By the time the playwright Liba Vaynberg and I manage to steal a few minutes on Zoom, it’s already midday on a Friday, which means I’m running late from an appointment at a wig maker and frantically marinating a chicken for Shabbat dinner. I wouldn’t normally describe the circumstances of an interview in an article, […]
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A Palestinian-led docudrama about the Israel-Gaza war, executive-produced by Jewish director Jonathan Glazer, won a top prize at the Venice Film Festival, drawing what may have been a record ovation. The Golden Lion for best film went to a family drama, “Father Mother Sister Brother,” whose stars include the pro-Israel activist Mayim Bialik. Bialik walked […]
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Despite the near-constant worry over, well, nearly everything, but especially our family’s finances, my mother always made sure my brother and I had brand-new outfits on Rosh Hashanah. The shopping for the outfits was one major way my mother showed love. I have strong, happy memories of being with her in the changing room of […]
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A laugh-out-loud Sukkot story that reimagines the classic tale of the three little pigs; an inspiring work of historical fiction story about a Jewish family in Vienna fleeing Nazi persecution and becoming refugees in Shanghai; and a heartwarming Rosh Hashanah story about two quarreling sisters who promise to be better as the Jewish new year […]
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Turkish authorities have canceled a concert by Enrico Macias, the French-Algerian Jewish singer who has performed in the country for decades, citing planned protests over his support for Israel. The Istanbul governor’s office announced the cancellation on Wednesday of Macias’s Friday evening concert in the city’s Şişli district, citing “intense calls for protests” as the […]
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When I walked into the small, ramshackle gymnasium that is our humble synagogue on Shabbat morning this past week, pictures of the 14 children from the congregation who would be starting first grade on Monday decorated the walls. It must have been one of their parents who thought to surround the photos with quotes from […]
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A Jewish comedian confronted Rep. Ritchie Torres over his staunch support for Israel in a tense and emotionally charged interview published on Thursday. “Do you feel in your heart that what you’re saying is right?” Adam Friedland asked Torres after the New York Democratic congressman rejected the idea that Israel is intentionally killing civilians in […]
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The Library of Congress has awarded Geraldine Brooks, a Jewish author whose best-selling novels are often inspired by Jewish history, its prestigious 2025 Prize for American Fiction. Brooks, a former foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel “March,” which reimagines “Little Women” from the father’s perspective, […]
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Returning to Chicago from an artist residency in Maine, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-González surveyed the local Jewish museum scene and found it wanting. “When I came back to Chicago, I wanted to get involved with the ‘Jewish Museum of Chicago,’ and, you know, lo and behold, it doesn’t exist,” said Chalfin-Piney-González, who uses they/them pronouns. “I found that […]
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The last thing one might expect from Jeff Ross — the perennially raunchy, abrasive insult comedian known as a “one-man verbal assault unit” — is a poignant and hilarious Broadway show that, at times, feels like the most Jewish production on the Great White Way since “Fiddler on the Roof.” Ross is best known as […]
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