Tag Archives: History

These days in Jewish history

Posted on August 27, 2015 by af

Every once in a while, I get to do the fun job of writing my newspaper’s This Day in Jewish History column because the regular writer goes on holiday. So far this month, I have written two: One about Ephraim Kishon … Continue reading →

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Ashkenazim looking down on Mizrahim – from the 60s and back to the 30s

Posted on April 12, 2015 by af

In July 1962, a meeting between then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, one of Israel’s founding fathers, and the country’s teachers union descended into a volatile discussion on the divide between Jews of European origin – Ashkenazim – and Jews of Middle … Continue reading →

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An 1843 report of Passover blood libel in the Middle East

Posted on April 8, 2015 by af

The blood libel, an accusation that Jews kidnapped and killed non-Jewish children, using their blood to bake unleavened bread, or matzah, for Passover, is one of the key anti-Semitic tropes. During the seven-day Passover holiday, which ends tomorrow, Jews mark the exodus from Egypt … Continue reading →

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What BuzzFeed’s ‘Women’s Ideal Body Types Throughout History’ video really (really) teaches us

Posted on January 29, 2015 by af

A BuzzFeed video uploaded to YouTube this week has garnered more than 10 million views, and plenty of praise for reminding us that women’s beauty standards have changed throughout history. These standards are of our own creation, the video reminds … Continue reading →

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Just for fun: razors, cigarettes and kaparot

Posted on August 9, 2013 by af

On day last month, when the sun was shining outside, I was sitting in a basement doing one of the things I most love doing: reading old newspapers – editions of Haaretz from the 1950s, to be precise. This is … Continue reading →

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