The destruction of the Second Temple
The Spanish Inquisition
The writing of the Talmud
The invention of matzah ball soup
All of these are right. Now, if I asked, what have been the most important, defining events in modern Jewish history, what would you say? I’m guessing that two particular responses will come up for almost everyone—the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. These two events, which happened in close proximity to each other, have completely transformed the modern Jewish experience
