A Jewish Minute Magazine

The inspiration for A Jewish Minute came to me as I was reading an issue of  National Geographic: History . It struck me that as a People with 3500+ years of history, we haven't something that we can read at leisure about our past and present. As a former Jewish Studies teacher of 14+ years, with a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in Social Studies education, I feel that for many Jews, their Jewish education ends at their bar/bat mitzvah, leaving them with a child's view of Judaism. In addition, much of Jewish education centers around the horrors of the Holocaust, leaving the impression that the Jewish People are solely victims and our history limited to the four years between 1941-1945. It's a depressing thought. It is time to bring our 3500+ year history to life. To showcase different Jewish communities around the world. To find cultural similarities and celebrate our differences. To discover the arts and music of Judaism. To ap...

If you enjoy these samples - please go to our fundraising page and pre-order a subscription to A Jewish Minute Magazine. Remember that these are just a few examples and there is so much more to be included in the Magazine. Click here to go to our fundraising page. Thank you for your help! Also please share our information with anyone who would be interested in learning more about Jewish history, culture, arts, food and Judaism!

With all the hectic things that are going on in our lives - one thing is for sure - every day we have to eat - sometimes even three meals a day, plus snacks - crazy talk, I know.  With a house full of kids and time at a premium - one thing that helps things get a little less hectic is when I get my kids to actually help with dinner.  We try to do a rotation and every week one kid gets to decide the menu and make the food (with as much help from me as they would like). We have some rules, like they can't plan dessert for dinner, and they can pick what they prefer to eat (one actually picks beef and broccoli, one picks pasta, etc). There are so many benefits of allowing them to plan and make their own food, since they get to help serve it, they get the pride of ownership and enjoy the food.  It requires a little prep (tell me on Sunday what you want to make for Wednesday night), so that all the ingredients are in the house. This method requires giving the child the app...

The murder of a child will always shake a community, but this was particularly the case when the local Jews are being blamed for murdering the child for religious reasons. In the mid-twelfth century, the Jews of Norwich in England were faced with such a situation. This is one of the first cases in the long history of ritual murder charges against Jews. This, like all the others, was a false charge. The Jews of Norwich were fairly well to do. They were of value to the kings for their ability in business and finance and were regarded as the king’s property rather than as citizens. Chronicler William of Malmesbury records that Jews came to England with William the Conqueror and were tolerated, though not liked by the people, and were pressured to convert to Christianity. Their situation was always tentative. In Norwich, they were not permitted to own houses, as they could in most English towns. The clergy particularly hated the Jews, seeing them as the king's men in the cler...

It is a natural human drive to be curious about the lands of our forebears. The places where our grandparents once walked hold a certain fascination for us. For Jews of Ashkenazic origin, this quest generally leads back to the countries of eastern and central Europe. The search for information is made all that more difficult by the massive disruption caused by the Holocaust, and the subsequent Communist takeover of the former large centers of Jewish population. It is only in recent decades, with the fall of the Communist empire and the increase in connectivity due to the rise of the internet era, that the quest for our eastern European roots has become more feasible. This quest can be carried out by three primary methods: discussions with those who lived the reality in person, visits to ancestral homelands, and the study of written history. Each has its pros and cons. It is often through a combination of methods that one can build a picture of the life of one’s ancestors. Let us de...