Pop culture
The Story of Purim Told in Pop Culture GIFs
If you a refresher on the story of Purim and only have, say, 30 seconds, we’ve got you covered.
Remember These 10 Jewish Moments from 2015?
This year, as always, Jews contributed to the worlds of art, music, literature, film, television, comedy — and even Instagram modeling.
The Year Hitler Broke the Internet
From Zara’s ‘Holocaust shirt’ to Nicki Minaj’s music video, 2014 saw an unsettling number of ‘Nazi moments.’ Has the Third Reich gone mainstream?
Shabbat Shalom, Comic Con!
What’s it like to host Shabbat dinner at Comic Con? It starts with meeting Jewverine, progresses to a sip of He’Brew beer, and ends with an in-depth discussion of Kabbalah.
How ‘Fiddler’ Became Folklore
Last February, I attended the Bet Shira Congregation in Miami during the synagogue’s official celebration of Tu B’Shvat, or the New Year for Trees. Festivities for this particular Jewish holiday usually involve the planting of trees, a discussion about the environment or some other similarly agriculturally themed event. But at Bet Shira, synagogue president Ron Rosengarten put on an old vest and a short-brimmed cap. Rabbi Micah Caplan pasted a long gray beard to his chin. And congregant Martin Applebaum donned a puffy-sleeved peasant shirt and stuffed his pants cuffs into the top of his socks. Applebaum also brought 20 rubber chickens to distribute among the audience so they could throw them into the air on the appropriate cue. This was no tree planting. It was a singalong to “Fiddler on the Roof.”
