Stories from Jewish History 50th Issue Special
🥳 This marks the 50th newsletter for Stories from Jewish History—so here's a look at where we're headed and a handy chronological index for all the stories I've told so far.
I can’t believe we’re at Issue 50 with thousands of subscribers. Thank you—each and every one—for reading along, for commenting, emailing, liking, and sharing. You’ve invigorated my belief that the past matters and can help us navigate the challenges of our own times. For this special issue, I thought I’d do a retrospective, with an organized index of all the posts so far, as well as a look at what’s ahead for Stories from Jewish History. If you’re curious about a figure you missed, or interested in diving into a particular region or time period, I hope this will be helpful.
Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going Next
The first series I did was on the great Rishonim, figures like Rashi and Ibn Ezra, Rambam and Ramban. That was followed by a series on famous Hebrew manuscripts, then a deep dive into the Geonic Period. Instead of doing a general second series on Rishonim, I started going by period, beginning with the Jews of Muslim Spain. (eBook for Sefarad coming soon!) We’ll pick up next with the formation of Ashkenaz, including the Shu”m communities (Speyer, Worms, and Mainz), the First and Second Crusade chronicles, and the Chasidei Ashkenaz pietistic movement. Before we go on to Ashkenaz, however, I’d like to take some time to focus on Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, specifically premodern travel and aliyah narratives. This will also allow me to tell the rest of the stories of figures like R. Yehuda ha-Levi and Ramban, who made aliyah to Israel later in life. Some of the letters and other documents pertaining to premodern Eretz Yisrael are famous, and others are less well-known. I hope this series will illuminate the centrality of the Land of Israel to premodern Jews.
An Index of Stories from Jewish History
The “Coffee with” posts are unlocked; the rest of the archives are a paid feature.
Great minds think alike. I too just compiled an index of my 50 posts on The Healthy Jew, and linked it in the welcome letter to help new subscribers find their way around.
Here's a link:
https://thehealthyjew.substack.com/p/the-healthy-jew-index