In his new novel, “More Than It Hurts You,” Darin Strauss asks how well can you know the person you wake up next to? Allison Yarrow sat down with the author Darin Strauss to talk about his new novel, about a Long Island mother accused of harming her infant. Strauss unpacks his protagonists, a “Jewish…
“I hope you have a notebook where you take down anecdotes,” William Safire told me the first time we met. I muttered something about how, on Bill Clinton’s speechwriting team, we had several researchers who compiled loose-leaf binders with stories about people who’d met the president, told him about their problems, or thanked him for…
When Sara Schwimmer Marcus, founder of JewishWeddingNetwork.com, gives her brides a pep talk, it always includes this: “Hold on tight, enjoy the ride and try not to make that face.” By “that face,” she means try not to make the grimace that tells it like it is: “Help! Helllllllp! Get me down off this chair!”…
To the joy of East Coast surfers, the swell was up in September from Bill, the first hurricane of the season. As the big waves rolled in at rock-bound Point Judith, R.I., dozens of the faithful bobbed among them, vying for the thrill of the ride. Their surfboards were decorated with a wide range of…
Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, was warned by Israeli government attorneys this week to leave England and head home after Palestinians filed suit for an international arrest warrant on war crimes charges. Barak decided to ignore the warning and continue his visit, according to reports in Haaretz and Ynet/Yediot. He was scheduled to meet…
Mmmmmmmmm Around this time of year, my kitchen is overflowing with bowls of local apples from my friend’s farms. On Rosh Hashana, Farmer Leon brought over a few honey crisps which as the name implies are crisp, delicious, and spicy sweet. I saved a few of these special gems for a break fast cake. While…
Despite the row ahead of his performance, when Leonard Cohen began his sell-out Tel Aviv concert Thursday, September 24, there wasn’t a hint of awkwardness about coming to Israel. Pro-Palestinian activists called on him to boycott Israel, but he came anyway and was brimming with enthusiasm about his host country. “How goodly are your tents…
Leonard Cohen’s plan to play a sister concert to his Israel gig in Ramallah was scuppered due to pressure from western academics and not primarily due to objections from within the Palestinian community, Cohen’s manager, Robert Kory, told the Forward. As the sellout Tel Aviv concert was about to get underway, Kory gave a frank…
FAYE WATTLETON WOWS AT CENTER FOR ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN BENEFIT Leave it to sexpert Ruth Westheimer to head for the most powerful man in the room, Henry Kissinger, to give him her signature photo-op, neck stranglehold hug. Kissinger, his wife, Nancy, and Columbia University President Lee Bollinger were among the guests at the September 14…
I did! I love to host the holidays. Nothing gives me more pleasure than planning, marketing, preparing, and entertaining for these special times, and I have established a tradition of going a little over the top for the occasion. I also loved the books Julie and Julia as well as My Life in France. Both…
David Remes, a Washington attorney who left a major corporate law firm to take on full-time representation of terrorism suspects held in the American detention center here, recalled vividly one of his early visits to meet with his clients. “We were a group of lawyers, and the young guard was leading us through the camp,”…
דער שוועדישער פֿאַרלעגער ניקאָלײַ אָלניאַנסקי האָט דערציילט ווי ער האָט אָנגעהויבן אַרויסגעבן קינדערביכלעך אויף ייִדיש.
