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Video: What’s the Origin of the Name Mendel?

Sefer Shemos begins with again listing the names of the Yaakov’s children. Explore the importance and influence of a name, and other intriguing curios on Jewish names. For example, why don’t we find reference to anyone being named Gad and Asher – names from the Shevatim – throughout the entire era of Mishnah and Gemarah? Rabbi Mendel Kaplan even shares a compelling theory on the origin and meaning of the name Mendel.

L’Chaim on a Moscow Train Platform: 25th Year Since the Fall of the USSR

Three young Jewish men approached Reb Getche Vilensky’s Moscow apartment, hoping to join him that evening in celebrating the Chassidic holiday of 19 Kislev. It was the late 1950s; times were dangerous. In the building’s dark entryway lurked a Soviet policeman, waiting for them.