While long overshadowed in the pantheon of Jewish holidays, Sukkot is the big one in the Bible – garnering the most mentions in the sacred text and coinciding with major ritual sacrifices and the reading of the Torah. But does this holiest of Jewish festivals have pagan origins? According to historical research, two of the…
In a new article published in The Forward, Stephen Walt claims that time has proved his and John Mearsheimer’s writings on the Israel lobby correct. Ten years ago, they wrote that a loose network of pro-Israel political and policy organizations negatively influence U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. Yet, Walt’s efforts to show how…
As Roz Chast informs readers in her new book, “Going Into Town: A Love Letter To New York,” from Bloomsbury USA, grilled cheese is a blissfully safe food to eat in the gustatory wilds of Manhattan. That, and eggs: “YOU CANNOT GO TOO WRONG,” she writes. The instruction’s uncontained maternal anxiety is charming; “Going Into…
Yesterday, I attended the March for Racial Justice in New York City. It was a march graciously and thoughtfully put together after the organizers of the same march in DC realized that they had scheduled their original march on Yom Kippur. It was a perfect, sunny day. There was a feeling of hope in the…
Sukkot was once the holiday of canvas walls (through which you feel every hint of a breeze), construction-paper chains (pray it won’t rain), and thin bamboo mats for ceilings. But like all things these days, from scented candles to gym clothes, sukkahs are going luxe. From walls made entirely of boxwood, to suspended cage-bird lanterns,…
Ten years ago, John Mearsheimer and I published a controversial article and subsequent book examining the impact of the “Israel lobby” — that is, a loose coalition of pro-Israel individuals and organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Christians United for Israel, just…
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, recently penned an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Haaretz. The letter was entitled “Netanyahu Refuses to Talk to Us. But We American Jews Won’t Be Silenced”, and it was prompted by Netanyahu telling reporters that the non-Orthodox movements are using the Western…
How much will a synagogue seat this High Holidays season run you? Quite a lot, in some cities. Curious about the exact numbers, we did a survey of some of the most expensive synagogue sanctuary seats in New York City, comparing price tags according to numbers posted online and those given by synagogue receptionists. The…
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