Named after the man who created it in 1996, the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Georgia helps preserve and present Southern (United States) Jewish history. In fact, it may be the largest repository of Southern Jewish history in the world. I had the privilege of visiting this museum in 2014. Prior to my…
Tag: Jews
Ten Historically Interesting Sites in Skokie, Illinois
In 1888, a village 12 miles northwest of downtown Chicago was incorporated as Niles Centre. This swampy land was eventually renamed “Skokie” in 1940. Skokie means “big swamp” in the language of the area’s former inhabitants, the Potawatomi tribe. After World War II, Skokie’s population boomed, explaining why a large percentage of its homes were…
Jewish Museum of Maryland
Founded in 1729, the city of Baltimore, Maryland was established before the United States gained its independence from Great Britain in 1776, thus making it an old city according to U.S. standards. Unsurprisingly, then, Baltimore has the third oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States. Although the Lloyd St. Synagogue, located on Lloyd St….
Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
What do Shemp, Moe, and Curly Howard from the Three Stooges; the violinist, Jascha Heifetz; the American, singers Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen; and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, all have in common? The answer is that all of these men have Litvak, or Lithuanian Jewish, decent. According to the World Jewish Congress, today (in…
KAM Isaiah Israel in Chicago
If you walk around the Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park, you might notice a large, domed building with a minaret located across the street from former U.S. President Barack Obama’s home. Until a larger sign was added to the front lawn, most people assumed it was a mosque. However, it is actually KAM Isaiah Israel,…
Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago
One of the oldest cemeteries in Chicago is Oak Woods Cemetery, which was founded in 1854, but started burying people in 1860. Located in the South Side of Chicago, it used to be outside of Chicago’s boundaries, but that changed as the city grew. What I enjoyed most about my visit there was discovering the…
Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
April 21, 2020 is this year’s date for Yom HaShoah, or Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israel commemorates the day by sounding a siren for 2 minutes throughout the country. During that time, the entire nation is required to stop what they are doing (including driving), until the siren stops. “Yom” means “day” in Hebrew, and…
Hanukkah in Jerusalem
In the United States, Christmas has become a very commercialized holiday. Sometimes, as early as September, you can already find Christmas-related items at the store. Amidst these Christmas items are often a few items related to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (sometimes spelled Chanukah, because it has the guttural “H” sound). However, Hanukkah is actually…
Samaritan Museum
Many people know about Samaritans from the New Testament parable of the “Good Samaritan,” which Jesus told in Luke 10:25-37. According to that parable, Samaritans and Jews in the 1st Century A.D. hated each other. In case you’re wondering if Samaritans still exist, I can assure you that they do, because I had the privilege…
Bet Arkeh 