Mira Fox is a reporter at the Forward. Get in touch at [email protected] or on Twitter @miraefox.
Mira FoxStaff Writer
By Mira Fox
-
Culture Why did Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen make a Christmas show — and why is it so bad?
What if Santa was a Jewish woman? That’s a question no one ever asked until “Santa, Inc.,” a new stop-animation show on HBOMax starring Seth Rogen as Santa and Sarah Silverman as an elf named Candy Smalls. Of course, no one really needed to ask that question. And even “Santa Inc.” barely addresses it —…
-
Culture Finally, we can move on from ‘Dreidel Dreidel’ — a true Hanukkah bop has dropped
In the past few weeks, I’ve written about everything wrong with Hanukkah today — kitschy merchandise, Christmasification, the Maccabees. So as we approach the end of the eight nights, I wanted to finish on a sweeter note: a pop anthem made for the holiday that, in my humble opinion, does everything right. “Hanukkah” comes from…
-
Culture Hanukkah today would make the Maccabees roll over in their graves
Corporations — and plenty of everyday people — treat Hanukkah as Jewish Christmas. It has a nice little story about miraculous oil, plus you decorate your house and give gifts. Even plenty of Jews feel this way; Hanukkah provides a way for us to participate in the music, media and cheer that dominates the Christmas…
-
Culture Why Netflix’s ‘Blown Away’ Christmas special seemed a little too Christmas-y for its Jewish contestants
Christmas specials are part of the season on TV; tons of shows do special episodes or mini-seasons each year. Which makes sense — Christmas dominates the winter, and often causes family or relationship stress and drama; it would feel like a big omission to skip it. Unless, that is, the majority of the people on…
-
Culture Why ‘Checkout’ may be the Israeli show that we need to see right now
Americans seem to have a growing obsession with shows about Haredi Jews, whether that’s “Shtisel,” “Unorthodox,” or “My Unorthodox Life,” all on Netflix. Meanwhile, Israeli shows such as “Fauda,” which delves into the violence and drama of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Mossad spies and Hamas bombs, have also been hits. But will that same interest…
-
Culture Hey Starbucks — where are the Hanukkah seasonal lattes?
For many people, it’s not truly fall until Starbucks launches the Pumpkin Spice Latte. The same goes for Christmas season; when the coffee chain’s iconic red, white and green Christmas cups, filled with seasonal drinks like peppermint, chestnut praline or gingerbread lattes, become available — as they did last week — you know it’s time…
-
Culture Cheesy Hanukkah merch is everywhere now — um, that’s good for the Jews, right?
Jewishly speaking, Hanukkah is not a major holiday. Commercially speaking, it is probably the biggest one, falling near Christmas, the true pinnacle of consumerism. This year, with Hanukkah coming early, starting right at the end of Thanksgiving, it seems to actually be superseding Christmas in the corporate calendar; Hanukkah merch is everywhere and, at least…
-
Culture How a unique Torah scroll scribed by a woman led to a historic bar mitzvah
When Gavriel Kedem became a bar mitzvah, he was focused on the usual things: chanting the parsha, giving his dvar, the people watching. He wasn’t thinking about it as a historic moment. But it was — Gavriel was chanting from a scroll written by his mother, Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem, the first woman ever to be…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaeda in address to Republican officials
- 2
News A Jewish farmer drove 600 miles to rescue a century-old synagogue. Now he’s building a new one in a cornfield.
- 3
Opinion Pete Hegseth is targeting a Jewish American hero — who’s next?
- 4
Opinion The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
-
Opinion Were the attacks in Boulder and D.C. the product of ‘blood libel’? Not so fast
-
News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaeda in address to Republican officials
-
Culture In the Trump-Musk feud, both sides are united by antisemitism
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
