Rav Pinchas Menachem Alter (1926-1996), known as the Pnei Menachem of Ger, led an interesting career in public leadership. Born into prewar Polish chassidic aristocracy, he escaped with his father the

The three partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 & 1795 ended the Polish Kingdom (or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and divided it between Austria, Russia and Prussia. This had far reaching conseque

One of the leaders and influential poskim of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem, Rav Yechiel Michel Tikochinsky (1871-1955) had an outsized impact on the world of halacha, especially in regards to zmanim-  h

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) was one of the great figures of recent Jewish history. As Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991-2013, he was the great spok

Boston part II is here, with another foray into the history of the Boston Jewish community. As the Jewish community migrated from the West End to Roxbury, Dorchester and eventually Brookline, new inst

To commemorate the 10th yahrtzeit of the Mir Rosh Yeshiva Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel (1943-2011), here is another installment of impressions and recollections of this great man and his impact on the large

In this second installment on the Jewish history of Houston and South Texas, the renaissance of Orthodox through the pioneering efforts of Rabbi Joseph Radinsky of the United Orthodox Synagogue, Rabbi

Jewish roots in southern Texas precede the Civil War. Jewish communities emerged in Houston, Galveston and other cities and towns across the Texan frontier. As commerce developed in the second half of

Rav Yehuda Leib Tzirelson (1859-1941) and his younger compatriot Rabbi Moshe Yosef Rubin (1895-1980), were but two examples of the unique rabbinical leadership enjoyed by the Romanian Jewish community

With the passing of Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor in 1896, his true opinion of the 'Heter Mechira' which he had authored became a matter of everlasting dispute. In the ensuing shmittah years, other ra