Archive: August 2025

Who’s Who in Judaism: Gilad Kariv

Posted on August 22, 2025

Rabbi Daniel Plotkin introduces us to Gilad Kariv, the progressive polymath who is an attorney, Reform rabbi, and member of the Israeli Knesset. Photo of Kariv Courtesy of Eithan Schonberg on Wikimedia Commons, covered under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Who’s Who in Judaism: Azenath Barzani

Posted on August 15, 2025

Rabbi Amanda K. Weiss introduces us to Azenath Barzani, perhaps the most remarkable Jewish woman you’ve never heard of. Image of a 16th century Kurdish woman from Wikimedia Commons, and is in the Public Domain.

Who’s Who in Judaism: Samuel Pallache

Posted on August 1, 2025

Rabbi Amanda K. Weiss introduces us to the fascinating Samuel Pallache, perhaps one of the earliest “hyphenates” in Jewish History. Painting of Pallache by the Workshop of Rembrandt van Rijn (Govaert Flinkck) Courtesy of the Andrew W. Mellon Collection at the National Gallery of Art, covered by the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Continue Reading »

Who’s Who in Judaism: Jennie Grossinger

Posted on July 25, 2025

Rabbi Craig Axler chronicles how hotelier Jennie Grossinger essentially became the Queen of the Borscht Belt, by transforming her family’s humble home in the Catskills into a world-famous resort. Photograph of Grossinger with actor/singer Danny Kaye Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Music Division.

Who’s Who in Judaism: Emma Lazarus

Posted on July 18, 2025

Rachel Petroff Kessler presents how poet Emma Lazarus wrote the words that have been the hope of American immigrants for more than 100 years. https://youtu.be/UPKWNX7ChPI Image of Lazarus engraved by T. Johnson; photographed by W. Kurtz on Wikimedia Commons, and is in the Public Domain.

Who’s Who in Judaism: Amar’e Stoudemire

Posted on July 11, 2025

Rabbi Daniel Plotkin introduces us to Amar’e Stoudemire, American-Israeli professional basketball coach and former player for the NBA, who was recently inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. https://youtu.be/Ry7wlKJJpKI Photo of Stoudemire Courtesy of Keith Allison on Wikimedia Commons, and is under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.