Mixed Multitudes

ROI 120 Roundup: Text Study, Dylan, and Twitter

Frum Satire — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:44:20 +0000

I woke up Wednesday morning with a new bounce in my step. Today was the day I was going to make things happen, I had people I wanted to meet, a networking party to attend and I wasn’t about to let my tired old self back out of the closet. This was made possible by [...]

Anti-Hasidic Comments Still Count As Anti-Semitic Comments

matthue — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:05:56 +0000

MyJewishLearning prides itself on being a “a trans-denominational website of Jewish information and education geared toward learners of all ages and educational backgrounds.” For the most part, I think we do pretty well on that. We have articles by Orthodox people on why God is great. We have articles by Jewish secular humanists on why [...]

Out of Isolation

Adam Gaynor — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:01:48 +0000

I was thrilled to see Benjamin Greene’s thoughtful article in PresenTense Magazine (“Outside the Bubble: Integration in Education,” Issue 8, 2009) in which he discusses one of the unfortunate realities of contemporary American Jewish education: “Most Jewish youth programs in the United States today place participants in carefully constructed and exclusively Jewish environments.” Given that [...]

10 Things I Hate about Commandments

matthue — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:30:30 +0000

I’m a big proponent of making the Torah relevant for modern society and everyday life. Maybe it’s my whole Orthodox Jew trip of believing that Torah was given to us as a gift. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer, and I want to believe that the stories we tell have life beyond when we tell [...]

Hasidic Cop Sexist Pig

Tamar Fox — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:17:18 +0000

I can’t believe I have to say this, but please do not bring you sick pugs onto the subway, where they might vomit. However, if you do such a thing, I don’t think you deserve to be subject to misogynistic comments and boob-grabbing. Gothamist reports: Greenpoint resident Chrissie Brodigan says she was riding on the L [...]

From the Academy: Art History

Josh Lambert — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:04:24 +0000

Samantha Baskind is Associate Professor of Art History at Cleveland State University. Her first book, Raphael Soyer and the Search for Modern Jewish Art (2004), studies the life and works of a major American artist and considers how his work reflects his Jewish background. Baskind’s more recent publications include the Encyclopedia of Jewish American Artists [...]

Hannah Montana Changes Her Name To Chani Golani

Jeremy Moses — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:50:45 +0000

Move over Rechov SumSum. Get out of the way Barney. Your time is up. Big news for people living in Israel with children. The Disney Channel is coming to Israel. Not a satellite version. An Israeli version, in Hebrew. The channel is the home of such shows as Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & [...]

Where Are the Jewish Food Movies?

Tamar Fox — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:43:12 +0000

I love food movies. Like Water for Chocolate? Hot. Eat Drink, Man Woman? Steamy. Mostly Martha? Phenomenal. Chocolat? Luscious. Big Night? Huge. But you know what occurs to me? There are no movies about Jewish food. Italian food, Chinese food, French food, yes. Mostly Martha is about a German woman, for God’s sake. But I [...]

Books, Books, and More Books

Mark Berch — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:31:32 +0000

For one day at the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, writers, and poets take the place of journalists in covering the news and providing commentary. (Forward) Sami Michael discusses the “takeover” of Ha’aretz, asking, “Is the author’s point of view necessarily different from that of the reporter, directly touching the live flesh of exposed reality?” (Ha’aretz) A look at [...]

Maple Syrup Is In The Air

Jeremy Moses — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:20:27 +0000

I wouldn’t call myself particularly patriotic. I think that outward patriotism is a finite object. In other words, you can only have so much pride for your country. Being that I’ve lived my life in both Canada and the United States, my patriotism has been split into two. I love American television. I hate Canadian [...]