Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Whoever thought that Bubbe’s track suit could help her land a part Off Broadway? All she’d have to do is stand up, tell a joke, and she’d be part of a long tradition of old Jews who love keeping the youngin’s in stiches. Old jews telling jokes is a source for cute, quick humor that is…
There is a God, after 30 years and 17 nominations, Meryl Streep has won another Oscar. I say this because she is by far the finest actress of our time and yet every Oscar season it is a debate whether she will win the Oscar she easily deserves. This was a surprise considering her competition,…
When Matisyahu’s “King Without a Crown” was the big hit it felt like the Jews had finally arrived to the cool party. Sure, the Beastie Boys were Jews but would your parents ever consider buying you one of their albums? No, never, not on your life. Here was a nice Hassidic boy who looked the…
When I first saw Carole King’s new Christmas album I realized (with some guilt in my heart) that I had to buy it. It was nice, sweet, and simple. This was a real Christmas album, not completely abrasive like Bob Dylan’s Christmas album. But it wasn’t horribly fake like Barbra Streisand’s (titled “Christmas Memories” –…
It’s official: “Funny Girl,” the musical semi-biography based on the life of Fanny Brice, will not be coming to Broadway anytime soon. According to Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times, the production is having “economic difficulties.” News of this tragedy made several excited yentas planning their mid-winter Broadway trip plotz. Thousands of gay Jewish…
On Saturday I went on a holy pilgrimage to New York Comic-Con – the ultimate East Coast nerd gathering. Comic-Con is a convention where comic book publishers, video game companies, anime and manga makers, and local collectible stores gather to sell colorful character themed crap to people paying at least $45 for admission. It is…
The back cover of Joshua Cohen’s novel Witz is enticing, but misleading. It depicts an alternate history where all the Jews in the world die at the start of the 21st century, resulting in a Judaism pop-culture craze as the goyim try to preserve, imitate and commercialize Jewish culture. I read this synopsis and thought “either this…
Nothing makes me feel more like a Jew than going shopping with my mother. Maybe I should rephrase that to sound less self-hating. No, I mean it. I mean it as a positive statement. A point of pride. My Jewish/New Yorker/American ancestors did not get where they are today buy paying retail price. I mean…
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of my Rabbi, not in temple, but at the supermarket. I’ve seen him at ShopRite, Stew Leonard’s, Costco, Stop & Shop, and the Big Y. That’s all of my area’s major food stores. And every single time, I have pork in the cart, glaring up for God to see….
Roseanne Barr announced her run for president of the United States (and Prime Minister of Israel–it’s a toofer) on The Tonight Show. She is heading up the “Green Tea Party” and is bringing back the barter system. Nice to see a dream come true. What started out as a plug for her Lifetime reality show,…
Last night, a re-run of the episode of “The Nanny” with Bette Midler was on, a joyous reminder of what Fran Drescher used to be. A woman with enough comedic sense to call someone a pisher. This episode had about 20% more Jew than other episodes of “The Nanny.” There was noticeably more yiddish in…
Not a day goes by that I don’t think, “Of course he married a shiksa.” This is what I think while watching television. Is that sick or what? Perhaps something has infected me. Maybe it was something I ate. But now all I can think about when I see a Jew on a screen is,…