Pictured above: Shanghai’s dramatic skyline. Photo by Dan Fellner Shanghai is China’s largest city with 23 million people. It features one of the most dazzling skylines in the world, a booming economy and a compelling mixture of Eastern and Western cultures. But not many people are aware that Shanghai also offers visitors a fascinating glimpse…
Photo by Dan Fellner Numbering only about 5,000 in a country of more than 1.2 billion people, Jews constitute a minuscule fraction – 0.0004 percent – of the inhabitants in the world’s second-most populous country, known far more for curry and cricket than kreplach and kippot. Yet the unique historical legacy and important contributions of…
When thinking of the historical hubs of Jewish life in pre-Holocaust Europe, most Jews invoke stories of their ancestors’ “old country” – places like Poland, Germany, Hungary and Russia. But Greece? Surprisingly, as I learned during a recent visit, Thessaloniki, Greece, the country’s second-largest city, has one of the richest and most vibrant Jewish histories…
They proudly call themselves “the frozen chosen.” It’s a clever moniker, and one that fits. Located less than 150 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the small and tight-knit Jewish community of Fairbanks, Alaska, must endure long, dark and brutally cold winters in a remote place where being an observant Jew can be as taxing…
