What Does Jewish Humor Mean Today?
Michael Krasny wants to tell jokes—but he also wants to explain them. “It’s important to be analytical about humor,” he says.
Michael Krasny wants to tell jokes—but he also wants to explain them. “It’s important to be analytical about humor,” he says.
I sat in front of our black-and-white 19-inch TV watching the progress of the war, my heart in my mouth the whole time.
One of the less-celebrated benefits of globalization is that you can walk into a bakery in almost any city in the world on Friday and buy a challah. But not in Shanghai. At least not until this past March.
Hillel’s Angels. The Chai Riders. Yidden On Wheels. The Sons of Abraham. If these phrases read like the names of Jewish biker clubs, it’s because that’s precisely what they are.
“It sends a message that Jerusalem is on the table, and that the Arabs can expect to get parts of the Jewish city of Jerusalem, when in fact it’s almost certain they will not.”
The candidness and emotional vulnerability of Israeli soldiers is of such renown today that there’s even a pejorative for it: yorim ve’bochim, shooting and crying.
Born in Haifa to Eastern European immigrants, Harari now lives with his husband in a moshav outside Jerusalem. A vegan deeply distressed by the suffering of domesticated animals, Harari meditates daily (plus a 60-day silent retreat each year). He does this, he says, to understand more fully the nature of human consciousness and “human dissatisfaction.” Moment talks with Harari about the role of technology in politics and the rise of big data, as well as topics Harari does not usually discuss, such as Judaism and Israel.
“I used to think I knew what Islam was about. Yet as I came to know more Muslims personally and learned more about their faith, I realized that much of what I knew was either flat-out wrong or grossly misguided.”
This February, a banner was raised in Dahlonega, Georgia. The banner, falsely, proclaimed the downtown building it was on a historic hall for the Ku Klux Klan. It provoked instant backlash.
“It’s not a question of supporting [Trump]; Jews support Israel. And is he good for Israel? The answer is, he sure is.”
“As a political historian, I would say that most trips abroad are filled with great hopes and, while they rarely end up in disappointment, they also rarely end up in tremendous achievements.”
I want to celebrate that day when the walls that had cut the city in two came down, and we thought that East and West could merge. But it’s hard to celebrate in Jerusalem when right-wing, nationalistic politicians are putting up new walls.