Mendy Samstein (1938-2007), Unsung Hero of Freedom Summer
Editor’s Note: This story is part of our yearlong anniversary coverage of Jews’ involvement in the American Civil Rights Movement.
Fiction // Lecha Dodi
Lecha Dodi // According to tradition, Mordechai led the way. When the day was expiring, he emerged from his house in white garments. The cares of the working week fell away, and he prepared with discreet joy for the Sabbath. His hair, just visible under his head covering, would be moist from immersion in the ritual bath.
The Theocracy in Democracy Project: An Uneasy Union
When it comes to marriage & divorce, Israel is a theocracy under the control of its Orthodox Rabbinate. What can be done?
What Makes Us Happy? A Symposium
The search for happiness is as old as humanity itself. In Jewish culture, the subject of happiness surfaces in biblical
Jewish Word // Kinehora
In 2004, the stoic, cowboy-esque Clint Eastwood unexpectedly proved himself more Tevye the Dairyman than Dirty Harry. In response to a reporter’s question about the chances of his movie, Mystic River, winning the Best Picture Oscar, Eastwood cried, “Kinehora!” He explained that it was a Jewish expression used to ward off a jinx, one of countless protective folk actions intended to avoid, fool or attack evil spirits.
From Ghetto to Glamour
Entrepreneurial 19th-century Jewish immigrants reshaped the garmnet industry and paved the way for today’s fashion superstars. From jeans to attached collars to Hollywood glamour to preppy clothes and schmatte chic, Jews have defined the American look.
What is the Future of Religious Freedom in the United States?
We talk to some of the “rock stars” of First Amendment scholarship: Marci Hamilton, Charles Haynes, Douglas Laycock, David Saperstein, Marc Stern, Jeffrey Toobin, Asma Uddin and others to explore contested issues—from contraception to sharia—and shed light on what they think will happen next.
2014 Spotlight on Poland
PREVIEW OF THE CORE EXHIBITION OF THE MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS
My personal journey to Jewish identity has taken place by way of the past. Like many immigrants from Eastern Europe, my grandparents and great-grandparents rarely spoke of the Old Country, leaving me to spend years trying to piece together the clues. This longing to know more about my family’s origins led me to genealogical research and DNA testing, to towns and shtetls in Ukraine, and to Moment.
Hungary at the Turning Point
It’s a few days before the May 25 European Parliament elections, and the streets of Budapest are awash with colorful campaign posters urging Hungarians to vote for delegates to represent their country in Brussels. It would be a shining display of democracy in action, a comforting reminder of Hungary’s ten-year membership in the European Union after decades of repressive communist rule, if not for the fact that…
Test-Tube Burgers: Holy Cow?
In Genesis, God granted humans dominion over animals. In modern times, that dominion has spawned one of the planet’s biggest threats: a livestock industry that spews greenhouse gases, guzzles resources and renders the lives of billions of animals brutish and short. Last August, vexed by the problem, a Dutch physiologist named Mark Post came up with a solution: a burger no cow had to die for. He called it the “test-tube burger.”
A Vegetarian’s Take On Kosher Barbecue
by Jennifer Cole It’s 12:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon. Still tired and weary-eyed from the weekend, hungry business people
How Has Jewish Thought Influenced Science?
How has Jewish thinking influenced science? Moment poses the question to scientists and scholars Yehuda Bauer, Jonathan Ben-Dov, Edward Bormashenko, Jeremy Brown, Allison Coudert, Noah Efron, Shmuel Feiner, Gad Freudenthal, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Susan Greenfield, Menachem Kellner, Daniel Matt, Judea Pearl, Jonathan Sacks, Gerald Schroeder, Howard Smith, Hermona Soreq, Moshe Tendler and Yossi Vardi.