Culture

How To Leave the Neo-Nazis in Two Easy Lessons — and One Hard One

Four years ago, when he was the leader of a neo-Nazi group in Thuringia, a federal state in central Germany, Steven Hartung organized demonstrations and other political actions that promoted extreme right-wing ideology. He believed that ethno-pluralism — a view supporting ethnic or racial separation and opposing cultural diversity — was the only way to…

Of Sammy Davis, Sheldon Adelson, Blue Jeans and 9 Other Facts About (Jewish) Nevada

1) The first Jewish synagogue in Nevada was founded in 1921 in Reno. Temple Emanu-El still serves the city’s Jewish residents. 2) Jacob W. Davis, a Jewish immigrant and tailor, invented jeans at his shop in Reno in 1871 when a customer paid $3 to commission a pair of sturdy work pants for her husband….

Why ‘Honeymoon in Vegas’ Is Quintessential Jewish Mother Story

The 1989 movie “New York Stories” is composed of three short films about New York City. In Woody Allen’s segment, “Oedipus Wrecks,” his character’s overbearing Jewish mother disappears as part of a magic show — but rather than reappearing after the trick is finished instead is transformed into a celestial presence hovering over Manhattan, continually…

Jo Milgrom’s Torah Mantles Are Definitely Art. But Are They Kosher?

Among some of her fans, Jo Milgrom is known as “the archeologist.” She rescues precious artifacts from the obscurity of Jerusalem’s dumpsters and secondhand shops, while also providing them a home and new levels of meaning, they say. “When I see things on the street, they have their own realities,” the 86-year-old artist tells me…

My Magical Mystery Travelogue

So, Why Are All Podcasters Jewish Anyway?

Jews dominate podcasting. Don’t believe me? Put away your mah-jongg, grandma, because today we’re counting Jews. A list of hosts of the top podcasts in iTunes reads like a passenger manifest on the Exodus: Ira Glass (“This American Life”), Robert Krulwich (“Radiolab”), Peter Sagal (“Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”), Stephen Dubner (“Freakonomics Radio”), Terry Gross (“Fresh…

Celebrating the Life and Career of Yiddish Theater Legend Mina Bern

A version of this post appeared in Yiddish here. A large crowd filled the main auditorium at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan on January 11 to see a memorial program in honor of the life and work of the Yiddish actress Mina Bern. During the concert a dozen singers, actors and musicians performed…

Why Robert Stone Was One of Greatest Non-Jewish Jewish Writers

Robert Stone wasn’t Jewish, of course. He was a lapsed Catholic. I am writing about him here because his sixth novel, “Damascus Gate,” was a retelling of the Shabtai Tzvi story, set amongst drug-addled wanderers in Jerusalem in the 1990s. It’s a book deeply engaged with Judaism, kabbalah, and the meaning of monotheism. It is…