The Stars of David that Aren’t
Violins decorated with mother-of-pearl six-pointed stars have gained popularity and value with claims of Jewish or Holocaust origins. What do the experts say?
27
Apr
03
Nov
Jews and Presidential Elections with Historians Jonathan Sarna and Lauren Strauss
Presidential candidates have wooed Jewish voters as far back as Abraham Lincoln. Why did candidates seek out the Jewish vote and how did they do it? How has the landscape of Jewish voters changed in modern times?
Jonathan D. Sarna, Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and Chief Historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History and Lauren B. Strauss, Scholar in Residence in the Jewish Studies Program at American University and Senior Historical Consultant for the forthcoming Capital Jewish Museum, in conversation with Moment’s opinion and book editor Amy E. Schwartz.
24
Oct
Could Jews Vote in Early America?
Before 1776, each American colony had its own, uniquely phrased law about voter qualifications. Typically, white men over the age of 21 who owned 50 acres of land might vote, but the details varied by colony and were often a bit murky.
19
Aug
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment with Pamela Nadell and Elaine Weiss
A captivating conversation about the 19th Amendment and the renewed push to pass the Equal Rights Amendment with historian Pamela Nadell, author of America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today and journalist Elaine Weiss, author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote.
12
Jul
Archiving COVID-19 As it Happens
Crowdsourcing has become a vital tool for many of the Jewish institutions attempting to record and preserve the community’s response to the pandemic.
09
Jul
The Year Everything Changed—Continued
When we interviewed a group of thinkers on the years that altered human history, we were floored by their thoughtful responses. While we had to condense their answers for the print issue, we have curated additional selections from their interviews, which we are so pleased to publish here.
23
Jun
The Year Everything Changed
Thirty thinkers tell us which years altered the course of Jewish history
23
Jun
The Year Everything Changed
Thirty thinkers tell us which years altered the course of Jewish history
15
Dec
A Cemetery Story
A documentary about a cemetery: It may not sound like much of a crowd-pleaser, but the German film In Heaven, Underground, directed by Britta Wauer and tracking the 131-year history of Europe's second-largest Jewish cemetery, has been garnering some high praise. Last month, the New York Times called the movie, about the Jewish Weissensee Cemetery in Berlin, "poetic and exquisite." Wauer spoke with Moment's Sala Levin about the past and present of Berlin's Jewish residents.
What inspired the film?
It was not my idea—five years ago a program director from a Berlin television station asked me to make a film about this cemetery. I knew the cemetery and found it very special, but I felt that it wasn’t a good idea to make a film about it. You can walk in there and look around, and you...
29
Jul
Not the First (or Last) Jew in Spain
by Hilary Weissman
While studying abroad in Spain this spring. I found myself unintentionally making numerous trips to the southern town of Córdoba– it served as a stop along the way in order to make the most of my EuroRail pass at the end of the semester. Córdoba’s storied Jewish heritage manifested itself when my sister and I were lucky enough to find the Mazal Sephardic restaurant (pun very intended) during my second visit. We sampled pumpkin flan and raisin roasted chicken with rice before the start of Passover, which we later celebrated with a congregation from Madrid. Other than the saffron-spiced yellow gefilte fish, the seder experience felt very familiar, as I was lucky to have my sister there with me to celebrate, daiyenu. We were transported between two different worlds as the Rabbi delivered...