Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster on why she thinks the time is ripe for the resurrection of the Jewish New Year for Animals.
One of the most poignant episodes of the Israeli War of Independence must have been the moment when the minuscule remnant of Orthodox Jews still remaining in the Old City of Jerusalem, managed on May 14 1948 to hear on the rickety radio provided by the fledgling Israeli army the voice of their new Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, hurriedly announcing in a heavily accented Modern Hebrew the re-creation of the new State of Israel.
What were the ultra-Orthodox rabbis still remaining in the Old City to make of this greatest event in Jewish history? The rebirth of a nation, no less! Had this ever happened before in world history? Probably not. Were these excessively…
