Ask the Rabbis | How Can We Avoid the Trap of Self-Righteousness?
Everyone wants to be right—in the right way. What’s the line between striving for moral perfection and being a jerk?
Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest: Why We Still Write Holocaust Fiction
Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest presents:
Authors Ruby Namdar (The Ruined House), Ruth Franklin (A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction) and Moment editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein (Elie Wiesel: An Extraordinary Life) discuss the enduring power–and perils–of Holocaust fiction.
Prior to the conversation, the 2020 Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest winners read excerpts from their stories:
1st place – Omer Friedlander, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land
2nd place – Linda Brettler, Private
3rd place – Rona Arato, Polonaise
Fiction | The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land
Simcha was the man who sold air from the Holy Land, not to be confused with those unimaginative con artists who sold oil from the Oily Land or water from the Dead Sea.
Talk of the Table | Meatballs Cursed by Jews
Among the pages of a medieval Middle Eastern cookbook lies a 600-year-old recipe with a title equal parts perplexing and alarming: “Meatballs Cursed by Jews.”
Ask the Rabbis | Does Absolute Evil Exist, and If So, What Does It Look Like Today?
Evil was introduced the moment God looked at Creation and “saw that it was good!” For the existence of good implies the existence of evil, just as big implies small and cold implies hot.
Talk of the Table | The Horseradish Chronicles
I slumbered eyes-open through childhood seders, bored out of my mind, wondering if that meant I was the Wicked Son, or in my case, the Wicked Daughter, who counted even less.
Visual Moment | Sacred Art from an Italian Ghetto
In the middle of the 18th century in the city of Ancona on the Adriatic coast of central Italy, a young Jewish girl, about age 15, produced a stunning work of embroidery.
Ask the Rabbis | Post-Pandemic, What Elements of Virtual Judaism Will We Keep?
In 2018, as synagogues pondered livestreaming some services for the convenience of infirm relatives, we asked the rabbis to contemplate what was surely a distant, speculative future: “What role should virtual presence play in Jewish ritual and community?”
Talk of the Table | A Persian-Flavored Purim
This year for Purim, which begins on the evening of February 25, why not celebrate with a dish that evokes the setting of the Megillah (the story of Queen Esther) in ancient Persia?
Visual Moment | A Biblical Family Torn Asunder
Some works of art are perfect receptacles for the stresses and troubles of their times while they are graced with a wisdom that is fundamental and ongoing, making them perpetually relevant.
Ask the Rabbis | Jewish Ethics and Electronic Surveillance
Some issues dominate the news; others drift along under the radar. This is literally true of electronic surveillance, a worldwide and quickly growing force that could profoundly change our lives.
Can Robots be Jewish? And Other Pressing Questions of Modern Life
Amy E. Schwartz, in conversation with New York Times best-selling author Laura Blumenfeld, discusses whether robots can be Jewish and other perennial questions, such as what Judaism has to say about love, miracles, the afterlife and so much more from Amy’s new book, Can Robots Be Jewish? And Other Pressing Questions of Modern Life , a selection of questions and answers drawn from Moment’s ever-popular Ask the Rabbis column. This smart and provocative talk is perfect for anyone interested in the rich diversity of Jewish thought on contemporary questions.