Aviya Kushner is the Forward’s language columnist and the author of Wolf Lamb Bomb and The Grammar of God.
Aviya Kushner
By Aviya Kushner
-
Culture Kyiv or Kiev? Zelensky or Zelenskyy? For Ukraine, spelling is a political act
As tanks advance and homes burn while the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies, the spelling of place names may seem like a minor concern. But spelling — and the English transliteration of it — can have tremendous political significance. Spelling can also indicate how credible a news source is, and it can clarify which side…
-
Culture Poets join together for Ukraine
Over 800 people from all over the world came to hear Ukrainian poetry in the original and in translation in a swiftly organized online reading to support writers whose lives are in danger as Russian forces approach. The event, part of a virtual reading series by Words Together Words Apart, offered a window into the…
-
Culture Claiming “De-Nazification,” Putin’s actions recall other Nazi crimes
As Russia invaded Ukraine, beginning at five in the morning, Vladimir Putin’s statement that his purpose was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine clearly disgusted Ukraine’s first-ever Jewish President. Volodymyr Zelenskyy — whose three great-uncles were murdered in the Holocaust — responded on Twitter that Russia attacked Ukraine just “as Nazi Germany did.” “As of today, our countries…
-
Culture How Putin and Trump loyalists are illegitimately redefining the word legitimate (and language itself)
The word “legitimate” is suddenly hot — and it’s being increasingly used to justify the unjustifiable. In the recent rare and unified front of Republicans and Democrats, rushing to sanction Russia as it begins an invasion of Ukraine, it may be convenient to stop thinking about the Republican National Committee’s statement that the Jan. 6…
-
Culture Like a young Trump in training, the Tinder Swindler is manipulating the media for political gain
The Netflix documentary tells us more than you'd think about journalism and politics
-
Culture On the far right, there are no contradictions, only virulent antisemitism — a front-row view of Charlottesville
The dramatic 16-day courtroom trial, which ended with a whopping $26 million in damages assessed to more than a dozen individual white supremacists and hate groups for their role in the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, also offered a window onto what’s really happening inside today’s far right. Among the courtroom observers…
-
Culture Why Jews are literally ‘the people of Thanksgiving’
Jews are linguistically rooted in gratitude; the word for Jew in Hebrew is directly tied to the word for thankfulness
-
Culture Jews are under siege on campuses and in college towns — where’s the outrage? Where are the intellectuals?
Anyone remotely affiliated with universities should be chilled by the news that a Torah was destroyed at a fraternity house at George Washington University. The image of a replica Torah scroll — ripped apart and doused in laundry detergent, its pages on the floor — is the very latest in a series of increasingly disturbing…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News No Jews allowed: White supremacists are building a segregated community in Arkansas, but is it legal?
- 2
News Zohran Mamdani has represented Astoria’s Jews for 4 years. What do they think of him?
- 3
News Curtis Sliwa has a plan to beat Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayor’s race — and it starts with apologizing to Jews
- 4
Culture Barbra Streisand’s brand-new duet with Bob Dylan is a whole lot different than you might think
In Case You Missed It
-
Yiddish דאָקטוירים פֿון אַן אַנדער שניטDoctors of a different sort
די ווילנער דאָקטוירים יעקבֿ וויגאָדסקי און צמח שאַבאַד זענען אויך געווען געזעלשאַפֿטלעכע טוער.
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: ווען ייִדיש האָט געקלונגען אין די גאַסן פֿון מעקסיקע VIDEO: When Yiddish rang throughout the streets of Mexico
יעקבֿ פֿינקלמאַן באַשרײַבט אויך זײַן לאַנגיאָריקן פֿאַך — ווי ער האָט צוגעשטעלט וויסן אין טעלעקאָמוניקאַציע איבער דער וועלט
-
Opinion Want to understand what’s wrong with the ‘pro-Palestine’ movement? This Palestinian can help
-
Fast Forward Boulder firebombing suspect’s family can be deported, court says
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
