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Founded in 1975 by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and acclaimed writer Leonard Fein, Moment is North America’s premier Jewish magazine. Moment offers a critical space for thoughtful conversations, fresh ideas and diverse points of view.
In 1870, a German-Jewish immigrant opened a hot dog cart on Coney Island. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sausages—ground meat mixed with spices and preserved in a distinctly ph***ic shape—have been around for millennia. But are they Jewish?
Tens of thousands of Israelis watched last Thursday’s Presidential debate live, at 4 AM local time. After a dismal showing from President Biden: was there any good news for Israel? More from Nathan Guttman
The two Republican critiques of Biden don’t easily align—is post-debate Biden weak, as Graham claims, or nefarious, as Stefanik suggests?
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“We don’t want Germany to become Ireland, but we want it to make several significant steps and understand that it is dealing with a fascist government in Israel.”
Click the link in our bio for more on why some Israeli immigrants to Germany oppose their government’s “unconditional” support of Israel.
“We don’t want Germany to become Ireland, but we want it to make several significant steps and understand that it is dealing with a fascist government in Israel.”
Why some Israeli immigrants to Germany oppose their government’s “unconditional” support of Israel. More from
Ni**od Flaschenberg's group is a “kosher certificate” for opinions that may be perceived as too critical or controversial in Germany.
“It’s overtly Jewish, but most Jews don’t get it. They question it: Is the song anti-Semitic or not? (It’s not.) What does it mean? Christians, on the other hand, usually hear this song and love it. They understand it and they don’t ask a lot of questions about it.”
Legendary Jewish songwriter Kinky Friedman, who passed away this week, discusses his classic song “Ride ‘Em Jewboy”
From Ezra Furman to Nissim Black and Joe Levy: We asked musicians, tastemakers, and critics about the songs that define Jewish culture.
Mel Brooks turns 98 today! Years ago, the legendary Jewish funnyman sat down with Moment to talk about his upbringing, Jewish culture, and comedic fixations. Click the link in our comments to read the interview.
Art Spiegelman’s groundbreaking graphic novel Maus continues to be a fixture in the contemporary book banning today. Contemporary critics tend to view Maus as an essential piece of Holocaust literature, heaping opprobrium on the school boards that seek to remove it, its initial reception was far more rocky.
In Maus Now, comics historian Hilary Chute traces the comic book’s reception, leaving room for a more nuanced discussion of the work.
Click the link in our comments for a full review.
The Rio Grande Valley school district in Texas has banned 700 books, including many important pieces of Holocaust literature. One book on the list, Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-winning graphic novel Maus, has been at the center of book ban debates since its publication.
Amid ongoing the ongoing debate about Maus, our books editor grapples with the idea that important reads can also disturb.
Legendary Jewish country singer Kinky Friedman has died at 79. In 2020, the “Highway Cafe” singer sat down with Louie Kemp, a personal friend of Bob Dylan, to discuss Dylan, religion, and their personal connections to Judaism. Click the link in our bio for the full conversation.
Legendary Jewish country singer Kinky Friedman has died at 79. In 2020, the “Highway Cafe” singer sat down with Louie Kemp, a personal friend of Bob Dylan, to discuss Dylan, religion, and their personal connections to Judaism.
A zoominar on the lifelong friendshipbetween Bob Dylan and Louie Kemp, who first met as tweens at Jewish camp
Last week, we honored Craigslist founder, visionary, and philanthropist Craig Newmark received Moment Magazine’s 2024 Inspirational Leadership Award for his stalwart and consistent support of journalism. In the latest entry of his LinkedIN Newsletter, Newmark reflected on the experience, and how his Jewish Sunday school experience continues to set his moral compass.
Breaking News Analysis- The Israeli Supreme Court decision to draft ultra-Orthodox into the military.
The unanimous Israeli Supreme Court decision that there is no legal justification for the ultraorthodox to be exempted from military service is historic and has the potential to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Join Moment Israel Editor Eetta Prince-Gibson and Moment Editor-in-Chief Nadine Epstein for a conversation about this ruling and its wide-ranging legal, political, economic and social ramifications.
MomentLive! Special EditionThe unanimous Israeli Supreme Court decision that there is no legal justification for the ultraorthodox to be exempted from milita...
“Today, a jagged scar in my family will be at least partially healed.”
Shortly after the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, a Jewish second lieutenant from Pittsburgh, Nathan Baskind, was on a reconnaissance mission through the bucolic Normandy countryside when German soldiers opened fire. Baskind was hit, as was the driver of the Jeep in which he was riding. The driver, Private First Class Orville Burnett, managed to escape. He informed his superiors that Baskind was almost certainly dead.
