The annual events we’ve commemorated and celebrated over the past couple of weeks -beginning with Passover and extending through Holocaust Memorial Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day – all bring to mind the question of who we are, and where we come from. If you’ve thought about the idea of putting together a family tree or just wanted to know more about your roots, the Internet can be a great friend. Here are some tips on where to look for information, and how to peel away the layers of the …

“We are of the same race and blood, and cooperation will bring great prosperity to the land,” wrote Emir Feisal to Felix Frankfurter in 1917. Feisal was known for his affinity to the Zionists who had begun streaming to the Holy Land; in 1919, he signed a cooperation agreement with Haim Weizmann, to whom he wrote that he was “mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people.”
But Feisal’s proclamations of kindredness with the Jews was more than lip service to a commonly …

The 9th day of Av, known as the fast of Tisha B’av, has been, historically, a bad day for the Jews. Tisha B’Av is, of course a sad day because it commemorates the destruction of not one,but two Holy Temples, and presaged our loss of national independence and descent into exile.

Tisha B’av got its bad rep way back when the Jews cried over the evil report of the spies who had gone to the Land of Israel for undercover espionage work. Ever since then, the day has been appointed …