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Benny Goodman's Big Day
Benny Goodman, the Chicago-born ambassador of jazz, was born on this day just over a century ago. The ninth of twelve children, Goodman’s father was a tailor from Warsaw, who enrolled him in music...
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BREAKING: Israel to Fund Non-Orthodox Rabbis
If Naftali Bennett has his way, for the first time in Israel’s history, the Jewish state will begin funding all rabbis—including those from non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. The Ministry of Religious...
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The Many Jewish Qualities of Helen Fielding's Heroine Bridget Jones
Oh, my friends, the Mother Abbess from The Sound of Music was right: When God closes a door, he really does open a window. Smash may be gone, and my resulting existential crisis not quite solved, but...
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After 23 Years, a Wife Looks Back at the Man She Married and Who He’s Become
When I had been married for a little over a year, a neighbor made a confession to me: “My husband is not the man I married.” Young, naïve, and perplexed, I asked what she meant. “When he was on call...
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Why TV Shows Will Never Be as Good as Great Novels
America, someone once said, is a nation where first-rate minds spend their time discussing second-rate movies. That person should’ve seen Netflix. Ever since the video-on-demand service, and others...
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Big Jew-Off: Roman Polanski Versus Coen Brothers at Cannes
The South of France is concerned. Besides the sogginess, a few severe entanglements with the corporeal world also served to blur any escapist distinctions between life and art. The red-carpet premiere...
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VIDEO: Lapid to Ultra-Orthodox: "We Need You"
Tommy Lapid, the father of Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid, was infamous for his anti-religious rhetoric. He reserved his harshest invective for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox, whom he regularly dubbed...
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Daybreak
• 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali, who is destined to have a totally normal adolescence, won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee last night by correctly spelling the word knaidel. The Jewish dumpling...
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The Zombie Plan for Middle East Peace
In a few days time, what’s being heralded as one of the first Israeli action horror movies (other than this clip of Ehud Barak singing at a military graduation) will be screening at a film festival in...
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Israel's Tal Law, Which Exempted the Ultra-Orthodox From Military Service,...
On May 29, the Israeli government approved a proposal that would end the controversial exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the military. The Tal Law, as it was dubbed, was deemed unconstitutional by...
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The Etymology of Knaidel, Yesterday's Winning Word in the Scripps Spelling Bee
Millions tuned in last night to watch the 11 finalists duke it out for the 86th annual Scripps Spelling Bee title. The winner, two-time third-place finisher Arvind Mahankali, walked away with...
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Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary Turns 75
Happy 75th birthday to Peter Yarrow, one-third of the folk singin’, protest slangin’ Peter, Paul, and Mary. From marching for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala. to defending...
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Joshua Prager Finds the Man Who Broke His Neck
Joshua Prager is a reporter best known for tracking down elusive characters whose lives were altered in an instant—people like Tehran-based photographer Jahangir Razmi, the only anonymous winner of a...
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Noah Baumbach, 'Frances Ha,' and the Futility of Post-Woody-Allen-ism
Frances Ha, the latest film from writer-director Noah Baumbach, is shot in gorgeous black-and-white, with a score by French New Wave composer Georges Delerue, against which a neurotic young artist in...
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Is It Time for Barack Obama To Go Cold on Turkey's Emerging Dictatorship?
Last weekend, years of pent-up fury and frustration erupted into anti-government demonstrations as tens of thousands of Turks took to the streets of Istanbul to protest the increasing authoritarianism...
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Article 7
• This weekend’s massive anti-government protests in Turkey, which erupted in response to government plans to turn Istanbul’s Gezi Park into a shopping complex, were shut down by the government with...
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New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg Dies at 89
Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat from New Jersey, died this morning at age 89 from complications from viral pneumonia. Lautenberg is survived by his wife, six children, and 13 grandchildren....
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Why Alice Walker’s Attack on Alicia Keys for Playing in Israel is Ignorant
When I saw that Alice Walker had written an open letter urging Alicia Keys to cancel her upcoming concert in Israel, my first instinct was to look away. Ever since the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist...
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Israeli Singer Yehoram Gaon is Back with a New Album—Featuring Mizrahi...
Nearly 17 years after his last album, Yehoram Gaon—one of Israel’s most prominent public figures; a singer, actor, director, producer, and radio host—is making a musical comeback, which is considered...
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Israel Beats Honduras 2-0 in Friendly Soccer Match at New York's City Field
A sea of blue and white at Citi Field in Queens—but whose? By chance, Honduras and Israel, which played an international soccer friendly there Sunday, have strikingly similar flags. With an announced...
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