Arts & Culture


A People's Theatrical History of Howard Zinn

By Ed Rampell

Howard Zinn sought to put a populist stamp on history. A playwright who saw a kindred spirit in him is bringing the Jewish activist author’s life to the stage.Read More

Life Is a Chai-Way for Jewish Biker Clubs

By Lauren Davidson

Gil Paul is a member of Hillel’s Angels, one of dozens of Jewish motorcycle clubs across the land: ‘I thought I was the only Jew on a Harley Davidson. But I was wrong.’Read More

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Marilynne Robinson Discusses Her First Trip to Israel

By Beth Kissileff

Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson talks about how it felt to see Israel as a tangible landscape for the first time, what she thinks about BDS and how her trip will inform her future writing.Read More

'Jews Who Rock' Only Scratches Surface of Fame and Faith

By Laura Hodes

‘Jews Who Rock’ is a new exhibit that takes a one-size-fits all approach to musicians who are members of the tribe. Too bad it barely scratches the surface of their relationships to Judaism.Read More

Living Under the Iron Dome

By Tuvia Tenenbom

Tuvia Tenenbom takes the pulse of Israel and the West Bank as only he can. His counterintuitive conclusion? The calmest place around is a Jewish settlement far beyond the Green Line.Read More

Are Michelangelo's Drawings Anti-Semitic?

By Benjamin Ivry

Dozens of Jews are depicted on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. They look far less heroic than the sibyls and angels. But does that make the paintings anti-Semitic?Read More

A New Jersey Tale of Two Alfred Doblins — and One Umlaut

By Allan M. Jalon

Weimar era novelist Alfred Doblin is little appreciated outside literary circles. His strange connection to New Jersey’s Bridgegate scandal lands him a spot in Our Promised Lands series.Read More

10 Things About Jewish New Jersey

By Adam Chanes

TKRead More

The Origins of Yiddish: Part Fir

By Philologos

The true origins of Yiddish may never be found. Philologos argues that a synthesis of three different theories may best explain the migration of the language over time.Read More

Writing About Gaza From Comfort of Debra Winger's Manhattan Pad

By Sayed Kashua

Israeli Arab writer Sayed Kashua asks if he can sound credible writing about Gaza while sitting in a Manhattan apartment that belongs to a friend named Debra Winger.Read More




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  • The rose petals have settled, and Andi has made her (Jewish?) choice. We look back on the #Bachelorette finale:
  • "Despite the great pain and sadness surrounding a captured soldier, this should not shape the face of this particular conflict – not in making concessions and not in negotiations, not in sobering assessments of this operation’s achievements or the need to either retreat or move forward." Do you agree?
  • Why genocide is always wrong, period. And the fact that some are talking about it shows just how much damage the war in Gaza has already done.
  • Construction workers found a 75-year-old deli sign behind a closing Harlem bodega earlier this month. Should it be preserved?
  • "The painful irony in Israel’s current dilemma is that it has been here before." Read J.J. Goldberg's latest analysis of the conflict:
  • Law professor Dan Markel waited a shocking 19 minutes for an ambulance as he lay dying after being ambushed in his driveway. Read the stunning 911 transcript as neighbor pleaded for help.
  • Happy birthday to the Boy Who Lived! July 31 marks the day that Harry Potter — and his creator, J.K. Rowling — first entered the world. Harry is a loyal Gryffindorian, a matchless wizard, a native Parseltongue speaker, and…a Jew?
  • "Orwell would side with Israel for building a flourishing democracy, rather than Hamas, which imposed a floundering dictatorship. He would applaud the IDF, which warns civilians before bombing them in a justified war, not Hamas terrorists who cower behind their own civilians, target neighboring civilians, and planned to swarm civilian settlements on the Jewish New Year." Read Gil Troy's response to Daniel May's opinion piece:
  • "My dear Penelope, when you accuse Israel of committing 'genocide,' do you actually know what you are talking about?"
  • What's for #Shabbat dinner? Try Molly Yeh's coconut quinoa with dates and nuts. Recipe here:
  • Can animals suffer from PTSD?
  • Is anti-Zionism the new anti-Semitism?
  • "I thought I was the only Jew on a Harley Davidson, but I was wrong." — Gil Paul, member of the Hillel's Angels. http://jd.fo/g4cjH
  • “This is a dangerous region, even for people who don’t live there and say, merely express the mildest of concern about the humanitarian tragedy of civilians who have nothing to do with the warring factions, only to catch a rash of *** (bleeped) from everyone who went to your bar mitzvah! Statute of limitations! Look, a $50 savings bond does not buy you a lifetime of criticism.”
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