Jackie Mason had it wrong when he said gentiles are focused on the next cocktail and Jews on the next meal. I’ve now grasped that Jews do their share of imbibing. There’s wine every Shabbat, single malt on Simchat Torah, egg nog on Hanukkah (okay, maybe just in my family), four cups of wine on…
For this week’s Bintel Brief, we’re proud to have Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer answering your letters. Born in Miami Beach, Dermer worked as a political operative first in America, under Republican strategist Frank Luntz, and then in Israel. Most recently, he has been Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s man in Washington, making sure that everything runs…
In an extensive interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Israel of supporting terrorism, said Iran does not want to produce a nuclear weapon and praised his country for protecting Jews. Speaking to NBC News’ Ann Curry Wednesday, Zarif said the current Israeli regime “should be annihilated” but insisted that Iran harbors no ill…
Forget about Halloween! Purim is the real party in Israel. Every year, thousands of children head to school dressed up in their finest costumes, their mishloach manot in hand. That goes for grown ups too (any excuse to tap into your inner child). In cities across the country, big parades, called Adloyada, travel through town,…
When Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress about the dangers of a nuclear Iran, he couldn’t resist drawing a parallel to that other time Jews were threatened by a “Persian potentate.” (Extra points for vocab, Bibi!) We, in turn, couldn’t resist imagining the entire Purim story recast in Bibi terms. Before the fun, the facts. Here’s…
Photograph by Deborah Gardner Just a few hours before Purim, I came across this awesome creation on the blog Seattle Local Food, and just had to share it. For the non-math nerds among us, it’s a hamantaschen created using a mathematical principle known as the Sierpinski triangle. Here’s how Deborah Gardner breaks it down: You…
llustration by Lior Zaltzman I remember when I first realized I didn’t understand Esther — possibly, didn’t even like her. It was Shabbat afternoon and a group of us were reading over the text of the megillah with a woman from my Orthodox synagogue in St. Louis. I was in junior high, with several years…
Arriving at the airport in Tabriz, Iran at 2:30 a.m., I covered my head as the travel agency had instructed. I had come as a tourist, planning to travel the country for three weeks. At immigration, my passport and visa were confiscated because I am American. Segregated from other arriving passengers, in the middle of…
אַן עקספּערט פֿון פֿאַרצײַטיקע קמיעות האָט באַשטעטיקט אַז די קמיע איז געלעגן אויפֿן אָרט פֿונעם אַמאָליקן לאַנד כּנען.
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