As we count down the hours left of this challenging year, take a look back at the stories that shaped the American Jewish conversation in 2020. With a mix of serious and light coverage of 2020 politics, pandemics and more, here are Moment’s top articles of 2020
Writer Carolyn Ariella Sofia longs for a deeper connection to her Italian Jewish heritage. Finally, after years of waiting, she finds home.
Before they leave for the Sunshine State, Israel’s government is making sure to show its gratitude to Kushner for four years of holding the administration’s Middle East portfolio, brokering normalization agreements with four Arab countries and shifting America’s policy in the region to a more Likud-oriented posture.
Israelis may not be known for their fancy gifts, but they have a knack for historic symbolic presents.
So what did Kushner find in his goody bag?
An editor hired me to give friendship advice on her website. From the very first question, the gig was beshert.
Esther Wojcicki, educator, journalist and author of How to Raise Successful People, in conversation with Moment’s editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein about her life, creativity and the T.R.I.C.K method, a set of five values – trust, respect, independence, collaboration and kindness – she used to raise her three accomplished daughters Susan (CEO of YouTube), Anne (Founder and CEO of 23andMe) and Janet (professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco) and teach thousands of high school students. She also discusses how these same values can strengthen corporate culture.
No one enjoys looking in the mirror more than Hollywood, and no one does it better—as vastly entertaining show-biz movies like Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s All About Eve, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood can all attest. Now comes Mank, David Fincher’s loving and atmospheric re-creation of 1930s Hollywood.
“This stranger-on-a-train held onto my father’s kindness for decades and, at the moment when I needed it the most, she gave it back to me.”
Join Deborah Lipstadt and Robert Siegel for a conversations on anti-Semitism, hosted by Moment Magazine with the support of the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.
Deborah Lipstadt, author of Antisemitism Here and Now, is a professor at Emory University and is best known for having won a libel suit brought against her in London by David Irving, one of the world’s leading Holocaust deniers. The story of this trial was depicted in the film DENIAL with Academy Award winning actor Rachel Weisz depicting Deborah.
Robert Siegel is the former senior host of NPR’s award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered.
I wore my necklace almost constantly for years, thinking of my grandparents each time I rubbed my fingers across the star’s face.
When it comes to celebrating the Festival of Lights, eating latkes (fried pancakes) is almost as important as lighting the menorah. The hard question is: Which topping belongs on them? Whether you are Team Applesauce, Team Sour Cream, Team Ketchup or on some other team, join us as our great thinkers weigh in on why their favorite topping is best—in the spirit of the popular Latke-Hamantash Debate.
Moderated by C-SPAN Director of Communications Howard Mortman.
Panel:
* Sarah Breger, Moment deputy editor
* Barry Friedman, comedian, author
* Dahlia Lithwick, writer, journalist
* Rabbi Douglas Sagal, Congregation B’nai Israel, Rumson, NJ
* Alan Silberberg, author, cartoonist, screenwriter
It’s a rare treat to discover a film that appeals across the generations, but The Crossing is a perfect example. This movie is true family-friendly storytelling. Set in 1942 Norway, during the third year of the German occupation, this is a particularly poignant and uplifting tale of ordinary youngsters rising to the challenge of rescuing Jewish children during a brutal period of history.
“I’m grateful that Arthur, new to the city, ventured out exploring that weekend, grateful that he chose to walk up Sixth Avenue, grateful that he saw me through the shop’s window that Saturday in 1986, and came in to discover, ‘who belonged to that face.'”
