If you’ve been getting ready for Purim by obsessively baking varieties of these triangular cookies (may I advise avoiding the chocolate chips and using fresh, tart raspberry jam instead) — you might be wondering exactly how they came to be such iconographic representations of Judaism. Worry not, because you’re about to find out. If you…
God is missing from the Purim megillah. This is disturbing and adds to the moral void in which the story takes place. Esther’s very name comes from the Hebrew nistar, which means “hidden.” There is much about Esther which is hidden — her ambiguous relationship with Mordechai, her Jewish heritage, her deception of the king….
Inspired by the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim, the new campaign #ShareHerStory shares the stories of modern Jewish women of color who are working to create a more inclusive and thriving Jewish community in various ways. As the name sounds, #ShareHerStory shares individual stories of powerful Jewish leaders in short, easy-to-read vignettes as a way…
Just to be clear — it was not a hate crime. Nevertheless, the deed was truly hateful. On Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at approximately 2:30 pm, I was the victim of an armed robbery and carjacking in my school parking lot. That day, like most high school seniors, my mind was on how to pull…
Editorial Well, we had a great run there. It was probably too good to last forever – downright ahistorical, when you come right down to it. But someday in the future, as we huddle together for safety, we’ll tell our children tales of that brief shining moment when we Jews were white. I like to…
The 2,500 attendees of the 2018 Kosher Food and Wine Experience in New York City collectively guzzled more than 1,000 bottles of wine over the course of an afternoon and evening. While I didn’t personally sample quite that many, I made it my mission to discover the best-of-the-best and underrated wines in order to help…
It’s difficult today to look at the orange-and-black paper scenery behind toddlers in ghost costumes and imagine just how disturbing Halloween was a century ago. For the Jewish community — coming from Europe — the devilish practices of Halloween were not only bewildering but also threatening. Yes, we could come to terms with people walking…
It’s fitting that the AIPAC Policy Conference, which convened this week in Washington, D.C., falls every year at around the same time as the holiday of Purim. Because the two have a lot in common. On Purim, Jews read the Book of Esther, which tells the story of a Jew who unexpectedly gains influence with…
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