1421–March 12: More than 200 surviving Viennese Jews were burned to death after a year of persecution, forced conversion, expulsion, imprisonment in their synagogue and mass suicide. Contemporary reports described the Jews as singing songs and dancing before the pyres. All relics of Jewish life in Austria were destroyed, and Jewish families did not return until the 16th century.\n
Tefillin — phylacteries — have become a source of contention in the Modern Orthodox world. Female high-schoolers, on both coasts of the United States, are seeking rabbinic permission to adorn tefillin publicly while participating in morning prayers.
Going on holiday can mean relaxing or sightseeing, tasting new foods or learning firsthand about new cultures. A growing segment of vacationers, however, goes abroad to work for free.
An exhibition of more than 200 of the world’s rarest biblical manuscripts is drawing big crowds to the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.
Los Angeles may be the home of filmmaking, but Israel isn’t far behind. In recent years, movies made in Israel have been nominated for Oscars in the foreign-film category, and works coming out of that country are being included in film festivals worldwide.
Less than 24 hours after performing with the Moshav Band at the Jewlicious Festival in Long Beach late on March 1, musical artist Matisyahu (aka Matthew Miller) was sitting in the bleachers of the frigid L.A. Kings Valley Ice Center in Panorama City, watching two of his sons, Laivy and Shalom, skate around the rink with 10 other young children as members of a new Los Angeles Jewish youth hockey league.
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