Irene Katz Connelly is a staff writer at the Forward. You can contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @katz_conn.
Irene Katz Connelly
By Irene Katz Connelly
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Culture Why are there so many Christmas trees in Hallmark’s Hanukkah movies?
In the year 2019, a Hanukkah miracle occurred — sort of. In what seemed like a divinely-ordained response to thousands of Jews pleading for a few shreds of Hanukkah content in a sea of Christmas cheer, the Hallmark Channel added two flicks about the Festival of Lights to its infamously corny line-up of holiday movies….
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The Schmooze Tiffany Haddish calls out Grammys leadership after being asked to host for free
PSA: If you’re looking for a very famous celebrity to host a very prestigious awards ceremony sans compensation, do not ask Tiffany Haddish. She will decline, and she will publicly call you out for being stingy. That’s exactly what happened when the Recording Academy, the organization that hosts the Grammys, made Haddish an offer she…
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Culture Battered by the pandemic, the Tenement Museum looks ahead with arrival of new president
The Tenement Museum, a New York City icon that found itself in severe financial straits during the coronavirus pandemic, has named a new president. Dr. Annie Polland, the first woman to lead the museum since it was founded in 1988 by Ruth Abram and Anita Jacobson, will take office in January 2021. She arrives at…
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News An attack on Jersey City Jews exposed a neighborhood’s deep rifts. One year later, a memorial shows how citizens are mending them
The 2019 shooting that claimed four lives at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, New Jersey rocked several different communities. The city’s Satmar Hasidic Jews had been directly attacked. The non-Orthodox Jews who worshipped nearby were shaken and distraught. Residents of the largely Black and Hispanic neighborhood saw national media attention descend on their streets….
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The Schmooze The ultimate Hanukkah gift: Elizabeth Taylor’s menorahs are up for auction
This year, those of us who are both in need of a menorah and interested in spending thousands of dollars on vintage Judaica are in luck. Two hanukkiot that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, who converted to Judaism in 1959, are on display at the J. Greenstein Gallery in Cedarhurst, N.Y, and will be up…
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Culture The best gifts on the internet for Hanukkah at home
Let’s admit it: Hanukkah is the perfect pandemic holiday. Its central rituals take place entirely at home. It can be celebrated alone or in small groups. And it involves one of the chief pastimes of the coronavirus era: eating way more carbs than we should. But in a year when many of us have barely…
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Culture Here’s what a 16th-century rabbi said when Henry VIII asked for relationship advice
A new exhibit of Hebrew manuscripts at the British Library in London includes plenty of stuff you’d expect: Among other items, it boasts a Hebrew Bible from the 10th century and the earliest known copy of Maimonides’ “Guide to the Perplexed.” But there’s one very surprising artifact at the exhibit, which stateside Judaica aficionados can…
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The Schmooze Bette Midler is getting everything she wanted for her birthday
The recently-concluded presidential election has proved that when it comes to politics, there are two kinds of celebrities. There are those who hang out on Instagram, hinting at acceptably liberal views through carefully worded infographics, coy ballot selfies and artfully displayed “I Voted” stickers. And then there are the ones who spend all day, every…
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