Uzi Silber
By Uzi Silber
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Culture Jews and the Booze
With the passage of the twin alcohol-friendly celebrations of Simchat Torah and the lesser known, but more suggestive, Festival of the Water Bearing, my thoughts turn to the seemingly contradictory relationship between Jews and booze. We’re a tribe that drinks, but we’re not drunks — so the story goes. That old gallon bottle of Manischewitz…
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Opinion The Jewish Future, in Black and White
I’ve seen the future, and it’s black and white. It was a sunny Sunday morning in our Lower East Side community playground, animated by a frenetic blur of whooping kids, my own included. Alone on a bench, I’d neglected to bring a book from home and wasn’t in the mood to socialize with the parents…
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News Very Superstitious
Stevie Wonder advises that “superstition ain’t the way,” but few heed his words. On a recent Saturday morning I found myself loitering in the musty bowels of the Bialystoker Synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Several long tables were set with bottles of mediocre scotch and plates of substandard herring and potato kugel, awaiting the…
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Culture Finding the Scapegoat
’Tis the season when Jews engage in penitence, fasting and charity in order to strengthen their respective cases as they plead before the heavenly judge. Attempting to help us in this regard, charities of all flavors jam our mailboxes with urgent, heart-rending snail mail, while synagogues issue friendly reminders to reserve our High Holy Day…
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Culture Kohane Rocks Exotic and Hot
New Midlife Crisis Kohane of Newark Joodayah Records, 2008 The jacket cover of “New Midlife Crisis,” the debut CD by Kohane of Newark, scheduled for release in October, features an image of a larger-than-life bird’s eye view of a rumpled and stained velvet skullcap, doubtless donned at some Jewish function that took place around the…
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Opinion My Forefathers Were Yurt-Dwelling Siberians
The thorny issue of just who belongs to the Chosen People is, in my opinion, likely to remain unresolved forever, or at least until the Messiah arrives with the answer. And to be honest, that’s just fine with me, since this whole issue doesn’t concern me directly. You see, I happen to boast an unassailable…
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