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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 538

Jewish culture

Leaders of the New York-based YIVO open crates of salvaged YIVO treasures from Europe, photographed in New Jersey, 1947. (Courtesy of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
March 21, 2025, 4:17 pm
Dirty jokes and sacred texts: YIVO marks 100 years of preserving Yiddish culture
Artifacts from 1,000 years of Ashkenazi Jewish life including literary transcripts, Herzl’s diary, everyday notes and children’s scrawls connect prewar Jews with generations to come
By Cathryn J. Prince
Social media influencer and motivational speaker Chris Caresnone, also known as the Babka King. (Courtesy)
January 24, 2025, 3:59 am
The ‘Babka King’ is bridging cultural gaps on Instagram — one blintz at a time
Chris Caresnone has grown a social media following of over half a million posting about foods from different cultures — and has been welcomed into the Jewish community
By Cathryn J. Prince
'Rube G. – The Consequence of Action' is a new dance piece from Jody Oberfelder that's inspired by the Jewish inventor's legendary machines. (Courtesy via JTA)
March 4, 2023, 5:50 am
A Rube Goldberg machine comes to life — literally — in a new dance piece
In ‘Rube G. — the Consequence of Action,’ running March 4-19 in NYC’s Gibney Dance Center, choreographer Jody Oberfelder examines the predictability and chaos of human interaction
By Mikhal Weiner
Isabel and Nicki Hoffman are the two newest American Girl dolls in the historical collection. (Jackie Hajdenberg/ JTA)
March 2, 2023, 3:41 am
Meet the real-life sister act behind the two new ’90s Jewish American Girl dolls
Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy are the inspiration for a set of throwback characters with a nuanced interfaith Jewish background for fans of the popular line
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Campers at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, Wingdale, New York. (Uriel Heilman/JTA)
February 23, 2023, 2:59 am
Did American Jews create historic summer camps – or was it vice versa?
In her new book ‘The Jews of Summer,’ Sandra Fox explores the changing values and dynamics of US Jewry based on an institution that for many is synonymous with coming of age
By PHILISSA CRAMER
2023 Obermayer prizewinners (left to right) Ruth-Anne Damm, Nina Taubenreuther and Sarah Hüttenberend, honored for their organization Zweitzeugen, which means 'second witness' in German and teaches young people the life stories of Holocaust survivors so they can share them with others. (Courtesy of Widen the Circle)
January 28, 2023, 12:00 am
In Germany, an American family honors locals working to preserve Jewish memory
Marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Germans are presented with the Obermayer Award for projects like restoring landmarks and coming up with creative Holocaust youth education
By Toby Axelrod
The Lehrhaus is inspired in part by Frankfurt's Jewish House of Free Study, where intellectuals of the early 20th century like Bertha Pappenheim, Leo Lowenthal, and Martin Buber lectured and learned. (Getty Images. Design by Jackie Hajdenberg/ JTA)
August 21, 2022, 2:54 am
Boston’s Jews are getting a ‘Jewish tavern’ – to study religious texts, drink beer
Combining the Old Country secular Torah study house and the kretshme, or Yiddish pub, the Boston Lehrhaus seeks to woo all denominations with food, cocktails and meaningful classes
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Moroccan Jews and Israeli Jewish tourists participate in Simchat Torah festivities at a synagogue in Marrakesh on October 12, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA)
July 14, 2022, 3:22 pm
Morocco: New bodies to recognize Judaism as ‘a component of rich Moroccan culture’
Acting on ‘royal instruction’ from King Mohammed VI, interior minister proposes reorganization of the country’s Jewish community groups
By AFP
Jason Alexander, upper right, invites non-Jews Josh Groban, upper left, Darren Criss, lower left and Rachel Brosnahan to join in a virtual Seder webcast on YouTube, April 11, 2020. (Screenshot/ via JTA)
July 5, 2022, 3:31 am
Arts philanthropy Reboot creates studio to fund Jewish projects from podcasts to TV
The nonprofit is providing seed funding, other resources for dozens of movies, TV series, podcasts, books and other multimedia projects featuring unique perspectives on Jewish life
By Andrew Lapin
Vanessa Burghardt (left) and Dakota Johnson in 'Cha Cha Real Smooth.' (Courtesy of Apple/ via JTA)
June 29, 2022, 4:59 pm
Is ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ the first good bar/bat mitzvah movie?
Despite its theme, the film doesn’t have a particularly Jewish bent – which works to its advantage as it deals with the aspects of the coming-of-age ritual everyone can relate to
By Andrew Lapin
Jodi Eichler-Levine, a professor of religion studies at Lehigh University, encountered antisemitic harassment after one of her Twitter threads about Disney went viral. (Courtesy of Eichler-Levine/ via JTA)
June 14, 2022, 4:04 am
What can ‘Disney adults’ teach us about religion? A lot, according to this professor
Religious studies Prof. Jodi Eichler-Levine’s response to a Reddit thread standing up for superfans quickly went viral — but she says much of its nuance is being overlooked
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Israelis seen at a celebration for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot in Kibbutz Sarid, in Emek Yizrael on May 16, 2021. (Anat Hermony/Flash90)
June 5, 2022, 3:29 pm
On the kibbutz, Shavuot is a time for remembering the movement’s glory days
The biblical harvest festival resonates with the agricultural collectives’ largely secular residents and offers an opportunity for pageants, concerts, fairs and other celebrations
By Hillel Kuttler
Celebrity designer Neil Lane holds a ketubah. (Authentic Brands Group/ via JTA)
May 30, 2022, 3:38 am
Neil Lane, the official jeweler of ‘The Bachelor,’ is designing luxury ketubahs
The celebrity designer is adapting his signature style to create ornate religious marriage contracts in what may be his most Jewish project to date
By Sarah Rosen
Horticulturalist and activist Ed Rosenthal. (Christian Peacock/ YIVO)
May 11, 2022, 6:18 am
Is weed the Chosen People’s drug of choice? These artifacts suggest it may be
A new exhibit running through December at the YIVO Institute in NYC fires up the Jewish people’s relationship with marijuana from biblical times to the ‘Old Country’ and today
By Jordan Hoffman
Elyssa Heller, the founder of Edith's, named the store after her aunt. (Teddy Wolff/via JTA)
April 30, 2022, 4:06 pm
Edith’s, a Brooklyn eatery and market, celebrates Jewish food from around the world
The brainchild of Chicago-born Elyssa Heller, the store and restaurant, which started as a pop-up in 2020, veers outside the narrow lanes of traditional Ashkenazi or Israeli menus
By julia GERGELY
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