"Outside" Israeli movie by Etgar Keret and Inbal Pinto
21 Sep
Arts & Culture, Latest

Etgar Keret: Outside the Israeli Bubble

A woman sprawls face-down on a table, her face in a breakfast dish and a banana peel near her knee. Soon she wakes and arises with jerky but highly choreographed movements coordinated with a whimsical soundtrack. She turns on the television, a Japanese announcer appears, shuffling papers, and she quickly shuts it off. As she turns away, the television flicks back on of its own accord, and we’ve entered the slightly magical but recognizable world of an Etgar Keret story, recently made into a short film.

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22 Apr
Coronavirus, Jewish World, Latest

Milan Jewish Community United to Battle COVID-19

In the days leading up to the lockdown, the Milanese Jewish community behaved “like good soldiers,” Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, director of the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation (CDEC), tells Moment, respecting public health ordinances and avoiding scenes reminiscent of those coming out of Brooklyn and Bnei Brak of minyanim gone rogue.

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Jewish observance of Passover during persecution including the Crusades, Inquisition, the Plague, Civil War, Warsaw Ghetto, concentration camps,
07 Apr
Coronavirus, Jewish World, Latest

Celebrating Passover Amidst Difficult Circumstances

In this time of uncertainty, Moment is working hard to provide you with fact checked news, resources and analysis—plus some lighter fare—to help us make it through the crisis together. Click here for our ongoing coronavirus coverage. On the first night of Passover, we ask this question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” This year, that question takes on significant new meaning. It is not about the rituals of Passover, but rather about the unique situation in which we find ourselves as we celebrate the holiday. The tradition of gathering together for the Passover meal has gone by the wayside; we are forced to separate ourselves to fight a deadly virus.  Indeed, this Passover comes amidst difficult circumstances. But it is not, by far, the first time Jews have celebrated Passover in trying times.  From the very first Passover,...

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Passover seder menu including recipes and food essays
03 Apr
Latest, Lighter fare

Suggested Menu for a Passover Feast, Quarantine b’Mitzrayim

With best Passover wishes from my kitchen and family to yours, here are some recipes and food essays to tempt your palate, expand your repertoire and help bring you into the delight and meaning of the holiday, this year of 2020/5781, as we revisit Mitzrayim (Biblical Egypt) from our own narrowed places. 

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Kugel and Bhajee
02 Apr
Latest, Lighter fare

Passover Potato Recipes: Kugelettes and Bhajee

Today’s offering,  Ashkenazi potato kuglettes and traditional Indian bhajee, has been inspired by Tania, a lawyer by trade, who cooks out of her kitchen in Pittsburgh, and with whom I share an interfaith (Jewish-Muslim) connection. Fortunately, potatoes are in most of our pantries, and what we do with them tells us a great deal about our ethnicities, religious traditions, customs, economic status and diets. Potatoes are nutritive, starchy, ubiquitous tubers that grow almost anywhere there is healthy soil. You can buy seed potatoes and grow them in deep containers on your terrace, plant plots this spring in your yard or buy them at the grocery store or farmer’s market. You can find them in any color—red, pink, purple, brown and, most commonly in the United States, yellow and white. They also come in palates of...

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31 Mar
Arts & Culture, Latest, Lighter fare

Ten Musicals by Jewish Composers to Watch In Times of Quarantines

Enough of medical warnings. If you want to relax and keep happy at home, watching musicals is just the thing. Here are some selections by our favorite Jewish composers and lyricists, many of which are available to stream online; the songs also might be found on Spotify, Apple Music or other music streaming services.

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31 Mar
Coronavirus, Latest

Moment Epidemiology Update | Understanding Testing

It’s difficult to sift through the constantly developing news about the novel coronavirus. It’s confusing and, unfortunately, some of it is false. We reached out to an epidemiologist to give us clear facts about COVID-19 and some guidance in these uncertain times. Send questions to be answered in this ongoing series to editor@momentmag.com

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30 Mar
Coronavirus, Latest

Coronavirus in the Sunshine State: Here Comes Trouble

There are between 6,000 and 8,000 Jewish students at the University of Florida, the largest Jewish population of any public university in the United States, according to Chabad. Like other universities around the nation, UF called off classes and sent students home to take online instruction on March 19. But fully a third of UF’s Jewish students have chosen—or been asked by family members—not to come home. Their families were fearful of their carrying the infection with them as it seems Florida has become a glowing hot spot of COVID-19. Some Jewish students from outside the U.S. were unable to join their families abroad because of COVID-19 spread in their own countries or fear of infecting older relatives at home. The state system said that those students, or others with "extenuating circumstances," would be permitted...

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