But Baskind was still alive, although critically wounded. The Germans transported him to a decrepit Luftwaffe hospital in the nearby French port city of Cherbourg. He died hours later at the age of 28, a lonely example of the high price American GIs and allied soldiers paid to defeat Na**sm. With Cherbourg a primary target of U.S. forces once they broke out of the Normandy beachhead, the Germans put Baskind in a mass grave with German casualties. After the war, American authorities were certain Baskind was dead, but without remains for burial he was listed as MIA—Missing in Action. His name was carved into the Wall of the Missing at the Normandy cemetery.
In fact, Baskind’s remains were on a circuitous route that culminated on Sunday, June 23, 2024—80 years to the day after his death—when Baskind’s descendants gathered at the U.S. cemetery at Normandy for burial beneath a Star of David, with full military honors.
The story of how Nathan Baskind’s remains were found after 79 years is part detective novel, part “hand of God,” and part tale of redemption.
Capers C Funnye: “James Landing does a thorough job of cover- ing different segments within the African American community and their introduction to Judaism, and chronicling the history of several of these distinctive communities around the country, such as the Hebrew Israelites in Harlem and the community started by Prophet William Saunders Crowdy. There are not that many books about Judaism in the African American community, and Black Judaism goes into depth talking about these different congregations that formed over a century ago, many of which continue to flourish to this day.”
Click the link in our comments for more books every Jew should read.
Book Review:
“My Effin’ Life,” Geddy Lee with Daniel Richler
In My Effin’ Life, the compelling memoir of RUSH lead vocalist Geddy Lee, the musician blends two deeply different genres: the autobiography of a rock star, and that of a child of Holocaust survivors.
Growing up in the poorer suburbs of Toronto, Lee experienced feelings similar to other sons and daughters of Holocaust survivors: “My life had always felt unimportant in the shadow of all that my parents endured in the camps.” He also felt like an outsider. But what marred Lee’s early life more profoundly, when he was 12 years old, was his father’s sudden death from a heart attack. The Jewish mourning rituals he followed—sitting shiva for seven days, slowly easing into life after “shloshim,” or 30 days, and then continuing to say Kaddish, a prayer for the dead, three times a day for eleven months and a day—had healing power that he valued. On the other hand, for a kid who was just getting the taste of rock and roll, the prohibition on listening to music at home for a year was something to resent.
Lee lost interest in the religious component of Judaism when “not a single adult relative asked me how I was dealing with my loss.” Instead, his extended family members berated him for leaving Hebrew school and hanging around with non-Jews. Growing older, Lee suffered antisemitic harassment from the neighborhood teenagers. He was not much of an athlete, but became an avid baseball fan. Lee’s older sister’s infatuation with the Beatles (she saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show) left an indelible impact on him—Lee saw how rock and roll could stir a craze.
For readers unfamiliar with the story of Lee’s legendary progressive hard-rock band, My Effin’ Life is a gripping insider chronicle of how they got to where they are today, from playing in an auditorium of a local school to performing in a stadium for an audience of 80,000 fans. The trio of drummer Neil Peart, guitarist Alex Lifeson and Lee—the bassist, keyboard player, vocalist, and day-to-day business manager—was a success from the start. Peart was originally Rush’s lyricist, and before too long the three were all active in writing the lyrics and the music for the group. The bandmates exhibited loving respect for each other as they matured from teenagers into adults.
Click the link in our comments for the full review.
“Ben Hecht is, to my mind, one of the most significant Jewish figures of the 20th century. He embodied assimilation, professional success, and then a return to Jewish identity and a powerful if ambivalent relationship with Israel.” Click the link in our comments to learn why Yossi Klein Halevi says Hecht’s A Child of the Century is essential reading for any educated Jew.
Are you making cheesecake this year?
Shavuot is synonymous with one thing: cheesecake! Eileen Lavine explains the history behind Shavuot cheesecake. Elie's cheesecake recipe included.
Are you making cheesecake this year?
Caffeine-fueled all night study sessions are as central to Shavuot as cheesecake. But is this tradition a denial of core Jewish wisdom surrounding sleep?
“To be a Jew means to struggle with things you don’t understand, and to do them anyway.” Sleep on Shavuot is no different.
The rescue of four Israeli hostages Saturday brought much-needed good news to a public struggling after months of trouble and war. But what does it mean for the major questions surrounding Israel’s military operation in Gaza?
