This article was produced as part of (JR)’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives. For the past 643 consecutive days (and counting), Eden Agulnik has devoted 10 minutes a day to the language learning app Duolingo. On her phone or computer, […]
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Ten years ago I wrote an article about how America’s Judaica manufacturers now largely operate out of China. The items that aren’t made there are usually created in Israel. Only a few items, like customized skullcaps, are still manufactured in America. In the past decade, my interest in the subject has shifted from journalistic to […]
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When the Academy Museum in Los Angeles was accused of antisemitism over its exhibit on Hollywood’s Jewish founders, one Jewish film historian and author in Los Angeles looked to respond using a different medium: the written word. Sam Wasson, best known for bestselling books on film history and figures such as Francis Ford Coppolla, is […]
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A show by a Jewish playwright interrogating the antisemitism of acclaimed children’s book author Roald Dahl took home three prizes at the Olivier Awards on Sunday. At the prestigious London theater awards ceremony on Saturday, “Giant” earned the prize for best new play, and its star John Lithgow won the award for best actor. Lithgow’s […]
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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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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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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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Sheila Dardashti has spent her lifetime making music — but until recently had never written any of her own. Raised in Queens by Jewish lovers of folk music, Dardashti studied classical guitar in high school. As a young woman, she toured as half of an international folk music duo with her husband, Farid Dardashti, who had […]
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