It is time to get a new season started. This prologue introduces the idea that every story has a topography on which it unfolds. In particular, it is a framing of the season ahead questions in three...
Frigid Toronto Funeral Grows from 2 to 200, Ehud Barak’s Pot, Disney’s Gay Kugel Eater, and Other Newsbits
It was colder than -27 Celsius (-6F) in Toronto last week, when Eddie Ford was laid to rest in a Jewish cemetery. When Eddie was six, he was hidden by a Christian family in Budapest and saved from...
My problem with Jewish “Chinese Auctions”
Every few months, for years, I receive a promotional mailing from an Orthodox Jewish group hosting a “Chinese Auction.” And for years, I have responded to some of them that the term...
TJS Interlude: 3 things which divide the stories of American and Israeli Jews
Everybody is talking about the relationship between American and Israeli Jewry – is the romance over? are we headed for a breakup? This relationship will be central to the Jewish Story in...
Double Chai Sundance 2019: What’s Jew-ish at the Fest
The 36th Annual Sundance 2019 started in Park City, Utah, today with founder Robert Redford standing before attendees and… walking off the stage. After over three decades of kicking off the...
TJS2 Epilogue: The re-emergence of Jewish political theology and messianism in 1948
What better way to wrap up season two than to talk about the messiah? Here is an exploration of the power of the messianic idea and its centrality to Jewish thought. It also includes the introduction...
Can AeroMexico’s DNA Discount Work for EL AL?
There is a viral video online this week from a early 2018 Aeromexico advertisement campaign that tells the story of the air carrier’s discount program for people of Mexican heritage. (See...
Madonna @Eurovision19 TelAviv, Feldman @Dear Evan Hansen, Eisner Not @Forward And More Newsbits
Word on the street (or the Rehov) is that Madonna might perform at the Eurovision 2019 Song Contest in Tel Aviv in May. The show is being produced by KAN, the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation...
TJS Who is Rav Mike Feuer and why is he telling the Jewish Story?
Every story has a teller, and a good listener knows that you can’t really separate the two. In this podcast, Rav Mike sits down with his old friend and founder of Aleph Male, Eitan Ben Avraham...
Is it Time to ENGAGE OR REJECT the Women’s March Leadership
The nature of big tent coalitions is that groups with various ideas and missions combine together for a greater good. Such was the character of the Women’s March in Washington in January 2017. Many...