Our November/December 2011 issue featured a photo-essay filled with the never-before-published photographs of Hasan Sarbakhshian, an Associated Press photographer whose work documenting Iran’s Jewish community eventually forced him to flee the country. Sarbakhshian and writer Parveneh Vahidmanesh, also forced to … Continue reading → . Read More »

by Kelley Kidd Sometimes, when I pray in Hebrew, it feels like cheating. I do not speak Hebrew, beyond my ability to clumsily stumble over a few words and chant what I’ve learned through extensive repetition over time. Nonetheless, when … Continue reading → . Read More »

by Alexis McNamee Rampant speculations during this election season that the Democratic party is losing its Jewish loyalty are overblown. Yes, the results of 12 surveys conducted in 2011 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press … Continue reading → . Read More »

By Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil From the announcement of President Obama’s controversial new contraception policy, to Rick Santorum’s unexpected triple-win on Tuesday—Catholics have determined this week’s news cycle. To understand these developments, Moment speaks with Shaun Casey, a religious outreach advisor … Continue reading → . Read More »

Seventy-six artists–the likes of Carly Simon, Elvis Costello, My Morning Jacket and (shudder) Dave Matthews Band–have taken on the task of covering the music of Bob Dylan to benefit Amnesty International. Dylan’s songs are perhaps better suited to the art … Continue reading → . Read More »

Proust had his madeleine, the buttery, tea-moistened crumbs that brought back a torrent of childhood memories for the narrator of In Search of Lost Time. German poet Heinrich Heine, known for his complicated relationship with Judaism, had cholent, that steaming Sabbath stew that he exalts in an 1851 poem entitled Princess Sabbath. Read More »

by Sala Levin The Super Bowl is upon us, and this year the New England Patriots (owned by Robert Kraft, heavily involved in Jewish philanthropy) and the New York Giants (partly owned by Jewish businessman Steve Tisch) are facing off … Continue reading → . Read More »

By Alexis McNamee For more on the Jewish vote in the 2012 presidential election, yesterday we listened in to “The Jewish Federations of North America Teleconference Series on the 2012 Presidential Election,” featuring Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau Chief at the … Continue reading → . Read More »

Muscular. Courageous. Bronzed. The stereotype of the sun-kissed sabra is Ari ben Canaan, as played by actor Paul Newman in the 1960 movie Exodus. The word sabra stems from the name of the prickly pear cactus—tzabar in Hebrew and sabr in Arabic—whose thick thorny skin covers a sweet and succulent soft flesh. Read More »

By Sarah Breger A June 2011 Pew poll found that 76 percent of Muslim Americans approved of President Obama’s performance in the White House—a figure far above the national average. The Muslim American community also voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates … Continue reading → . Read More »

By Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil The Center for American Progress in Washington, DC hosted a forum earlier this week on “God and Politics: Examining Religion in the 2012 Religion.” Jews were never mentioned in the 90-minute talk, but speakers raised some … Continue reading → . Read More »

Oscar nominations were announced yesterday, and Jews and Jewish-themed movies, as you might expect, were among the honorees. Woody Allen (yes, he’s Jewish!) racked up four nominations for “Midnight in Paris” (though nothing for Adrien Brody, whose version of Salvador … Continue reading → . Read More »

Our January/February issue features the fourth in our series on Israel’s Arab citizens: this one focuses on the pursuit of Arab-Israelis for equal rights in the political arena, a quest that challenges the Jewish character of the state. Read about … Continue reading → . Read More »

by Sarah Breger The Highlights The new issue of the Jewish journal Sh’ma, which focuses on “the Jewish electorate in 2012,” is full of interesting pieces worth checking out. Of note is an essay by historian Jonathan Sarna on the … Continue reading → . Read More »

By Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil While Mitt Romney has secured his front-runner status in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, questions about his religion still linger in many people’s minds—Will evangelical Christians vote for him? How would a Mormon act … Continue reading → . Read More »

by Sala Levin Matt Gross went to Jerusalem, and all he got was this lousy set of tefillin. This, more or less, was the takeaway from Gross’s piece in the New York Times this Sunday, in which the paper’s former … Continue reading → . Read More »

Know a kid who loves to read and write? Tell her about Moment’s annual Publish-A-Kid contest, in which we invite young readers to write reviews of some of our favorite childhood books. The contest is accepting submissions through February 15.. … Continue reading → . Read More »

David K. Shipler It seems obvious to say that being pro-Israel means supporting Israel’s survival, security and well-being as a just and prosperous society. Nobody would disagree. Read More »

The 49th state was built by Jewish people, Jewish money and Jewish know-how. And although their numbers are small, Jews are still disproportionately prominent in commercial and public life. In 1938, as the Nazis laid plans to annihilate European Jewry, a few desperate Jews dreamed of escaping to the other side of the world: Alaska. Read More »

Knesset member Ahmad Tibi’s office is stifling. The thermostat is broken, and the air-conditioning in the new wing of the Israeli parliament refuses to kick in. Tibi, a legislator in his fourth term in the house, is hot and impatient. Read More »