Retconning History: Comic Books and the Holocaust

By Josh Weiss April 16, 2015

In Matthew Vaughn’s 2011 movie X-Men: First Class, Professor Charles Xavier tries to stop his friend Magneto—controller of all things metal—from killing American and Soviet navy servicemen during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis by telling him the sailors were just “following orders.” Magneto then delivers arguably the best line of the film: “I’ve…

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Figure Skating to ‘Schindler’s List’ Should be Welcomed

By Zach C. Cohen February 20, 2014

Bloggers made much ado as Julia Lipnitskaia took to the ice in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. It wasn’t because she was one of the best figure skaters in the world at only 15 years old. It wasn’t that in Lipnitskaia Russia had a representative on the rink for the first time in 10…

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From Costa Rica to Israel

By Zach C. Cohen January 23, 2014

San José is an ugly city. The streets are lined with storefronts due for a paint job. Trash and dog droppings line the sidewalks. Every afternoon, like clockwork, the tropical weather brings in a rainstorm that puts most Sunday showers stateside to shame. At night, drug dealers and (legal) prostitutes roam the streets. In this…

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Me and Mein Kampf

By Dani Plung January 22, 2014

    For the past few weeks I’ve seen from various sources on Facebook, and most recently on Tablet, a growing concern about a potentially frightening new trend:  Featured on several Amazon.com best-seller lists are e-book editions of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The first responses I’ve seen have been understandably negative, coming from some reasonably…

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How Pennsylvania Can Prevent the Next Holocaust

By Derek M. Kwait November 8, 2013

My high school taught about the Holocaust in English class. It was part of the unit on Elie Weisel’s Night, which is required reading for students entering tenth grade. I remember the Holocaust was nothing more than a picture of Jews in a concentration camp with an explanatory caption in my AP European history textbook….

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soup nazi

The Bright Side of Cheap Holocaust References

By Editorial Board April 8, 2013

Hitler, the Holocaust, gas chambers, Nazis, concentration camps — these all loom large in our contemporary cultural consciousness. They call forth strong feelings and evoke vivid imagery. At the same time, it is no longer surprising to encounter cheap comparisons to them. It happens all the time: You’re walking down the street, on your way to…

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Masorti Jews to ordain gays, lesbians; Reconstructionists lose leader in Israel; and more. (Required Reading)

By John Propper April 20, 2012

Prominent Reconstructionist rabbi passes away (z”l) (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College) The Reconstructionist movement has announced that Rabbi Jack Cohen, an influential leader within the movement, has passed away at the age of 93. Cohen (z”l) was close to Reconstructionist figurehead Mordecai Kaplan. “He held various positions with the Foundation and with the Society for the Advancement…

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Strauss-Kahn Gate II; Hitler used to advertise shampoo; Media does media, and more [Required Reading]

By pkessler March 27, 2012

Jewish Community protests Hitler Shampoo Ad [BusinessWeek] Turkey’s Jewish community is up in arms after an advertising agency used old film footage of the Nazi dictator to promote a woman’s shampoo. The video created for Biomen shampoo, embedded above, has sparked international outrage. “The Jewish community and the Chief Rabbi’s office on Monday called Hitler “the most…

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“I Understand Hitler”

By akinman May 18, 2011

Melancholia. No, it’s not the name of a new drink, but it was certainly one of the most talked about movies at the Cannes Film Festival this morning. Not due to the movie’s impression left with the judges, but because of the director’s remarks at Wednesday’s press conference. “Melancholia,” a film by Lars von Trier…

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The Reading List: German Jews OK With Hitler pics

By Ben Sales October 19, 2010

The headline says it all: “Council of Jews welcomes Hitler exhibition” [Deutsche Welle] Speaking of anti-Semites, the Riverdale bombers are going to prison. [CNN] Speaking of New York Jews, here’s what GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino taught us about the ultra-Orthodox and elections. [Yeshiva World News] What’s driving the Palestinian economy? The kippah industry. [BBC] Should the…

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The Reading List: The Jewish Standard tries again

By Ben Sales October 18, 2010

After the exposing of the Orthodox rabbi who asked the New Jersey Jewish Standard not to print any more same-sex wedding announcements, the paper is trying again to take the pulse of community religious leaders on the issue. [North Jersey] Meanwhile, biased fearmongering reigns at Boston University. [Jewish Exponent] Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef says that goyim…

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The Reading List for 8/9/10 – Adolf Hitler taken away from his parents and more

By David A.M. Wilensky August 9, 2010

Good morning, class. Here is your reading list. Haaretz reports that the Israeli government tried to cover up the Waqf’s secret excavations on the Temple Mount. Did Senator Lindsey Graham go against Abe Lincoln and the Bible in advocating the repeal of the 14th Amendment? asks Rabbi Andy Bachman. An American university president and Clinton-era…

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Pius the Not-So-Pious?

By Carly Silver January 13, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI hasn’t always had the greatest reputation for being pro-Jewish. In fact, he was a known member of the Hitler Youth when he was a young German man, which practically screams “anti-Semitism” (though whether he joined voluntarily and/or participated in their rituals is open to debate). Let’s take a look at a latest…

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