[NOTE: This is a slightly edited version of a previous post.] This is the seventh night of Chanukah, and I wish everyone a happy one. Chanukah is about a successful revolt and a miracle of light: The miracle of the … Continue reading →
Young people probably have no idea about that happened back then. But those of us who are older certainly remember. It was stunningly shocking at the time, and even worse because it occurred in Germany at what was supposed to … Continue reading →
This weekend we discussed “the elites” on this thread, and I mentioned that Thomas Sowell had written an entire book on the highly related subject of Intellectuals and Society. Here’s a short discussion with him about it, during the Obama … Continue reading →
The title of this post is taken from the title of a book of photographs by Roman Vishniac, of Jewish life in Eastern Europe in the 1930s. Here is the story of how the photos were taken: …[B]etween 1934 and … Continue reading →
After writing about Midge Decter’s death yesterday, I looked up her husband Norman Podhoretz. I was pretty sure he was still alive, and sure enough, he is – at 92. Decter was 94. So there’s a lot of longevity in … Continue reading →
Hatred of Jews isn’t a new thing for Russia, which in addition to all the rest of its propaganda has specialized in anti-Jewish propaganda for a long time. The Tsarist-era fabrication “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is the … Continue reading →
[The following is a slightly edited repeat of a previous post.] Tonight is the beginning of the Jewish holiday Passover. I’ve been impressed by the fact that Passover is a religious holiday dedicated to an idea that’s not solely religious: … Continue reading →
It’s complicated: Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky declared Tuesday that, when the war is finally over, Ukraine would emerge from the rubble a “big Israel.” He meant that the war would never really be over, that Ukraine would be on a … Continue reading →
I was very surprised, when Zelenskyy was elected, to learn that he was Jewish. The first surprise was that there were any Jews left in Ukraine at all, given the history of Jews there. The second was that the Ukrainians … Continue reading →
Let me start by asking whether anyone has accused Whoopi Goldberg of cultural appropriation regarding her stage name? Not only was her birth name Caryn Johnson, but her Jewish last name – and of course her silly first name – … Continue reading →
The initial articles’ descriptions of the end of the Texas synagogue standoff were so murky that I wondered what really happened. Had law enforcement been instrumental in freeing the hostages, or not? Had they been let go? Had they escaped? … Continue reading →
[NOTE: The topic of the two-volume graphic novel Maus came up in a recent thread, and I’ve decided to republish a review that I first wrote in 2009. So here it is.] I recently reread the two-volume graphic novel Maus, … Continue reading →