Some Historians claim that the Jews often lived better and safer under Islamic rule than they did under Christian rule in medieval Europe, though the full picture is nuanced and depends on the time and place.

Under Islamic Rule:

In many Muslim-ruled societies (especially during the Golden Age of Islam, e.g. in Al-Andalus/medieval Spain under Muslim rule), Jews were considered “dhimmi” protected non-Muslims. They had to pay a tax (jizya) and follow certain restrictions, but they were granted religious freedom, legal autonomy, and protection.

Jewish communities often thrived in science, medicine, philosophy, and trade. Some held high positions in government or as court physicians (like Hasdai ibn Shaprut or Maimonides).

There were certainly periods of discrimination, forced conversions, or violence, like under the Almohads in North Africa and Spain in the 12th century — but overall, Islamic societies were often more tolerant.

In Christian Europe:

Jews were often viewed with suspicion or outright hostility by the Christian majority. Anti-Jewish blood libels, forced conversions, ghettos, and massacres (like during the Crusades or Black Death) were tragically common.

Jews were expelled from many countries — e.g., England in 1290, France in 1306, and Spain in 1492.

Christian theology often depicted Jews as spiritually blind, which fueled centuries of antisemitism.

So the summary:

Islamic rule: Often relatively tolerant, especially in the early and classical periods. Jews could rise to prominence and contribute culturally and scientifically.

Christian Europe: Much more volatile, with periods of extreme persecution and violence.

It’s not that life under Islamic rule was perfect, but historically, many Jewish communities fared better under Muslim rulers than under their Christian counterparts during the same eras.

People are always saying "how do you believe in the Bible when all of these crazy things happened and we don't see them modern day." I feel like if any of these things happened today people would just write them off. There's nothing to say that this doesn't actually happen, IMO.

I feel like there are so many things that people ignore because of how secular the world is and how much they're willing to look past because any threat to their worldview would be "unscientific" (even if it worked with the laws of science.) I swear literally anything could happen and people would close their eyes to it.

What are some examples of this in the modern day do you think?

Hello, have a great week! I'm new here. Maybe someone can answer me what happened to the Yeshshem.com website. Maybe it exists under another name and domain, or what happened?

I saw a video recently where someone inserts a magnet into their hand in order to feel electromagnetic fields.

Would having a magnet imbedded in your hand for purely recreational purposes break Shabbos if you walked outside with no Eruv. Or for some other reason

Hello All,

I am not particularly religious nor was I raised to be however I find myself want to stay connected to god and learn. What are some app recommendations I can look into to help with daily prayer/learning. I cannot read Hebrew so something in English and broken down for beginners would be great. Thank you in advance and happy upcoming Passover.

That’s the very sincere question my sad son asked today after we watched The Prince of Egypt. I think maybe that part, the children dying, hits different in action on screen than it does when reading or retelling the story. Much more emotional, and even Moses looks so sad and regretful that it had to come to this. As I and my kids are in the process of converting (and my husband isn’t very well versed in this stuff) I don’t want to get into a confusing theological discussion about the afterlife, but I also don’t want to lead him in the wrong direction.

All this to say… is there an agreed upon understanding of children’s spiritual life and responsibilities? Specifically non-Jewish children, as in the case of Pharaoh and the Egyptians?

I know this sounds silly but I think it’s a fair question for a kid to ask, and I want to engage with them on this stuff and not just brush them off. I’ll def ask our Rabbi how he would think about it but won’t see him until Wednesday, so wondered if anyone had some insight until then?

I went on Reddit today and all of the subs that are intentionally spreading misinformation about Jews, Israel, and the war are unbelievable. And the comment sections are absolutely horrendous. How is this allowed to happen? Why are people so fucking stupid and not realizing the sources they're citing are Qatari-controlled media and other illegitimate forms of "reporting?"

The lack of critical thinking is astounding. It's scary how easily people are manipulated. I'm at a loss and deeply terrified. I think historians will look back on this one day and see the true horrors and evil of misinformation, but right now the masses are unable to recognize truth. If anyone tries to engage or call out the misinformation, then they are accused of being paid by Israel or "Zionist media" What the actual fuck. Sigh.

Hi, if this title sounds familiar to you it’s because I did a post like this around Chanukah time, now it’s bein hazmanim and I’m bored again so I decided why not go for round 2?

A reminder of who I am: I am 18 (last time I was 17) I live in Williamsburg, my father is a Baal tshuva and and joined breslov before he was married, my mothers family has been breslov for generations, I was raised as a breslover my whole life (I’ve been to Uman every year since i was 7, except for Covid and the first year of the war). I am not a nanach, and I’m very much a cheradi as I’ve been all my life.

So, ask me any questions you’ve wanted to ask a Breslover or a chossid or a cheradi in general.

Was wondering if herbalism is apart of jewish culture and if there are any herbs that are used in jewish communities to treat ailments. Do jews practice herbal medicine and alternative medicine?

