In 2009, Dennis Gaitsgory, an Israeli-American who was then a math professor at Harvard University, co-wrote a petition asking the two leading Israeli politicians — conservative Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Tzipi Livni — not to include Avigdor Liberman, seen as a hardliner, in any governing coalition they would form. It didn’t work. When Netanyahu became […]
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When the world got news of Val Kilmer’s passing on Tuesday, many Jews surely thought of the movie star’s iconic turn providing the voices for God and Moses in the 1998 animated feature “The Prince of Egypt,” a perennial Passover favorite. But the late actor had a lesser-known Jewish movie moment, centered on another holiday, […]
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A host of new documentaries are showcasing a wide array of experiences stemming from Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and its aftermath, particularly in the United States. Three of the movies — including one in wide release — interview Jewish Americans about their experience with antisemitism on campus and beyond. Another documentary takes […]
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Jewish fans of HBO’s “The Pitt” heard a familiar verse in the hit medical drama’s latest episode when the show’s main character, Dr. Michael Robinavitch, consoled himself by reciting the Shema. A scene at the beginning of the 14th episode featured the character, known as “Dr. Robby,” clutching his Star of David necklace and shakily […]
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Eighty years after Auschwitz was liberated from the Nazis, Jews who make a pilgrimage there can eat kosher food. A mile from the concentration camp, visitors will be able to buy packaged, shelf-stable kosher meals for the first time at the Auschwitz Jewish Center — now a museum and the only surviving synagogue in Oświęcim, […]
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A kiddush cup that may have been passed around the Friday night dinner table during the reign of Ghengis Khan will be available for auction this fall. The rare remnant of the Silk Road, the ancient Asian trading route that was home to vibrant Jewish communities, is the oldest known Jewish artifact from the Middle […]
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When Abby Chava Stein, 33, stepped away from her ultra-Orthodox upbringing, she wasn’t just leaving behind her way of life and her family — she was stepping into her authentic self. Now, the first openly transgender female rabbi from a Hasidic background takes center stage in “Becoming Eve,” a new play adapted from Stein’s 2019 […]
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(JR) — A young woman rabbi attempts to guide others while grappling with her own questions and facing down a community’s utter bewilderment that she is in fact the rabbi. The situation makes a premise ripe for comedy and drama in the new Max series “Reformed,” or “Le Sens Des Choses” in French. It was […]
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The Jewish Theological Seminary, best known for training Conservative rabbis as well as Judaic scholars and communal workers, hopes to raise a new kind of crop: Jewish fiction writers. The Manhattan seminary is launching a new Master’s in Fine Arts in Creative Writing, a two-year, low-residency program to be directed by the prize-winning Israeli author […]
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When Shoshana Polakoff was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 at the age of 37, her life was suddenly turned upside down. With three young children at home and intense chemotherapy on the horizon, she felt overwhelmed. As Polakoff learned more about the road ahead, she realized that in addition to questions about her health […]
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