Amy Oringel
By Amy Oringel
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Culture The secret Jewish history of Peeps
Just as ironic as the fact that “White Christmas” was written by a Jewish composer named Irving Berlin, Peeps, those famously neon-colored marshmallow Easter treats, are also produced by Jews. Based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Just Born Quality Confections has been churning out these decidedly non-kosher sugary sweets since 1953 when it purchased the Rodda Candy…
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Life From Microcassettes to Smartphone Apps, the Act of Family Storytelling is Healthy
In a very cluttered corner of my very cluttered bedroom is a small silver metallic gift bag, the kind typically stuffed with kids’ crappy party favors or freebies from a new salon. But this bag holds a sacred bit of myself, my history, in the form of 10 tiny cassettes and an obsolete recording device…
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Culture In Genetics, There’s More Than What Meets The Eye
In July, 1987, my cousin Aviad Bar-Sella left to begin his service in the Israeli army. I was visiting for the summer and watched the milestone unfold in the family’s small, tidy apartment in Kfar Saba. Although we had basically just met, I will never forget what Aviad said to me before he walked out…
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Culture Why JGirls Is More Than Just Another Teen Publication
When I was a teenager, I wasn’t at all interested in the magazines targeted to girls my age: Seventeen, Young Miss (which became YM), Sassy. They talked reverently about movies and TV shows I didn’t particularly like and bands I didn’t listen to. And the girls on the covers certainly didn’t look like me. Today,…
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Film & TV How A Boy And His Great-Grandfather Bonded Over A Holocaust Story
Elliott Saiontz’s bedroom is crammed with collections. His walls are covered with stickers of football teams and players. There are also dozens of karate trophies, pottery projects and framed autographs of athletes, political figures, even the members of his favorite band, Train. There are a lot of autographs too. But in a corner of the…
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Culture Brooklyn’s Joyva Has A Helluva Halvah Story
My grandfather used to introduce himself this way: “I’m Danny Oringel and I’m in coffee.” He was from a time and place where you didn’t “work” at something, you were “in” something. My friend’s grandfather was in mattresses. Another was in meat. Over time, these businesses typically were sold or ceased operations as the younger…
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Slideshows How The Halvah Gets Made
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Culture Why 83 Is The New 13 For Bar Mitzvahs
This is the fourth in a series of articles examining Bar and Bat Mitzvahs in America. Jeremy Piven had one. So did the former owner of my pharmacy. And Kirk Douglas had two. Stumped? These men all stepped up to the bimah to have a second bar mitzvah. Not to be confused with the now…
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