I'm trying to update and complete a deficient Sefaria community translation for a text with a lot of wordplay, double meanings, obscure/difficult language, and copy errors. I don't want to interrupt the flow of the text for a casual reader, but at the same time, I want to elaborate on my specific translation decisions and alert the reader to the possibility of other interpretations. In Sefaria's official translations, this is done through clicking on an unobtrusive blue asterisk which opens up an optional commentary. Is there a way to implement this feature within a community translation, or am I out of luck?

hello folks,

I would like to recommend this eye-opening and life-changing book, with in-depth spiritual explanation of Hasidic tales

https://books.google.cz/books/about/Hasidic_Tales.html?id=yPvWopv2QzgC&redir_esc=y

I been doing alot of random rabbitholes, and while looking at a new beeswax havdalah candle on a judaica store I saw a category which admittedly made my brows rise.

Anointing oils from the holy land, Israel health ministry approved or something akin to that. I know in alot of Christian circles that stuff sells like hot cakes, but is it ever used in jewish? I'll admit the Esther one caught my eye but it's due to being more marketed as a perfume oil.

I cook with soy sauce… all the time, and this year I’m trying to be properly Ashkenazi-style kosher for passover for the first time. Does anyone know of any good KFP soy sauce substitutes for my recipes, or should I just bite the bullet and find different ones?

In the Talmud there’s a description of the stages of dough turning into chametz, namely siur and sidduk.

There is some disagreement on exactly what is what at each stage, but overall the process is described as

• Dough turning pale (like the color of someone’s face when their hair stands on its end due to fear. This may be the criterion for siur

• When cracks form that look like locust antenna. This may be the criterion for siur

• When the cracks intermingle…this is sidduk.

So when cracks intermingle, that is sidduk and thus full chametz. Does anyone have photos of doughs that exhibit this behavior, so we can see each stage?

How long approximately in standard room temperature does it take to reach each stage for an unyeasted dough without a sourdough starter like se’or?

Thanks!

Shavua Tov! I hope everyone had a good Shabbat.

To cut a long story very very short (I'm happy to talk in detail and answer any questions, if I wrote everything here this post would take 50 years lol), I'm a South African who grew up in an ultra-religious Muslim household, and had a very antisemitic upbringing. Some time ago, I started to question the beliefs I'd grown up with and educated myself on Jewish history and culture, on Judaism, and eventually developed a deep sense of admiration and respect towards the Jewish community. Deep down I felt like Judaism was the answer, although I didn't know to what exactly.

Fast forward to the modern day, in the aftermath of Oct 7 unfortunately my family and the greater Muslim community has doubled down on the hatred and antisemitism and I no longer belong there. I still call myself a Muslim however my relationship with the religion is very troubled and I've lost a lot of respect for the community and my family because of how they've expressed themselves since.

Despite not being Jewish, the Jewish community literally feels like home at this point. This sounds silly, but when I'm out in public and I come across a Jewish person/people, I feel like I bumped into "my people". I'm learning Hebrew. I'm slowly immersing myself more and more in the Jewish world, and it all just feels natural for me.

However I currently feel like I belong nowhere and it's a very lonely feeling. I'm neither here nor there. I can't talk to anyone in my life about this, and I'm obviously not Jewish and I don't know how to get more involved in the Jewish community and make Jewish friends. This is where this post comes in I suppose, I'm just trying to find my community. If anyone here is from a similar background or has gone through anything similar, or even if not, I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks for reading all of this <3

My daughter(27) has her conversion next week... She has worked so hard and is truly blessed and thankful for this journey...I need some help/advice about buying her a gift...Is it appropriate for me to do so and if yes, would some sort of jewelry be the best thing to celebrate and mark the beginning of her new life... I do not want to be disrespectful in any way so I need help, please... Thank y'all so much for any advice...

I’m in an interfaith relationship. My fiancée is Jewish and I’m Baptist. I’m joining her family for Seder and I want to bring something to dinner. I’m not good at cooking, but I’m really good at baking. I know they can’t have anything that rises, so what can I bring? What’s your favorite kosher dessert?

This website is hard to navigate so I thought I'd link to the three posts in order:

1. https://shulchanaruchharav.com/erev-pesach-falls-on-shabbos-guideline-and-summary-part-1-thursday-friday/
2. https://shulchanaruchharav.com/erev-pesach-falls-on-shabbos-guideline-and-summary-part-2-the-shabbos-chametz-meals/
3. https://shulchanaruchharav.com/erev-pesach-falls-on-shabbos-guideline-and-summary-part-3-shabbos-day-and-motzei-shabbos-seder-night/

I’m looking for book recommendations in a similar vein to Nicole Krauss’s “The Great House” or “The Netenyahus” by Joshua Cohen, interesting, poignant, and well-written without revolving around the Holocaust, though it may touch upon it. Thank you!

During demolition of old house, workers found fragments of some script in Hebrew. I've heard it's some prayer.