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Historic Damascus Synagogue Looted and Destroyed

It is an unsurprising tragedy: The Jobar Synagogue, 2,000 years old, has been burned to the ground.  The rebels blame the government.  The government blames rebels and Zionist agents.Somewhere in Africa

The British tried to convert them to Christianity; Idi Amin forced many to become Muslims.  But Uganda’s Jews, though dating back no further than the 20th century, are unmistakably Jewish.Prisoners of War: a Rorschach

The TV show Homeland has captivated U.S. audiences with its cliffhangers about a returned POW as possible foreign agent.  Its Israeli counterpart, Hatufim, has a very different appeal.Abraham’s Magnificent Home Town

A British archeologist, returned to Iraq for the first time in a quarter-century, unearths a temple or palace of “breathtaking” size near the Ur of Abraham’s era.Learning from the Popes

In the midst of its troubles, the modern Catholic church has recently produced a series of widely differing but extraordinary popes.  Can Israel’s chief rabbinate learn from their example?Learning from Herod

King Herod’s legacy is problematic, but his standing as a master builder is not.  The current Israel Museum exhibit on his architecture and artifacts would have made Herod himself proud.Learning Ladino

Ladino, the language of Sephardic Jews, is undergoing something of a revival.  But there is only one current example of Ladino journalism—in, of all places, Istanbul, Turkey.Learning Jazz

There was a jazz scene in Europe even under Nazi occupation.  Certain Nazis’ love of jazz even managed to save the lives of a few Jewish musicians.Learning with Harold Bloom

Critic Harold Bloom used the structure of the Kabbalah for his book analyzing 100 geniuses.  Now an Italian team of artists and graphic designers is translating the book into pictures.“Ihr zint frei!”

In 1945 Rabbi Herschel Schacter, who has died at age 95, entered Buchenwald with Patton’s Third Army.  “Shalom Aleichem, Jews,” he shouted to the inmates in Yiddish, “you are free!”