Bernie and Hilary
08 Mar
Uncategorized

Opinion // It’s Not Just That Hillary Is a Woman

And it’s not enough that Bernie is Jewish. by Letty Cottin Pogrebin  People keep asking Jewish feminists like me which would excite us more, the first woman or the first Jew in the Oval Office. The answer is, it depends on which woman and which Jew. The mere thought of President Carly Fiorina or Vice President Sarah Palin gave me palpitations. But in 1984, when Geraldine Ferraro became Walter Mondale’s Democratic running mate, I rejoiced, because she wasn’t just any woman; she was an “out” feminist, fearless in her advocacy for gender equity and reproductive rights and against discrimination, poverty, racism, homophobia and violence against women. Oddly enough, in the 2016 campaign, it’s okay to call yourself a feminist, but not to be explicitly pro-woman—as if half the human race is just another interest group. I’m supporting Hillary...

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Middle East Peace Talks
07 Mar
2016 March-April, Big Questions, Israel

An All-Women Symposium: The Missing XX-Factor

1| What more could be done to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians? 2| What might women bring to the peace process if more were included? with Ruth Calderon, Tamara Cofman Wittes, Nadia Hijab, Naomi Chazan, Caroline Glick, Fania Oz-Salzberger, Laila El-Haddad, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Anat Saragusti, Cora Weiss, Sarai Aharoni, Noura Erakat, Laura Blumenfeld, Lara Friedman, Simone Susskind, Felice Friedson, Leila Hilal & Galia Golan Interviews by Sarah Breger, Marilyn Cooper, Dina Gold, Anna Isaacs, George E. Johnson & Sala Levin When did you last hear someone say something new about the peace process? And when did you last hear someone new say it? Every day, it seems, a panel of experts—diplomats, pundits, scholars, chin-pullers of all varieties—convenes to chew over the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations. These groups all have something in common: They are overwhelmingly...

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01 Mar
Culture, Moment Magazine

The Slur That Won’t Go Away

by Kayla Green JAP: The word has lost almost all of its taboo status, becoming something close to a knee-jerk reaction to any Semitic-looking girl wearing designer clothing or showing any other signs of wealth. The word, which connotes a long history of ugly generalizations, is often bandied about without a moment’s hesitation. The recent YouTube sensation “Pursuit of Jappiness,” a parody of a song by rapper Kid Cudi, has racked up more than 275,000 views and proves that the word JAP still packs a punch; the video mocks the Jewish population at the University of Michigan with lines such as “When I say JAP, I don’t mean the Japanese, I mean the chicks taking pics at the frat parties, and the dudes at the Scarsdale driving range, new Beamer? Pssh, pocket change.” Lines like these create...

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01 Mar
Culture, Moment Magazine

The Slur That Won't Go Away

by Kayla Green JAP: The word has lost almost all of its taboo status, becoming something close to a knee-jerk reaction to any Semitic-looking girl wearing designer clothing or showing any other signs of wealth. The word, which connotes a long history of ugly generalizations, is often bandied about without a moment’s hesitation. The recent YouTube sensation “Pursuit of Jappiness,” a parody of a song by rapper Kid Cudi, has racked up more than 275,000 views and proves that the word JAP still packs a punch; the video mocks the Jewish population at the University of Michigan with lines such as “When I say JAP, I don’t mean the Japanese, I mean the chicks taking pics at the frat parties, and the dudes at the Scarsdale driving range, new Beamer? Pssh, pocket change.” Lines like these create...

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14 Feb
Arts & Culture, Culture, Latest

The Combative Pacifism and Poetry of Grace Paley

by Amanda Walgrove Grace Paley was a Jewish pacifist accused of having an Irish temper. Armed with a strong Bronx accent and a stronger rhetorical voice, she took progressive matters into her own hands during a time when women weren’t always heard. As she asserted in one of her most well known poems: “It is the responsibility of society to let the poet be a poet. It is the responsibility of the poet to be a woman.” Paley wrote with a distinct voice that was shockingly independent, producing stories that were unashamedly lewd and hilarious. Lily Rivlin's 2010 documentary, Grace Paley: Collected Shorts, screened last month at the New York Jewish Film Festival, beautifully captures the spirit of Paley's life and work by incorporating videos of readings, interviews with family and friends, and her own footage which...

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