From the Editor | The Place Where We Are Right
I have been editing Moment for so long now that I can close my eyes before a story is published and see the letters to the editor and comments that we are going to receive.
Oh, I Remember the Black Birch: Play Reading and Talkback w/ Velina Hasu Houston & Keren M. Goldberg
This program is part of the 2021 Moment Theater Festival.
In the Autumn of 1941, 18-year-old Brina Berman, a Jewish Polish young woman from Warsaw, finds herself alone in Kobe, Japan, having traveled halfway across the world following the Nazi invasion of her hometown and murder of her family. Thus unfolds a little-known true story of what happened to Jewish refugees when Japanese Diplomat Chiune Sugihara was stationed in Kovno, Lithuania and wrote transit visas to Japan, saving thousands of Jews who were running from the advancing German army. Seen through her many struggles in Kobe, Brina is surprised to find an established Jewish community and nurturing Japanese residents and organizations working to support the arriving Jewish refugees.
The cast, director, and playwright of Oh, I Remember the Black Birch discuss their new original play about a young Jewish woman struggling in a new country and finding community during the Holocaust. Playwright Velina Hasu Houston is also in conversation with producer and dramaturg Keren M. Goldberg about the journey of Oh, I Remember the Black Birch which is inspired by true events.
Moment Debate | Is the Filibuster Good for Democracy?
Democracy entails more than merely majority rule. It implies concern about minority rights.
The Ghosts of the Khan of Ajjur
I immediately understood that I was being confronted, face-to-face, with the uncomfortable scenario that hangs over every Israeli who today lives in a formerly Arab-owned house.
Opinion | ‘Replacement Theory,’ Mainstreamed
White replacement theory, the repugnant racist trope that claims America’s white population is being displaced by people of color, is once again receiving a wide audience among those feeling malnourished by Donald Trump’s absence from their social media feeds.
How Republicans Talk to Jewish Supporters
There’s an easy—yet inaccurate—way to describe the current relationship between the two political parties and their Jewish voters: Democrats win Jewish votes on all issues relating to domestic affairs, including antisemitism, and they lose Jewish votes when it comes to their policy toward Israel. On the flip side, Republicans win over Jewish voters thanks to their stance on Israel, but they have a blind spot for antisemitism that works against them.
Groundswell: Abby Bresler on Climate and Disability Justice
Abby Bresler is a senior at Dartmouth College and the coordinator of the Jewish Youth Climate Movement.
Opinion | A Small Religious Revolution
It is easy to list the many things that the relatively new and highly diverse Israeli government cannot do. Example: It cannot advance a peace process with the Palestinians, nor an annexation in the West Bank.
Opinion | The Summer of 1942
On July 1,1942, Cairo was about to fall to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s German and Italian forces.
From the Archives | Saving General Lee
While you can take the boy out of Mississippi, you can’t take Mississippi out of the boy. My jeep had a red and white Rebel Flag on the back spare tire and a plastic statue of General Robert E. Lee stuck on the dash, making it most likely the only Confederate shrine in the Middle East.
Staff Picks: From ‘Mrs. Maisel’ to ‘Of Mice and Men’
What we’re reading—and watching—this week.