This article originally appeared on Kveller. My father, Michael Horen, was an artist by training and a graphic designer by profession. But the word I most often use to describe him is “humanitarian.” That’s not because he ever did any international aid work, but because throughout his life, he really sought to make connections with […]
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(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — One of the most controversial — and tone-deaf — front-page headlines to appear in The New York Jewish Week during the 26 years I served as editor (1993-2019) was published the morning after 9/11 — 20 years ago. Across the top of the page, in moon landing-size bold […]
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NEW YORK (JTA) — Like many New Yorkers, Dara Horn remembers the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, unfolding like a surreal nightmare. Sitting in her Manhattan apartment, watching the second tower go up in smoke on live TV. Walking down streets plastered with posters bearing the faces of missing people. Crying every day for six […]
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(JTA) — If you know any young children or fidgety adults, chances are you’ve seen, heard, or coveted a handheld piece of dimpled silicone known as a “pop-it.” The must-have toy was originally created in the 1970s by an Israeli couple with a penchant for playthings, according to a BBC report that calls the pop-it […]
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(JTA) — On Sept. 11, 2001, the greatest Holocaust film ever made, before or since, premiered at a festival — and quickly disappeared, largely unnoticed. The film’s cast included Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, David Arquette, Michael Stuhlbarg and Mira Sorvino, and it was written and directed by the acclaimed Jewish actor Tim Blake Nelson. Roger […]
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Today the Gemara continues its discussion of the labors that would ordinarily be prohibited on festivals but are permitted because they allow one to prepare food. There turn out to be a number of interesting facets here. For instance, preparing food wasn’t just about slaughtering animals or preparing grains and then cooking them. It also inevitably meant […]
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In his commentary on the Torah, the medieval Jewish thinker Nahmanides (a.k.a. Ramban) refers to the types of work permitted on festivals as melekhet hana’ah, “work of pleasure.” These are the actions which are forbidden on Shabbat but permitted on festivals because they offer more opportunity for good, fresh food which will enhance the pleasure of the celebration. But just […]
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(JTA) — Arizona is divesting close to $200 million from Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever, becoming the first state to do so because of the ice cream brand’s decision in July to stop selling its product in the West Bank. The state’s Treasurer Kimberly Yee, a Republican who is running for governor, had sent […]
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by Contributing Author The beauty of our world lies in the diversity of its people. It is the single-most greatest gift of our civilization. Considering how different we look, speak, and dress up, it is astounding how similar we are. In the fashion world, we see jewelry made for a particular target audience. Some are […]
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It’s easy to mistake Yom Kippur for a somber occasion. Many of the traditions observed on Yom Kippur — abstaining from eating, drinking, and marital relations, or swapping out leather shoes for sneakers or Crocs — are also prohibited on Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, and other days of communal mourning. […]
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