David Zvi Kalman
By David Zvi Kalman
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Culture The secret Jewish history of those kosher fruit-jelly slices
Many candies die out; why has this one stood the test of time?
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Culture Appealing to a higher authority — why cannabis provides a unique opportunity for the kosher industry
Kosher certifiers could become the de facto regulators of a burgeoning new business; will they step up to meet the challenge?
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Culture How the Jewish calendar got coded — and how ingenious coders made it happen
Humanity is currently engaged in a massive, civilization-sized project to digitize all knowledge. You may have heard about this. The project is huge, but it’s not unified; contained within it are thousands of smaller projects, each devoted to digitization in a specific field. Some of these fields have developed slowly, while others have zoomed ahead….
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Culture Why I made a siddur for cigarettes and what it does (and doesn’t) mean
Before you is a cigarette box designed to look like a small prayer book. The idea for this object had been rattling around in my head since 2015. Realizing that I did not have the technical skills to make it myself, I contacted Rachel Jackson, a scribe and bookbinder, and during the summer of 2017…
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Culture Computers can write Torah now — should we be excited or terrified?
The premise was mine. I typed: Once the CEO of Apple approached the Kotzker Rebbe and asked him why he should continue believing in God. The Kotzker answered: Yes, I wondered. What did he answer? I pressed Enter. On the screen, it appeared: ”I am a lamp. I give light to others. But I do…
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Culture What Hasidim can teach everyone about staying safe on the Internet
Last year, the journalist Kevin Roose wrote about Caleb Cain, a young, white, twenty-something man who came to sympathize with the alt-right (and then abandon them) simply by watching YouTube videos. Cain’s journey was largely shaped by YouTube’s algorithm, which responded to his viewership by recommending increasingly right-wing content. Roose, who has spent years exploring…
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Culture The insanely fascinating history of Hanukkah light
It is American Hanukkah’s perennial irony that this so-called “Festival of Lights” is both literally and figuratively outshone by the myriad Christmas lights that blanket trees and yards from well before Hanukkah begins to well after it concludes. Though observant viewers might glimpse a handful of candles by the window during the brief time that…
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Culture Why Are So Many Jewish Podcasts So Bad — And What Can We Do About It?
Podcasting, you may have heard, is booming. Listenership is up, so is awareness of the medium, and high-quality podcasts seem to be popping up everywhere. As with television, the medium itself has recently become more respectable, including among the Hollywood A-listers; Oscar Isaac stars in “Homecoming,” while an episode of “Reply All” is being adapted…
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Opinion The White House antisemitism plan is full of good ideas. Will it actually help Jews?
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Israeli minister cancels LA speech due to protests and ‘bad vibes’
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Theater A transparently Jewish musical is finally speaking its truth and singing its faith
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Culture How ‘Some Like it Hot’ got to Broadway — and lost a very Jewish song in the process
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Yiddish בערקלי — אַ צוקונפֿטיקער צענטער פֿאַרן ייִדיש־לימוד?Can Berkeley become the next center for Yiddish studies?
דער אוניווערסיטעט האָט אַ שטאַרקע לערערשאַפֿט פֿאַר ייִדיש און עטלעכע זייער טאַלאַנטירטע גראַדויִר־סטודענטן.
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