Longform
Why Was This Humble Jewish Shoemaker Asked To Join the Ku Klux Klan?
Louis Kittner was at work when a small group of prominent North Carolina businessmen came into his shop and asked the Polish Jew to join their club. Its name? The Ku Klux Klan.
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CUNY Under the Anti-Semitism Microscope
How widespread is anti-Semitism at CUNY? According to a recent letter penned by the Zionist Organization of America, it’s rampant — and caused by pro-Palestinian activists. We take a closer look.
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Sacha Baron Cohen’s Long Journey From Anatevka to ‘Grimsby’
For Sacha Baron Cohen, it’s been a long and winding road from a campus production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ to ‘The Brothers Grimsby.’ As his longtime friend Dan Friedman notes, at the heart of the actor’s work has always been the quest for social justice.
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A Refusenik Survives With Love and Pride
Back in 1987, Marina Furman was fighting for the right of Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union. Now, after the joyful marriage of her daughter, she looks back on that terrifying time and her unlikely triumph.
Eat, Drink + Think
Artisanal Matzo From Brooklyn — and All the Dish
Matzapalooza, Italian=style Seder, pros cook Passover, plus restaurant openings and closings, chefs on the move and everything happening this week in the world of Jewish food.
That Time Allen Ginsberg Wrote a Socialist Poem — About Bernie Sanders
In 1986, poet Allen Ginsberg wrote a sonnet about a Vermont town led by a certain Jewish socialist. Allan M. Jalon delves into the history of the poet’s relationship to Bernie Sanders.
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My Search for the 'Male Shiksa'
What happens when a nice Jewish girl starts fantasizing about the perfect non-Jewish boyfriend? Sophia Marie Unterman chronicles a dating odyssey that’s equal parts ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Portnoy’s Complaint.’
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For Shabbat, a Flower Ritual of Her Own
A late-in-life convert to Judaism, C.A. Blomquist had been searching for a private ritual to celebrate Shabbat. And then she walked by her neighborhood flower stall.
When Swimming Felt Like Prayer
There was a time when Amy Shearn thought she had left her Super Jew-y past behind. And then she rediscovered her religion in a surprising place — the swimming pool.
The Secret Identity in My Spam Folder
We all have a secret self, one we live out in private. For Neal Gabler, that self — which awaits dream jobs and Powerball winnings‚ lives in his spam folder.
Why We Want Our Plantings To Be Like Us
In his column, “My Heretical Year,” Shulem Deen ponders the month of Shevat and the “New Year for the Trees,” and contemplates the question of how we convey our Jewishness to future generations.
