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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Life What we talk about when we talk about the Purim story
It’s very hard, I discovered while writing the Forward’s guide to celebrating Purim, to write a straightforward summary of the Purim story. Did the Persian king Ahasuerus command his wife, Vashti, to appear before his friends or dance for them naked (the text relates that he asked her to “display her beauty”)? Did she refuse…
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Life The Hottest New York Purim Parties of 2020
In 2020 — ahem, 5780 — Purim falls on a very inconvenient Monday. That means all us responsible millennial Jews will attend a Megillah reading, toss down some hamentaschen with the kids and get some some sleep before work, right? WRONG. We will be celebrating the heck of out of this holiday, let the consequences…
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Life Can you save the environment while celebrating Purim? We’re giving it a try.
For many Jews, Purim is an opportunity to celebrate female protagonists, show off our costume design skills, and drink until we can’t distinguish between heroes and villains. But for others, it’s a holiday that pays homage to a plant-based diet. Richard Schwartz, President Emeritus of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, points out that according…
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Food Vegan hamentaschen from Tel Aviv hotspot Meshek Barzilay
Israel has the most vegans per capita of any country. So it’s only fitting that, just in time for Purim, the chefs at Tel Aviv vegan eatery Meshek Barzilay have whipped up some dairy free hamentaschen — and shared the secret with Forward readers. Toss a batch in the oven for the vegans in your…
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Culture When Turkey sent Holocaust refugees to their deaths — and let nationalism grow unchecked
Serenade for Nadia: A Novel By Zülfü Livaneli, translated by Brendan Feely Other Press, 417 pages, $17.99 Desperate refugees embarking on treacherous sea voyages. Unscrupulous guides making fortunes from humanitarian crises. Leaky boats destined for disaster. Governments colluding to evade responsibility. These sound like details from the humanitarian crises of the last few years. But…
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Life A very Forward guide to celebrating Purim
Bogged down by gray February days and March rains? Can’t wait until Passover to host a festive meal? Craving a cookie? Fortunately, there’s a Jewish holiday for that. Purim, an ancient but sometimes overlooked festival, is an celebration of Jewish survival, a centuries long-tradition of carnivals and festivity, and — like basically every Jewish holiday…
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Life Unsung women | Regina Jonas: The female rabbi you never knew about
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Regina Jonas Where and when: Germany, 1902-1944 What we know: Regina Jonas grew up in a poor, largely Jewish neighborhood…
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Life Unsung women | Flora Sassoon: She “walked like a queen, talked like a sage”
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Flora Sassoon Where and when: 19th-century India What we know: Born in Bombay to a wealthy Baghdadi Jewish family, Sassoon…
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