by Matthew Friedman | Nov 30, 2021 | Essays, History, Jewish Life
I. The Story My childhood memories of Chanukah* are suffused with feelings of warmth and certainty, as my brother and sister, our parents, and I would gather around the Chanukiah (the Chanukah menorah) to light the festive lights for eight nights. We would chant the...
by Matthew Friedman | Sep 2, 2021 | Essays, Features, Jewish Life
YidLife Crisis, an award-winning online comedy series featuring fast-talking Montreal funnymen Jaime Elman and Eli Batalion has 20,000 loyal subscribers on YouTube and 17,000 followers on Facebook. The bilingual struggles of the pious, often flawed, but always loving...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 2, 2021 | Books, Jewish Life, Reviews
Lila Corwin Berman The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion-Dollar Institution Princeton University Press Tzedakah, the obligation to provide for the less-fortunate of the community, is one of the signal ethical values of Jewish life....
by Matthew Friedman | May 30, 2021 | Commentary, Jewish Life
I wish I could say that I was shocked and surprised when a friend forwarded me a tweet showing Gigi Gaskins, owner of Nashville HATWRKS, wearing the Yellow Star emblazoned with the text “not vaccinated.” She has a smugly satisfied almost-grin on her face in the...
by Matthew Friedman | May 11, 2021 | Essays, Jewish Life
Flames rose from the area near the al-Aqsa Mosque on the plateau of Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, a place known to Muslims as Haram esh-Sharif, and to Jews as Har Ha-Bayit. Cheers rose from a crowd of Israelis gathered in the plaza in front of the Western Wall; many...
by Matthew Friedman | May 2, 2021 | Commentary, Jewish Life, Politics
I learned this week that Senator Elizabeth Warren is a “vicious” antisemite. The news was shocking. I have had my differences with the senator and her particular brand of progressivism in the past, but I never imagined that she would promote an atavistic “Jew-hate”...