For a moment, Israel was once again the place its citizens believed themselves to be living in before October 7, 2023.
The rescue of four Israeli hostages Saturday brought much-needed good news to a public struggling after months of trouble and war. But what does it mean for the major questions surrounding Israel’s military operation in Gaza? Click the link in our bio for more.
“There is no more important factor in explaining variation in antisemitic hate crimes in this country than Israel being engaged in a particularly violent military operation.”
Political scientist Ayal Feinberg's research shows a correlation between Israeli military activity and U.S. antisemitism.
“There is no more important factor in explaining variation in antisemitic hate crimes in this country than Israel being engaged in a particularly violent military operation.”
Click the link in our bio for the full interview.
Sometimes the most important education happens through the stomach: these are acclaimed Jewish food writer Joan Nathan ‘s five books to be an educated Jew: do you agree?
Each year, approximately 2,000 Israelis pursue higher education in America. For many Israeli academics, it’s thought to be the pinnacle of academic achievement. But since October 7, many wonder if this dream is still feasible. Click the link in our bio to learn more.
Each year, approximately 2,000 Israelis pursue higher education in America. For many Israeli academics, it’s thought to be the pinnacle of academic achievement. But since October 7, many wonder if this dream is still feasible.
Some Israeli academics have faced doxxing, harassment and administrative indifference on American college campuses.
Moment has won 19 Rockower Awards at this year’s American Jewish Press Association Conference! Highlighted stories include:
A special report on TikTok’s antisemitism, which won first prize for both investigative reporting and covering antisemitism.
Incisive commentary on Israel from Gershom Gorenberg, Shmuel Rosner and David Shipler, who all took home awards.
Tom Gjelten's masterful story “Miami is Changing; So Are Miami’s Jews,”which took home first place in feature writing and covering North American Jews.
Other winners included: Sarah Breger, Nadine Epstein , Tricia Crimmins Andrew Michaels , Pam Janis , Liam H***e , Diane M. Bolz, Dan Freedman , Fallon Roth , Noah Phillips, Eetta Prince-Gibson, and Frances Brent.
Read the full list of award winning stories here!
Washington, DC – June 5, 2024. Moment Magazine, which is celebrating its 50th year in print, won 19 Rockower Awards
Last week, Joe Biden gave a speech pushing for both the release of hostages and a cease-fire in Gaza. “It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin.” But why now? And was his judgment on Israeli politics correct?
With the war in Gaza set to enter its ninth month, President Biden looks for an off ramp and a potential cease-fire.
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In just over five weeks, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint meeting of Congress, and Democrats are in a bind. Left-leaning Democrats and even some centrists in both chambers are busy trying to figure out the best response to a speech given by a world leader who has not only challenged their party’s leadership but has repeatedly ignored pleas from a Democratic president to change course in the way he’s conducting the Gaza war. The only real tool Dems have at their disposal is the empty seat. Those feeling uneasy with Netanyahu’s presence or seeking a way to express their dismay with his actions can simply decide not to show up. As always, we reporters will be there to count the empty seats. Last time Bibi addressed Congress in 2015 to oppose the Obama-led Iran nuclear deal, 58 Democrats were counted as no-shows. A similar or greater number of empty seats would send a message of dissent, basically telling Netanyahu that a significant portion of one of America’s two parties is so enraged by his actions, they won’t even sit down and listen to him. It will also signal to progressive voters, and to many others who have issues with the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, that their voices are heard and that they have a place within the big tent of the Democratic Party. But it isn’t that simple. Click the link in our comments for more.
“Many Jews I’ve spoken to, when confronted with the death toll in Gaza since Israel waged war in response to Hamas’s October 7 terror attack, reflexively question the numbers put out by the Gaza Health ministry. This makes some amount of sense, since the Gaza Health Ministry is controlled by Hamas, but dismissing these numbers in the face of what is clearly a humanitarian crisis without an alternative way to quantify the death leaves us nowhere. In any case, mainstream media outlets and NGOs considered credible otherwise rely on these numbers. Whether the true number is more than 35,000, as the United Nations claimed a month ago, or just over 25,000, which was the number of identified bodies (again per the Gaza Health Ministry), doesn’t really matter. Israel’s death toll since October is orders of magnitude less—between 1,000 and 2,000. In fact, according to the Times of Israel, the total number of soldier and civilian casualties in Israel since the country was founded is 30,140. Life within Israel is more politically tense than ever before, but Americans I’ve talked to who recently traveled to Israel say they felt safe and the semblances of normal life are available to people who aren’t either serving in Gaza, in close proximity to someone who is, or displaced from the border regions. This is a world away from the scale of destruction and deprivation in Gaza. To look at these numbers and disparities or read the testimony of Gazans desperate to flee and fail to understand why Israel is becoming isolated on the world stage, or to reduce the reason to mere antisemitism or discredit the accounts out-of-hand, is willful ignorance.” Click the link in our comments for more from Moment Digital Editor Noah Phillips.
