Sigal Samuel is the former Opinion Editor at the Forward. When she’s not tackling race or identity politics, she’s hunting down her Indian Jewish family’s Kabbalistic secret society. Her novel THE MYSTICS OF MILE END tells the story of a dysfunctional family with a dangerous mystical obsession. Her writing has also appeared in The Daily Beast, The Rumpus, and BuzzFeed. Follow Sigal on Twitter.
With the new season of “Orange Is the New Black” almost upon us (is it Friday yet?), there are seven glorious reasons why my inner Jewess is getting desperately excited — and all of them are Nicky. Yes, yes, I know — when you think “OITNB” and “Jewish,” you think “Larry.” But Larry is far…
Since Vanity Fair released the “Call Me Caitlyn” cover on Monday, you’ve probably seen a flurry of comments about it on social media: some full of “YAAAS GIRL” positivity, and others spouting some variation on “This is still a man named Bruce Jenner and there’s not a feminization surgery or Annie Leibovitz photoshoot in the…
Are you in the mood to make love, not war? Then swipe right — right across the Green Line! Verona, a new Tinder-like dating app specially designed for Israelis and Palestinians, sounds like a joke. But for 1000 users and counting, it’s become a real way to find a hot hook-up and solve the Middle East…
“Wow, the ladies here wear saris to synagogue! Is that a Hindu influence?” Nathaniel Jhirad, a 23-year-old Indian Jew in Mumbai’s Bene Israel community, hears this question a lot. Every time, he’s tempted to reply: “You wear skirts; that is not an ancient garment from the Mythical Land of Authentic Judaism!” Jhirad’s fantasy riposte, told…
MUMBAI — On my first morning in India, I found myself staring at an egg. That and a cup of coffee was all my hotel’s “free continental breakfast” amounted to, but I didn’t feel cheated. I felt vindicated. After all, I’d come to India because of an egg. I cracked the hard-boiled shell and peeled…
Getty Images Now that Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid is official, American voters will want to get a whole lot clearer on her policies. For the Jewish community, some of the major questions will revolve, inevitably, around Israel and Iran. And we shouldn’t be surprised if, on these topics, we hear her sounding a more hawkish…
In a Daily Show clip I revisited this weekend, Jon Stewart says that “we Jews are getting our asses kicked” when it comes to holidays. We’ve already lost the Christmas v. Hanukkah competition for kids’ attention. Now Passover v. Easter comes along, and we don’t stand a chance! After all, Jon says, what would you…
A still from The Brother Mike tapes You’ve been there. We all have. Your Jewish parents bust into your room and start their nagging routine: the command (“Clean up this junk!”); the bafflement (“How can anybody live like this?!”); the fake concern (“I’m only saying this because I love you!”); the guilt (“Don’t you know…
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