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 Hamantashen are the most divisive cookies in the world
Hamantashen are divisive cookies. Named after the Purim story’s villain, Haman, the triangle confections are supposed to resemble either his hat or his ears, depending who you ask — and many consider the often dry and crumbly cookie about as appetizing. Defending their honor is even part of the famed Latke-Hamantash Debate. (The Forward staff…
-
Culture Is it kosher to smoke weed for Purim?
The Talmud (Megillah 7b to be exact) tells us to get — and I’m paraphrasing here — totally smashed on Purim, so intoxicated that we cannot tell the difference between the story’s villain, Haman, and the hero, Mordechai. But the Talmud doesn’t specify which intoxicants to consume. Could you, perhaps, smoke a blunt instead of…
-
The Schmooze Is Azealia Banks Jewish now?
Hip-hop artist Azealia Banks proudly posted her engagement ring on Instagram Monday, announcing conceptual artist Ryder Ripps had proposed to her. Unlike most women, who might be showing off a large rock, Banks’ finger was adorned with a chunky gold ring featuring a relief of a menorah. The photo was captioned “I’m Jewish now. MAZEL…
-
Culture The 9 Bible characters who should be canceled
Can Bible characters be “canceled?” This dire fate was suggested by Bill Hemmer, of Fox News, as the natural continuation of criticism of American presidents. “I tell ya, if they start canceling these American presidents, they’re going to come after Bible characters next — mark my words, right?” he warned. The topic under discussion was…
-
Culture Facing corruption charges, Bibi turns to TikTok
Bibi Netanyahu is on TikTok. There are videos of him throwing a snowball into the camera to celebrate Jerusalem’s snowy conditions, or urging Israelis to get vaccinated, though they don’t seem to have caught on too well — while, as an international leader, he has managed to get verified, he only has 217.4K followers, far…
-
Culture The first blind female rabbi is making sure she won’t be the last
I met Rabbi Lauren Tuchman at a Shabbat lunch, a year or two ago; I arrived late, missing half the meal and all of the introductions. I was still figuring out who everyone was when Tuchman began to lead the table in Shabbat songs from a binder filled with Braille pages. Tuchman, who was ordained…
-
News Snow in the holy land marks the end of Israel’s lockdown
It’s snowing in Israel — really snowing, not just a dusting that melts the second it touches the ground. By Wednesday afternoon, white powder had already dusted the Golan Heights and Tzfat; the weather system is expected to hit Jerusalem by the evening. Accumulation of about a foot is expected in the north, and up…
-
Culture Is pandemic dating making us all Orthodox?
It’s your first date. You’ve never met the other person, but they’ve been pre-screened and chosen for you, so you show up at the agreed-upon location, perhaps a park bench or hotel lobby. It’s daytime. You sit apart from each other, not close enough to touch or bump knees. Even though it’s the first date,…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
- 2
Fast Forward First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
- 3
Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
- 4
Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
In Case You Missed It
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקערין וויווי לאַקס באַשרײַבט געשיכטע פֿון לאָנדאָנער ייִדישער פּרעסעVIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press
שבֿע צוקער פֿירט דעם שמועס מיט וויווי לאַקס און ביידע לייענען פֿאָר עטלעכע פֿעליעטאָנען פֿון יענע צײַטן.
-
Yiddish World Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
-
Culture We tried to fix Hallmark’s Hanukkah problem. Here’s the movie we made instead
-
Fast Forward Holocaust survivor event features a Rob Reiner video address — recorded just weeks before his death
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
