Image of a microphone, TV, glass of wine, roses, and a contestant from The Bachelor.

The Torah of Reality TV — Jumping the Fence, Jewishly (Judaism Unbound Podcast)

By Catherine Horowitz March 29, 2023

Pop culture is often dismissed as unsophisticated, reality TV considered a “guilty pleasure”. But let’s take a closer look: is there hidden Torah in the practice of watching reality TV?

Read More...

There’s Life After “Stranger Things” – and It’s Called “Red Oaks” Season 2

By Josh Weiss December 15, 2016

Let’s face some unsavory facts: the first season of “Stranger Things” is over and the show won’t be back until 2017. If you’re anything like me, there’s a gaping Eggo waffle-shaped void in your soul where Eleven and the rest of the Hawkins, Indiana gang used to reside. Was it the best new television series…

Read More...

How I discovered Jewish strength and history in the pages of a comic book

By Leah Tribbett May 25, 2016

Comic books, for me, were an acquired taste. Growing up, I devoured anything with words — the backs of Pokémon cards, books pilfered from my mom’s shelf, the booklets stuffed inside CD cases — but never comics. Nobody in my life read them, and my weekly TV rotation was tuned into Rugrats rather than the…

Read More...

The one thing “Fantastic Four” did absolutely right

By Josh Weiss December 30, 2015

There are few things in this world about which we can be absolutely certain. However, despite the year’s many disagreements and altercations, there is one thing on which we can all agree: The “Fantastic Four” movie this past summer was absolutely, unequivocally dreadful. One could go so far as to call it fantastically awful, pun…

Read More...

Happy Hanukkah! No more Drake Christmas memes.

By Chloe Sobel December 4, 2015

I know when those sleigh bells ring, that can only mean one thing: the sound of forced assimilation. If you’re on the internet and move in Canadian or Drake-loving circles, you’ve probably seen the usual “Hotline Bling” memes, now featuring Christmas. You’ve seen the ugly Christmas sweaters with Drake’s likeness on them. They’re harmless, I suppose,…

Read More...

Batman v Superman: Exodus

By Josh Weiss July 20, 2015

San Diego Comic-Con ended last week, and it did not disappoint. There were previews of the movies and TV shows being added to pop culture in the coming months, including a behind-the-scenes featurette of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and a number of longer-than-usual trailers for DC and Marvel superhero properties such as…

Read More...

Kendrick Lamar and Revelation: A Challenge for Jewish Theology

By Evan Goldstein March 19, 2015

I’ve wanted to write about Kendrick Lamar for a while. Mostly because listening to Kendrick seems to be what I turn to when I’m supposed to be writing, so integrating the two activities felt ideal. But what angle could possibly be found to write about hip-hop for a Jewish student website? Well, I’m not sure….

Read More...

In Search of True Egalitarianism

By Amram Altzman January 27, 2014

  Growing up in the early 2000’s means I watched copious amounts of Arthur, Cyberchase, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!; I knew the dance to “Soulja Boy,” played on my Gameboy obsessively, and ate Go-gurts (or the kosher equivalents thereof) on the school bus ride home. Growing up in the 2000’s also meant that I saw men…

Read More...

Racist Moms, Russian Spies, and Chabadniks: The Latest Sensations from Israel

By Catie Damon November 11, 2013

For 12 weeks I dated an Israeli. The majority of our relationship involved watching TV and smoking cigarettes on his couch. National Geographic was our favorite channel, since it was guaranteed to be in English. At first I felt guilty about staying indoors when I could hear Tel Aviv’s beaches a block away, but I…

Read More...

Shtar: your new Jewish crush? [Music]

By John Propper April 10, 2012

Jews have a long and healthy relationship with the West’s pop culture forms. In particular, there’s a laundry list of famous Jews making great music. And let’s face it: Bob Dylan is a tough act to follow. So how do we one-up ourselves? Frum Jews riffing on pop music: rock, R&B, even rap. Matisyahu is probably most famous…

Read More...

Christians in the West Bank; extreme halakhah; Jewish culture & Mad Men history; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper March 26, 2012

Christians & Jews in the West Bank [Forward] Evangelical Christians have taken up the cause of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, The Jewish Daily Forward reports. In this article by Nathan Jeffay, a spotlight is cast on the role of evangelical Christians in affirming the lives of West Bank settlers, all under the believed…

Read More...