(ANALYSIS) To discover that Christopher Columbus, long whispered to have Jewish heritage, had markers of Sephardic DNA is to me about as monumental as learning the Earth is round circa 1492. In other words, it’s a belated conclusion that should effectively change little about how we understand the world today — even if some would have it otherwise.
Read MoreTo understand why Jews love the New York Mets so much requires a Talmudic understanding of New York City history, sports history and Jewish psychology. It’s also about the DNA of baseball and Brooklyn in the 1950s; being called “amazin’” when you’re actually the worst team around, and disappointing fans so often that reveling in your losses becomes a badge of honor.
Read MoreThe website, AtoneNet, posted the responses — no names attached — for public perusal, and before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, published a pamphlet compiling them. Printed out and tucked inside a holiday prayer book, the community’s confessions gave the liturgy — and the act of repentance — a 21st-century refresh and personalized feel.
Read MoreHank Greenberg was also Jewish, and he is often called America’s first Jewish sports superstar. As Greenberg wrote in his autobiography, that was not an easy honor to bear. Greenberg played during a time of rising antisemitism, and the cruel taunts he suffered from players and fans lasted throughout his career. Here's a look back at the man known as the "The Hebrew Hammer."
Read MoreThe Israel-Hamas war has dominated public debate, influenced elections and seeped into every aspect of life for a year. And people have learned to succinctly display their position through various visual cues, whether on T-shirts or placards held at marches. Not all of these are new. The keffiyeh and Palestinian flag have long been mainstays in protests, as have the Star of David and Israel’s colors. Over the past year, however, new symbols have also emerged to show solidarity.
Read MoreIsrael’s plan to rebuild is focused on returning residents to the Gaza border region, so one group has been trying to fundraise $25 million for the move together to a new location, a plan that relies on American Jewish donors who have so far been wary of funding an unconventional project that some other Nir Oz residents have denounced as a betrayal.
Read More(OPINION) When I moved to Israel, I couldn’t have foreseen the horror that would unfold less than two months later, when Hamas terrorists stormed the southern border, massacred 1,200 citizens, and took 251 others hostage on Oct. 7. In all the years I spent dreaming of my aliyah — the return to the homeland described in Jewish texts — I never accounted for the country being thrust into national disarray.
Read MoreLev Kreitman has seen plenty of trauma. He was at the Nova festival on Oct. 7, when it was attacked by Hamas. Then, as a reserve soldier, he was sent into Gaza. On Tuesday, when two gunmen opened fire in Tel Aviv near his home, Kreitman leapt into action, shooting one of them. At least seven people were killed in the attack, which took place at a light rail station in Jaffa, in the south of the city.
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Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel Tuesday, inflicting no serious casualties, Israeli officials reported. But as missiles rained down on Tel Aviv, two men killed at least six people in a terror attack at the light rail station in nearby Jaffa.
Read More(REVIEW) Presented as an offbeat rom-com, “Between the Temples” contains a depth of feeling and personal reflection that’s admirable. It’s a must-see for many reasons, and only one of them is its central romance. It’s also a hilarious misadventure, a reflection on life and relationships and the beautiful journey two people take to rediscovering faith.
Read More(OPINION) There is a Talmudic dictum that states, “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This is part of a discussion of the laws of self-defense, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited it with reference to the targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Read More(OPINION) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a good speaker with a very good case: Israel is under attack by Iranian-backed terrorists whom the world community is rather guilty of appeasing. If he had stuck to that message in his Friday address to the United Nations General Assembly and gone on to project some humanity and vision, it might have been a more effective speech.
Read MoreThe pager attack that killed at least a dozen people and injured thousands in Lebanon is the latest high-tech subterfuge in a long history of covert ops attributed to Israel.
Read MoreA new picture book is telling the story of a girl who takes her Jewish faith into her own hands, one swing of a plastic white ball at a time. “Ping-Pong Shabbat” recounts the true story of Estee Ackerman, a Modern Orthodox ping pong sensation from Long Island. At 11, Ackerman refused to play the final round of the U.S. National Ping Pong Championships because the match landed on Shabbat.
Read MoreAmerican Jewish groups are publicly blasting former President Donald Trump for his assertion that “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with it” if he loses the election. Trump’s remark, made in a Thursday speech to a Jewish audience in Washington, D.C., aligns with his past expressions of frustration toward American Jews for their tendency to vote for Democrats.
Read MoreThere is a long history of hot rabbis on our pages and screens dating back to the dawn of the rabbinic tradition. There are manhood-measuring contests in the Talmud, smolder-eyed gazes from young Hasidic leaders in Yiddish literature and Ben Stiller as a very eligible junior rabbi in a cult hit rom-com.
Read More(OPINION) Can you imagine the level of physical and psychological trauma throughout Lebanon and parts of Syria as thousands of Hezbollah pagers exploded, leaving many Islamic militants injured, hundreds of them critically, and several of them dead? It sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie more than real life, especially at the scale on which it occurred.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Two-thirds of college students do not hold views toward Israel or Jews “likely to threaten their relationship with their Jewish peers,” a new study from Brandeis University found. But what about the remaining third? Researchers found that group split roughly equally between those who expressed hostility toward Israel (but not Jews) and those who thought poorly of Jews, not Israel.
Read More(REVIEW) Adam Sandler has gotten better at guitar since “Chanukah Song.” In his new Netflix comedy special, "Love You," the comedian plays a long, honestly impressive, flamenco riff before bursting into a song in which he complains about mowing the lawn, and also whinnies like a horse. Guitar skill, it seems, is the only thing that’s changed about Sandler.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When the second installment in the blockbuster “Dune” franchise came out, it was hard not to see it as a not-very-subtle metaphor for the Israel-Hamas war. It was starnge to watch scenes of guerilla warriors in headscarves when I saw the same images on the news. Lately, people have been finding those same parallels in other movies or TV series about conflict.
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