Jewish Virtual Library

Burning kite terrorism from Gaza

Wed, 27 Jun 2018 19:00:28 -0400

Burning kite terrorism from Gaza

Today in Jewish History (1945): The charter of the United...

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 19:00:30 -0400

Today in Jewish History (1945): The charter of the United Nations is officially put into place. To read about the UN-Israel relationship, please click here!

In this photo: Classic cars participating in the “Holyland 1000...

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 19:00:37 -0400

In this photo: Classic cars participating in the “Holyland 1000 Tour″ racing event outside of the Western Wall. x

Video

Sun, 24 Jun 2018 19:00:36 -0400

Video

Sat, 23 Jun 2018 19:00:26 -0400

Video

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 19:00:29 -0400

In this photo: French Prime Minister and Nazi collaborator...

Thu, 21 Jun 2018 19:00:25 -0400

In this photo: French Prime Minister and Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain shakes hands with Adolf Hitler. x

Today in Jewish History (1940): France surrenders to Nazi Germany, beginning the French Vichy regime. To read more about the Vichy regime, please click here!

In this photo: Current Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visits...

Wed, 20 Jun 2018 19:00:50 -0400

In this photo: Current Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visits the grave of Menachem Begin, Israel’s 6th Prime Minister. x

To read more about Menachem Begin, please click here!

In this photo: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu meets British...

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 19:00:42 -0400

In this photo: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu meets British Prime Minister David Cameron at the British Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing st, England. x

Later this month, Prince William will become the first ever member of the British Royal Family to visit Israel. To read about Israel-UK relations, please click here!

World renowned-chefs visit Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market.

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 19:00:30 -0400

World renowned-chefs visit Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market.

jewishvirtuallibrary: Jewish Girls at a Bat Mitzvah Ceremony in...

Sun, 17 Jun 2018 19:00:26 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

Jewish Girls at a Bat Mitzvah Ceremony in Alexandria, Egypt; before 1967. x

Bat Mitzvah means ‘Daughter of the Commandment’. It, like the Bar Mitzvah - meaning ‘Son of the Commandment’ for boys - involves a ceremony commemorating when Jewish people become adults, at age 13. The first Bat Mitzvah ceremony occurred in the United States on March 18, 1922 at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in New York. The first Bat Mitzvah was Judith Kaplan and her father, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, was the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism as well as the Rabbi at the ceremony.

This International Women’s Day, we pay respect to all the Jewish women who have advanced Judaism and held onto our culture, despite receiving little recognition for their contributions.

jewish-history: 17th Century Jewish AmuletJewish Amulet, silver,...

Sat, 16 Jun 2018 19:00:31 -0400

jewish-history:

17th Century Jewish Amulet
Jewish Amulet, silver, in the form of a square plaque; with eight lines of Hebrew text on each side, with cross hatching below on one side. The inscription refers to the four rivers of the Garden of Eden.

jewishvirtuallibrary: General Motors truck picking up passengers...

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 19:00:45 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

General Motors truck picking up passengers from the central bus station to go to Merhavia from Nahariya, Israel; 1951. x

Nahariya was founded in 1935 during the British Mandate of Palestine as an agricultural community headed by Selig Soskin, a noted Jewish scientist, after land was purchased from an Arab landowning family. After achieving only marginal success in agriculture because of climate and financial problems, the town diversified to focus on tourism as well.

Video

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 19:00:31 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary: Kahenat mourning the Ethiopian-Jews who...

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 19:00:34 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

Kahenat mourning the Ethiopian-Jews who perished before they could make aliyah to Israel; 2010. x

Kahen (Kahenat plural) in Ge’ez are religious leaders and are responsible for carrying on and furthering the teachings of the Beta Yisrael community. In Hebrew, they are referred to as Kes for singular and Kesim for plural.

jewishvirtuallibrary:Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in...

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 19:00:36 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in Aegina, Greece from 300 CE; 2007. x

jewishvirtuallibrary:Tent camp of Kibbutz Ga'aton in...

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 19:00:28 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

Tent camp of Kibbutz Ga'aton in Nahariya, British Mandate of Palestine; 1940. x

jewishvirtuallibrary: Jews being burned at the stake,...

Sun, 10 Jun 2018 19:00:30 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

Jews being burned at the stake, Miniature from manuscript, Belgium, 14th century. x

Jewish settlement in Belgium can be traced to at least the 13th century, though Jewish people began arriving in the area between 50 and 60 CE. Anti-Jewish persecution began shortly after, with the entire Jewish population of the Duchy of Brabant expelled in 1261 and the Jewish population in neighboring states subject to heavy taxation. In the 14th century - as the picture above depicts - Jewish people were subject to retaliation from the false belief that it was they who were causing the Black Death plague.

jewishvirtuallibrary: Western Wall in Jerusalem, OETA - South;...

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 19:00:59 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

Western Wall in Jerusalem, OETA - South; 1918. x

The Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall or simply the Kotel (’Kotel’ meaning wall in Hebrew), is the holiest site in Judaism. It is part of the foundation of the Temple Mount; the remains of the Jewish Temple that once stood there which the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque are built on. When praying at synagogue, Jewish people face Jerusalem - in specific the Temple Mount.

Though the Temple was destroyed twice, the first time by the Babylonian Empire in 587 BCE and the second time by the Roman Empire in 70 CE, it still remains an important religious site for Judaism. Despite this, most Rabbis agree that praying on the Temple Mount itself is forbidden because it is too holy for Jewish people to stand on.

From the fall of the Jewish Quarter in 1948 to the Six-Day War in 1967, the Western Wall was under the control of the Jordanian government which refused to allow Jewish people to pray at it despite the Jordanian government pledging to allow access to all religious sites. Jewish people prayed from a site on the Mount of Olives with the Temple Mount in view, but despite repeated requests by Jewish organizations - both Israeli and in the diaspora - the Jordanian government refused to allow Jews to pray at the site.

When Jordan entered the 1967 war, Israeli soldiers captured Jerusalem and for the first time since 1948 Jewish people could pray freely at the Western Wall. Currently, there is an effort by UNESCO to deny Jewish heritage to Judaism’s holiest site. In October of 2015, a resolution that declared the Temple Mount as only a holy site for Muslims was struck down. However, in UNESCO resolution 2443 [PDF] the Jewish importance of the Temple Mount and Western Wall was erased and Judaism’s holiest site was referred to as a ‘stable’.

jewishvirtuallibrary: A Jewish bride in Kibbutz Lavi, Israel;...

Fri, 08 Jun 2018 19:00:32 -0400

jewishvirtuallibrary:

A Jewish bride in Kibbutz Lavi, Israel; 2011. x

In Jewish wedding ceremonies, the bride is customarily veiled before the wedding - in what is known as badeken - and her veil is lifted as a reminder of the story of the wedding between Rebecca and Isaac.

In Chabad ceremonies, a melody composed by Rabbi Schneur Zalman is typically played during the veiling ceremony.