Film
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Culture She didn’t go to Hebrew school, but she she made an extremely accurate movie about it — a conversation with Olivia Peace
The most important scenes in “Tahara” take place where the best shul drama goes down: the ladies’ lounge. Possibly the most important amenity a synagogue can offer, the ladies’ lounge features way too many wicker baskets, a selection of castoff artwork incorporating the phrase “tikkun olam” and a well-worn couch conducive to dawdling and dishing…
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Culture In Brighton Beach, a gay teen seeks easy answers and finds only enigmas
When “Minyan” debuted in late February 2020, you were probably hoarding toilet paper or stocking up on the wrong kind of canned goods. In other words, doing anything but paying attention to the latest in indie Jewish cinema. That’s a shame. The film, which is getting something of a do-over at this year’s all-virtual New…
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Culture How Slovakia’s Oscars contender revived two forgotten Holocaust heroes — an interview with Peter Bebjak
When Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba escaped Auschwitz in 1944, they didn’t just save themselves. The two men, both Slovak Jews, used data secretly compiled during their time as sonderkommandos in Auschwitz to write the eponymous Wetzler-Vrba report, which provided one of the first eyewitness accounts of the death camp’s infamous gas chambers. Publicized by…
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Yiddish World Why ‘Hester Street’ meant so much for Jewish women (and for Yiddish)
Before “Hester Street," Jewish-American women characters who looked and acted “too Jewish” were often ridiculed
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Film & TV Can we separate Roman Polanski’s excellent new film from its director’s contemptible past?
“An Officer and a Spy,” Roman Polanski’s 2019 movie about the Dreyfus Affair, is spare, modern and steeped in controversy. If it weren’t for the horses and high boots, you’d forget you’re watching the past. If it weren’t for the fact that Polanski directed it, you would have seen it by now. The movie does…
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Culture Need a movie to watch on Christmas? These are our favorites.
Members of the Tribe, we have faced great challenges this year, taking Seders and the high holidays virtual and mastering socially distant minyanim. Through shifting CDC policy and mixed messaging from lawmakers, we have tried to keep ourselves safe while honoring our culture. Now, we must once more persevere despite our uncertain world. Yes: We…
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News Tiffany Haddish lends her voice to LA’s socially-distanced Hanukkah celebration
Los Angeles is getting a special gift for Hanukkah this year. Emmy-award winning actress Tiffany Haddish, along with Tom Kenny (“Spongebob Squarepants”), Mark Feuerstein (“Royal Pains”) and more, have brought to life a new Hanukkah-themed animated short, “The Broken Candle.” The film follows a Hanukkah candle box (voiced by Eugenio Derbez) that comes with a…
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The Schmooze ‘Rebecca’ proves that Armie Hammer is better at playing gentle Jews than grim gentiles
Last night the Schmooze went to Manderley again … and it was a huge bummer. Before it even debuted, the Netflix reboot of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca” was slated to go wrong in a lot of ways. A 1938 Gothic thriller with strong “Jane Eyre” vibes, the novel follows a naive 20-something narrator who marries…
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Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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