franconia (a region of Germany). (Credit: National Library of Israel)
Image of a folio from the Yahuda Haggadah that dates to 1470-80 Franconia (a region of Germany). (Credit: National Library of Israel)
Der Seelen Wurzgarten, Ulm: Konrad Dinckmut, 1483
Der Seelen Wurzgarten, Ulm: Konrad Dinckmut, 1483
A diagram representing rabbinic interactions in the Babylonian Talmud
A diagram representing rabbinic interactions in the Babylonian Talmud
The Temple of Bel Palmyra, Syria
The Temple of Bel Palmyra, Syria
Charles Joseph Staniland, engraving of Jewish immigrants arriving in New York, 1892
Charles Joseph Staniland, engraving of Jewish immigrants arriving in New York, 1892
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