Jenna Weissman Joselit
By Jenna Weissman Joselit
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The Schmooze From Brooklyn Jew to Austrian Blueblood
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree The Sunday New York Times is generally full of fascinating stories about this and that. This week’s paper featured the unusually choice tale of one Alan Z. Feuer, who, by dint of will and subterfuge, managed to transform himself from a Brooklyn-born Jewish kid into a socialite and an…
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The Schmooze What Is the Use of Judaic Studies?
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree These days, people (i.e. parents) often ask me about the utility of Judaic Studies, especially when it comes to finding a job in a rocky economy like ours. In response, I go on and on about the ways in which Judaic Studies hones one’s critical skills, facilitates a multi-disciplinary…
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The Schmooze Collectible Ten Commandments
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Just in time for Pesach comes word of a new batch of holiday-related materials. No, I’m not referring to the New American Haggadah, which seems to have colonized the American Jewish imagination this year, leaving little room for anything else. Instead, I have in mind a recent auction in…
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Culture The Case for Community
Images of a multi-generational family seated around a Seder table are a dime a dozen. Adorning the exterior of a haggadah or the label of one kosher-for-Passover food item after another, they’re so widespread our eyes glaze over at the sight of them. But one image of a Seder — a grainy photograph — stops…
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Culture Fighting Fiercely Over Jewish Recipes
American Jews are no strangers to competition. One might even say it’s the coin of the realm, especially when it comes to academics, the law, sports and synagogue politics. All the same, it might very well surprise you, as it did me, to learn that competition also encompasses the realm of food. No, I don’t…
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The Schmooze Rambam in Brooklyn
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Just when you think you’ve heard of everything, comes word of a brand new vegetarian restaurant that proudly calls itself “Maimonide of Brooklyn.” Located in the hip Boerum Hill neighborhood, its menu, a paean to healthy eating, offers fig, date, hazelnut and almond sausages, soy nuggets and doughnuts that…
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The Schmooze Spinoza, a Man for All Seasons
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree The modern Jewish experience is awash in fascinating personalities whose imprint extends far and wide. Were you to compile a list of such people, Benedictus (né Baruch) Spinoza would undoubtedly be on it. Streets are named after him, conferences mark his birthday and both paintings and plays take him…
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The Schmooze Shadow of ‘Jud Suss’
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Most days, my students leave class in high spirits, noisily pushing back their chairs and chatting away animatedly as they head off to another class, a cup of coffee or a nap. Not this time. After an hour and a half spent watching the infamous “Jud Suss,” one of…
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News An Israeli restaurant chain said it closed due to boycotts. Protesters are celebrating.
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Sports It’s so cool that Sandy Koufax was there for that
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish אַ מוצאי־שבת אין פּאָרטלאַנד, אַ קאַצנשפּרונג פֿונעם „אײַס“־בניןA Saturday night in Portland, very close to the ICE building
שלום בערגער האָט גערעדט סײַ מיט די דעמאָנסטראַנטן קעגן „אײַס“ סײַ מיט די „טראָמפּיסטן“
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Fast Forward Cuomo dominates Jewish vote in final Quinnipiac poll before election
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Fast Forward ADL removes ‘Protect Civil Rights’ from website as it narrows its mission amid right-wing attacks
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Yiddish צי זאָל איך ווערן אַ ראַבינער?So should I become a rabbi?
אַן אַקאַדעמיקער באַשרײַבט זײַן איבערלעבונג אויף אַ רעטריט פֿאָקוסירט אויפֿן אינספּירירן ייִדן צו ווערן גײַסטיקע פֿירער.
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