By Jake Marmer
This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Vayera in which Lot’s wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. Midrash makes some guesses at the reasons for the punishment, but the famous Russian poet Anna Akhmatova writes not about events but about what she was feeling as she disobeyed her husband and looked back at the city she had left.Read More
Since taking over as executive director in 2007, Stephen Hazan Arnoff has looked to transform the 14th Street Y of the Educational Alliance both conceptually and physically. The first phase of the building renovation reflects the Y’s attempt to use art and design to enhance a sense of community. In this audio slideshow, Esther Sperber from Studio ST Architects discusses the challenges she and her colleague, Guy Zucker of Z-A Studio faced as Jewish architects renovating a Jewish communal space while preserving and enhancing its inclusive mission.Read More
By Akin Ajayi
Rachel Shabi’s “You Look Like the Enemy: The Hidden Story of Israel’s Jews from Arab Lands” provides an impassioned argument against the neglect of the country’s Middle Eastern identity. In this Q&A, Shabi explains why she thinks, “the Israeli take on history is not terribly accommodating to different narratives.
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By Jenna Weissman Joselit
When it comes to talk of eco-Judaism, the history the story of how largely urban immigrants from Eastern Europe found themselves cultivating chicken in New Jersey, gets lost in the shuffle, Jenna Weissman Joselit writes.
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By Jordana Horn
The Other Israel Film Festival opens on November 12, kicking off its third year of the cinematic exploration of Arabs in Israel. Keren Yedaya’s “Jaffa,” making its New York premiere at the festival, shouldn’t be missed. As a film, it has its weaknesses. Fortunately, it isn’t simply a film; it’s an emotionally raw, and brutally honest, appraisal of Israel’s possible future.
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