How the rescue of #Hostages in #Gaza is being received by the #Israeli press #Israel
How #matisyahu discovered his calling as a performer at a #phish concert in #worcester #massachusetts
#matisyahu on how the #jewish people will overcome #Antisemitism and times of struggle.
What is #doikayt ? We take a look at the #yiddish word, and discuss what it means for the modern day #jewishdiaspora , in our latest issue. #JewsOfInstagram #jewish #judaism
How #netanyahu , while unpopular with the #Israeli media, may benefit from #Biden threatening to withhold aid in a #rafah invasion. #MiddleEast #Gaza
The #Israeli attack on a #WorldCentralKitchen aid convoy in #Gaza became a defining moment in the war between Israel and Hamas. But how are Israeli reporters responding? A closer look from Moment Correspondent Nathan Guttman. #News #MiddleEast #humanitarian
Comedian Ellen Sugarman talks about starting comedy (or anything) at an older age. #comedian #motivation #standup
@feliciamadisoncomedian talks about why you should get started as a latecomer to comedy. #comedian #standup #inspiration
Felicia Madison talks about #ageism and #misogyny in #standup #comedy . Click the link in our bio for more from our latest Zoominar.
How @koshadillz used his #jewish identity to stand out on #wildnout #rappers #hiphop #jewsofinstagram
How can #podcasts help us understand #israel and #palestine and work on a path towards #peace ? A closer look at three recommendations for shows that bring #israelis and #palestinians together. #jewsofinstagram #MiddleEast #recommended
How do #authoritarians and #dictators use #antisemitism and attacks on #science to support their regimes? @hotezpeter talked to Moment's Jen Bardi about the intersection of antisemitism and anti science at the link in our bio.
🇮🇱 What are the different types of #zionism? 🇮🇱 Since the days when #Israel was just an idea, there have been competing visions of the #Jewish state. @beraniki discusses some of these visions, from utopian #socialist zionism to moderate #liberal zionism and Israel’s current right-wing, nationalist government. Click the link in our bio for a further discussion of Humanist Zionism and Israel today. #Israeli #Zionist #MiddleEast #JewsOfInstagram #Judaism
🇮🇱 What are the different types of #zionism? 🇮🇱 Since the days when #Israel was just an idea, there have been competing visions of the #Jewish state. @beraniki discusses some of these visions, from utopian #socialist zionism to moderate #liberal zionism and Israel’s current right-wing, nationalist government. Click the link in our bio for a further discussion of Humanist Zionism and Israel today. #Israeli #Zionist #MiddleEast #JewsOfInstagram #Judaism
Who is #aharonbarak ? In a just released profile, we discuss the former Chief Justice of the #israeli Supreme Court, who now represents #israel on the #icj panel hearing genocide charges against the Jewish State from #southafrica . More at the link in our bio. #middleeast #gaza #palestine
@beraniki explains the meaning of #humanist #zionism , and why we need to advocate for a strong and liberal #israel , along with an independent #palestine . #jewsofinstagram #politics #middleeast
#dragqueen Michael Witkes (aka Pink Pancake,) talks about how being #jewish is inherently #queer , ahead of his one woman show #todayyouareaman . Click the link in our bio for the full interview.
#ye has issued an apology in Hebrew. But how will it read to #jewish people hurt by his rampant antisemitism over the past year?
Moment is a fiercely independent magazine that provides North American Jews with award-winning, in-depth reporting. It transcends ideology and denomination, and delves deeply into the stories that shape our lives: the future of democracy, anti-Semitism on the left and the right, intermarriage and the widening gap between American Jews and Israel.
Moment was founded in 1975 by Elie Wiesel and writer Leonard Fein. It was named after the Yiddish-language Der Moment, founded in 1910 in Warsaw, Poland. Der Moment, as Wiesel describes in Moment’s first issue, “became a massive circulation newspaper, and lived until it was murdered together with Polish Jewry.” The Moment founders promised that the magazine would include diverse opinions “of no single ideological position, save of course, for a commitment to Jewish life.” Nearly 45 years later, under the leadership of Nadine Epstein, Moment remains as independent as ever.
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