Michael Kaminer
By Michael Kaminer
-
The Schmooze Is It Immoral To Re-Steal Previously Looted Holocaust Memorabilia?
For a Jewish visitor to Poland, is it moral to steal souvenirs that may have themselves been looted from Jewish homes during the Holocaust? Not according to yesterday’s Ethicist column in the New York Times Magazine. “Traveling in Poland, I visited antique stores offering Jewish items — menorahs, mezuzas — that seemed more than 65…
-
The Schmooze String of Anti-Semitic Attacks Damage Montreal Institutions
With star turns in films like “Barney’s Version” and “Lies My Father Told Me,” Jewish Montreal has been making headlines for its cinematic profile. But a string of anti-Semitic incidents over the weekend is shining a less sanguine spotlight on the city’s Jewish community. The Montreal Gazette reported today that four synagogues and a Jewish…
-
Books ‘Catcher in the Rye’ Sequel Banned in U.S.
A phony. That’s what the estate of J.D. Salinger is calling Frederik Colting, the Swedish novelist who’s created a sequel to Salinger’s beloved 1951 magnum opus, “Catcher in the Rye.” The BBC reports that Colting’s “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye,” which depicts “Catcher” protagonist Holden Caulfield as a haunted septuagenarian, has been banned…
-
The Schmooze Ukrainian Association Objects To Rights Museum’s Special Treatment of Holocaust
What’s so special about the Holocaust? That’s the question a Ukrainian association is asking after the soon-to-be-built Canadian Museum of Human Rights revealed plans that include a separate gallery for the Holocaust. According to the Toronto Sun, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) is claiming the current plan “elevates some cases of human suffering…
-
The Schmooze Hitler-Mocking Dog Makes Nazis Angry
The Forward recently reported on the heroic exploits of Wojtek, the Nazi-fighting Polish bear. Now comes belated news of another animal who antagonized the Germans in World War II. Jackie, a mutt belonging to Finnish pharmaceutical tycoon Tor Burg, was trained to imitate Hitler by his Nazi-hating owners, according to newly released documents cited by…
-
The Schmooze Barbra Streisand in Talks To Star in ‘Gypsy’ Remake
From “Papa, can you hear me” to Mama Rose: Musical-theater fans and Barbra Streisand cultists are plotzing over the news that La Streisand has reportedly met with composer Stephen Sondheim and playwright Arthur Laurents to discuss starring in a film version of “Gypsy,” their classic 1959 musical. According to a dispatch in yesterday’s NYTimes.com Artsbeat…
-
The Schmooze IDF Catches Army Dodgers on Facebook
Playing “Farmville” on Shabbat isn’t a great idea if you’ve told the Israeli army you’re too frum to serve. That’s one of the lessons about a thousand Israeli women have learned after the Israel Defense Forces used Facebook to check out claims of religious observance. By using the hugely popular social-networking site, the military managed…
-
The Schmooze Gays Were Behind the Nazi Party and Other Strange Allegations
Gay people were behind the rise of the Nazi party during World War II. And now, they’re trying to suppress a book about their role. If you believe the right-wing web site World Net Daily, this isn’t wingnut fiction, but historical fact. And independent-media site AlterNet is reporting that World Net Daily is not only…
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Inside the ancient Christian theology driving modern antisemitism
- 2
News Jews paused Indiana’s abortion ban — by turning a religious freedom law against the evangelical right
- 3
Culture In 1989, Harold Pinter and Jerry Schatzberg made the perfect Holocaust movie for 2026
- 4
News Mamdani to attend Passover Seder as he navigates ties with Jewish groups amid rising antisemitism
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Two women race to save Persian Jewish music before it fades
-
Opinion Passover liberation and US liberty both summon us to remember and renew
-
Culture 70 years ago, this Jewish choreographer predicted our epidemic of loneliness and isolation
-
Culture Gene Shalit, a mensch with a personality as big as his mustache, turns 100
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism