Spirituality/Tradition
“Unorthodox” Belongs in the Fiction Section
Who would have guessed that Anti-Semitism could lurk in the allegedly autobiographical words of a young Jewish woman? But they have, in ‘UNORTHODOX: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots’, the memoir of Deborah Feldman with stories she tells about growing up Satmar. I don’t think that Feldman meant to create this monster, yet the intentions, for good or bad cannot stop the...
American Jewish Groups Enter Contraception Debate
Amid controversy between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church over the use of...
Chabad Breaks the Ice With Mission to Antarctica
Chabad has gone where no Jewish movement has gone before: Antarctica. Last Wednesday, Chabad...
A Royal State of Affairs – KFWE 2012
Last week I had the pleasure of attending one of the best wine tasting events of the year,...
US Jews Rank High in Religiosity and Well-Being Survey
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey conducted 676,080 random telephone interviews...
High End Jewish Whisky Society Bottling Rare Single Cask Malts
If you’re an avid whisky drinker, you might want a membership. Joshua Hatton and Jason...
Dior’s Natalie Portman Ad Causes Stir in Lebanon
A 50 foot billboard of Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman marketing Dior cosmetics...
Man Who Inspired “Defiance” Film Praises IDF for its Humanity
The Bielski brothers were made famous by the 2008 film, Defiance, starring Daniel Craig and...
Matisyahu Performs “One Day” With Young Boy Battling Cancer (VIDEO)
“Sometimes I lay under the moon and I thank God I’m breathin. ‘Then I pray...
New Director for Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (INTERVIEW)
After extensive national security and Jewish community involvement, Larry Greenfield takes...
Philadelphia Center Lowers Cost for Jewish Genetic Disease Testing
Market Watch – The Victor Center for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Diseases at Einstein...
Shabbat and God on the Rise in Israel
NY Times – A new study by the Guttman Center for surveys at the Israel Democracy Institute...
Incredible Exhibition on East London Jews Post World War II
Daily Mail – A young Jewish girl stands in a rainy street in Whitechapel in April...
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Sports
Jewish Jordan Big Fan of “Linsanity”
Washington Post – All I can say is I’m ashamed I didn’t think to call Tamir Goodman myself, to ask the former Jewish Jordan what he thinks about the Jeremy Lin phenomenon. Goodman, of course, became the subject of an ethnic-fueled media madness during his high school career in Maryland, especially after appearing in Sports Illustrated and then flirting with the Terps. He recently told ESPN 600 in El Paso that he had 700 media requests in the first week [...]
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Arts and Culture Book Reviews
Race, Religion and DNA
The Wandering Gene and the Indian Princess: Race, Religion, and DNA By Jeff Wheelwright W.W. Norton and Company, 260 pages, $26.95 “From breast cancer to secret Jewish rituals, hidden links signify unlikely kinships in this meditative exploration of the science of racial connectedness,” read Publisher’s Weekly’s review of “The Wandering Gene and the Indian Princess”. A vibrant young Hispano woman, Shonnie Medina, inherits a breast-cancer mutation known as BRCA1.185delAG., which is a genetic variant characteristic of Jews. The Medinas knew [...]
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Arts and Culture Personalities
High End Jewish Whisky Society Bottling Rare Single Cask Malts
If you’re an avid whisky drinker, you might want a membership. Joshua Hatton and Jason Johnstone-Yellin, well known whisky connoisseurs, have partnered with Seth Klaskin, to form the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society. “Joshua and I started as whisky bloggers. He actually had the name Jewish Single Malt Single Whisky. As bloggers, we started to build a lot of contacts within the whisky industry and we started to build these relationships. Neither one of us gotten into blogging thinking we [...]
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Arts and Culture Blogs
A Sneak Peek at “Footnote,” Israel’s Oscar Nominee
In his latest film, Israeli writer-director Joseph Cedar has created a drama of personal controversy. He explores spirit, resilience and responsibility. “Footnote” tells the story of a father, embittered by his life and angered by the success of his son. That son, though publicly applauded, is in turn challenged by the not-fully-formed third generation—his son. The story of “Footnote” is universal, told here within the confines of a single family. Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar Aba and Lior Ashkenazi), [...]
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Music
Rock and Roll Feminism Straight Out of Brooklyn
Tablet – The brainchild of former Titus Andronicus guitarist Amy Klein, Permanent Wave is three things in one: a “combination between activism, a show-booking entity, and a production company,” says Sophie Weiner, who’s involved in all three. A feminist rock collective, or call it what you want; its bands are not the kinds of acts that you are likely to see at the Grammys anytime soon. Here’s what a Permanent Wave-sponsored show looks like in practice: A loud electro thump [...]
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Arts and Culture
England’s Other Jubilee: 60th Jewish Book Week
Spectator – There are two notable diamond jubilees this year: the obvious one and Jewish Book Week (JWB). The festival opened last weekend and will run at Kings Place in London until Sunday evening, when David Aaronovitch and Umberto Eco will end proceedings with a discussion about the latter’s novel, The Prague Cemetary. JBW is a celebration of literature; but, as one might expect, Jewish identity is central to most events. Yesterday afternoon saw Dennis Marks and Michael Hofmann debating [...]
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Blogs Book Reviews
Thinking, Fast and Slow – A Must Read
I must recommend Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. I was won over at the very start when he describes his conversations with his late friend and collaborator Amos Tversky in the Rimon restaurant in downtown Jerusalem, just off Ben Yehudah. Ah, the memories flooded back of the many times I sat there for a quick lunch. But unfortunately it was one year before them; otherwise I might have become a wiser man. The Israeli Nobel Prize winner for [...]
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Book Reviews
Judy Blume’s “Most Autobiographical Character”
Tablet – Sixty-five years ago this winter, in 1947, a fifth-grade girl found she was suddenly the new kid in school, longing for home and for people she knew. She had moved temporarily from the suburbs of New Jersey to the shores of Miami Beach with her mother, brother, and grandmother, who had lost relatives in Dachau just a few years before. Her father, a dentist, stayed behind in Elizabeth for work. His plan was to fly south for special [...]
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