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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Miscommunication Marks Early History of Sephardic-Ashkenazic Relations in U.S.

by Adam Kirsch

A hundred years ago, if you walked the streets of the Lower East Side, you would expect to hear Yiddish spoken all around you and to see storefronts covered in Hebrew letters spelling Yiddish words.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Immigrant’s Magic Touch Brought ‘Gold’ to Southland

by Daniel A Olivas

Through Frances Dinkelspiel’s literary blog, Ghost Word (francesdinkelspiel.blogspot.com), I kept up with the progress of her biography of Isaias Hellman, a Jewish immigrant who arrived in California in 1859 from Bavaria. As with many immigrants, Hellman had very little money; however, by the end of his life, he had transformed Los Angeles into a modern city and helped California become an economic power.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Scarlett O’Hara on the Galilee — A Yishuv Pioneer

by Adam Kirsch, Nextbook

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Civil War Jews Who Weren’t Just Whistlin’ Dixie

by Dara Horn

At the Passover seder next Wednesday evening, our children will recite the traditional question, “How is this night different from all other nights?” But the adults at the table are the ones who appreciate how this night really is different — not only from the rest of the year, but from the Passover seders of the past. As I started writing my third novel about Jewish spies during the Civil War, I began to wonder if American Jews had ever sat down at a seder where every part of the meal was served by slaves. As I discovered in my research, they did.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

20th Century Zionist Asks: ‘Has Jacob Become Esau?’

By Michael Berenbaum

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

After Kindertransport —A Life Fully Lived, Recalled

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Frieda Korobkin was orphaned by the Holocaust, but because she spent the war years living protected in the English countryside, she didn’t really consider herself a survivor — and she never thought about writing her memoirs.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

‘A Restless Spirit’ Soars, Q&A With Richard Gunther

By Tom Tugend

‘A Restless Spirit’ Soars, Q&A With Richard Gunther

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

How Torah Revolutionized Political Theory

By Rabbi David Wolpe

Why do we read the Bible? For religion to be sure, but also for politics. After all, unlike the New Testament, which was written in the era of Roman rules and did not have to offer prescriptions for governance (the Romans handled all that), the Bible was a manual not only for individual piety, but also for setting up a society. What does it teach that the surrounding worlds did not know?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Stormin’ da castle: Tony Curtis in Hollywood

By Adam Kirsch

Curtis doesn't fully appreciate how much his on-screen allure owed to his being Jewish

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Disraeli: The curious case of England’s Jewish prime minister

By Rabbi David Wolpe

Benjamin Disraeli was born Jewish, baptized as a boy but (mostly) considered himself to be Jewish. He famously proclaimed to Queen Victoria -- who began by hating him and ended adoring him -- that he was the "blank page" separating the Old and New Testaments.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Jamie Sneider’s ‘Jewish Woman’ ain’t your bubbe’s 2009 calendar [VIDEO]

By Jay Firestone

Racy, tongue-in-cheek calendars are also an inspiration for Jamie Sneider, whose photos appear on every page of the "Jamie Sneider: Year of the Jewish Woman" calendar for 2009

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Genetic research can open book on Jewish identity—for good and bad

By Adam Wills

Critics fear that Jewish genetic research also opens a Pandora's box. The discovery of a shared genetic marker among men who claim to be descended from Kohanim grew into wild, exaggerated claims in the media that geneticists had confirmed the story of Aaron

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Writer discovers California ‘Gold’ in banking ancestor Isaias Hellman

By Karen S. Wilson

Isaias Hellman was arguably the single most powerful and influential Jew in the United States from the last quarter of the 19th century until his death in 1920

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Edward Kritzler’s history of Jewish pirates is uneven

By Adam Kirsch

There are places you expect to find Jews and places you don't, and in the second category, the deck of a pirate ship ranks pretty close to the top

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Novelist A.B. Yehoshua raises the question: Can Jewishness be shed?

By Adam Kirsch, Nextbook

A.B. Yehoshua, long recognized as one of Israel's best novelists, has in recent years also emerged as one of its most prominent scolds.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Facing God, and the challenge of individual conscience

By Rabbi David Wolpe

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Danny Goldberg: Hangin’ with the ‘geniuses’ of rock ‘n’ roll

By Karla S. Blume

No one ever said the life of a rock 'n' roll star was easy, and if you're the one responsible for their success, keeping an artist both successful and happy can be no less daunting

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wild about Diamond

By Tom Teicholz

David Wild wants you to know that he is an unabashed Neil Diamond fan. So much so that he has written a book titled, "He Is ... I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond"

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Q&A with Betsy Brown Braun—Hollywood’s go-to parenting guru

By Naomi Pfefferman

" . . . I'd met so many parents who are talented career people, but can be humbled to their knees by a 4-year-old. They'd say, 'Betsy, what do I say? What do I do? Help!' -- so I offer actual scripts that can be a starting point for parents . . . '

Friday, November 7, 2008

If I had just one Jewish book to read . . . .

By Anita K. Kantrowitz

The Jewish Journal asked several authors appearing at Sunday's Celebration of Jewish Books to answer a question that, at least for writers, has existential overtones: "If you were stranded on a deserted island, what Jewish book would you want to have with you, and why?"

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Kaniuk’s writerly riffs probe Israeli psyche

By Tom Teicholz

" . . . I'm talking to Shlomo Shva about my daughters, trying to dredge up a little sympathy. He knows about that. The harshest criticism of Israel and the Jews has always come from us. The biggest anti-Semites of all are educated Israelis, and my daughters are as fanatical as they are, but sweeter than most . . . "

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Benyamin Cohen gets Jewish with Jesus

By Brad A. Greenberg

"I am, for better or worse, burdened for all eternity by my religion" -- Benyamin Cohen

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Teen's green book for kids hits stores

By Rachel Heller

It's never too early to start educating kids about the environment, says Alison Hestrin Lerner -- so the Harvard-Westlake high school senior in September published a children's book, "The Green Street Kids: The Earth Warriors," targeting future "green" advocates aged four and up.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Hey, Hipster Jew—you probably think this book is about you

By Jay Firestone

If you count yourself among the Heebsters and Sheebsters, you're proud to be a Jew and have no reservations when it comes to flaunting your J-bling. If this is all new to you, welcome to the world of hipster Jews.