Open Search form

Ashkenazic Jews

Apply for a Blog

Jul 10, 2026, 9:16 AM

A Man Is His Word (Matot-Masei)

This week's Torah reading, Matot, opens with a sentence that sounds simple until you try to live by it: “If a man makes a vow to God or takes an oath imposing an obligation on himself, he shall not...

Jul 4, 2026, 10:48 AM

Mizrahi Civilization

Mizrahi Civilization: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation. Image © Ivan Bassov, 2026. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

“The Yiddish people must be counted among the founder nations of Europe.” — Paul Kriwaczek, Yiddish Civilization The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation In his acclaimed book Yiddish Civilization: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation, historian and writer...

Jacqueline Snidman-Stren

Jun 27, 2026, 6:11 PM

The Many Faces of Jewish Identity

The Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group with shared origins in the Land of Israel, but Jewish history has unfolded across many different regions over thousands of years. Because of exile, migration, and diaspora, Jewish communities developed distinct ethnic...

Michael Feldstein

Jun 21, 2026, 6:21 PM

What’s in a Name?

Credit: Gemini

Have you ever wondered how we decided on our deeply ingrained customs for naming children? If you grew up in an Ashkenazi household, you probably take it for granted that you name a baby after a beloved relative who has...

Jun 20, 2026, 10:23 AM

The Power of Self-Selection

Perhaps self-selection is one of the most overlooked forces in human history. Photo: Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out for photographer Arthur Sasse after his 72nd birthday party on March 14, 1951. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Hidden Force Behind Success Why are Jews disproportionately represented among Nobel Prize winners, scientists, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals? Why did America become the world’s dominant economic and technological power? Why did Israel transform itself from a poor, newly established state into one...

Jun 17, 2026, 5:53 AM

The Yidkins Diet

Pesach may be long over, but that old adage, "Matzah, 18 minutes on the lips, a lifetime on the hips," is still just as true. With Summer almost upon us, it can only mean one thing: We all need...

Sam Lehman-Wilzig

May 29, 2026, 7:01 AM

Israel’s Haredim: 50 Shades of Black

OK, so the headline here is slightly exaggerated. Israel’s ultra-Orthodox might come in “only” 10-20 different varieties, not 50. However, given that many non-Haredi Israelis view them monolithically (a perception probably more prevalent in the Diaspora), it is important...

Jose Lev Alvarez Gomez

May 27, 2026, 11:18 AM

Europe Needs Israel to Join the European Union

Europe is careening toward strategic irrelevance as Iranian proxies tighten their noose around its southern flank and radical Islam spreads through its streets and no-go zones. Israel is the hard-power partner the European Union can no longer afford to...

May 27, 2026, 4:20 AM

Why the Chareidi & Dati Leumi Divide Goes Deeper Than Strictness

We are looking inside a world that outsiders flatten (David Katash, FrockInStock.com).

It is not a frumkeit ranking, but a question of religious instinct, cultural memory, and which world feels like home. Recently, I saw an online discussion on Imamother — a popular online forum for frum women — about whether there...

May 20, 2026, 4:44 AM

Shavuot, an Almost Forgotten Festival

The Jewish calendar contains three major pilgrimage festivals: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, collectively known as the Shalosh Regalim, the “Three Pilgrimage Festivals.” In Temple times, Jews would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the festivals at the Beit HaMikdash, the...

Load more