Category Archives: Jews and Judaism

Fragments from Evolving Manhood: A Full-Throated Protest Against Existence and the World

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

I have written before about the book of personal essays dealing with manhood, masculinity and male sexuality that I tried, unsuccessfully (even with the help of an agent) to get published in the 1980s. Evolving Manhood was the working title, … Continue reading →

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J Street and Poetry and Jewish Politics and Jewish Poets and Jewish Poetics and Holocaust Trivialization and Israel and Palestine and antisemitism and How Can Culture be a Tool for Change if You Won't Let Culture do its Work? – Part 1

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

Note: Portions of this post were edited on January 19 to correct problems that resulted from careless cutting and pasting. Oy! So I was, with mild interest, reading the conversation that was beginning to develop around the post written by … Continue reading →

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J Street Los Angeles!

Posted on January 7, 2010 by Julie

Because I am a glutton for punishment with no sense of restraint, when the email came in saying that J Street was opening up local chapters, not only did I immediately sign up, but I checked off every single skills/interests … Continue reading →

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"The Myths of Liberal Zionism," by Yitzhak Laor – I want to read this book

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

Writing in the January issue of Harper’s Magazine, Joshua Cohen wrote this at the end of his review of Laor’s book: It often seems that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is just […] a textual problem. If so, then the muddle of … Continue reading →

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A New Covenant

Posted on December 6, 2009 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

Because we have discussed male infant circumcision on this blog before, a poem in progress: They say it’s a shame we didn’t do it when we should have, that probably you’ll need it later in life, when it’s more complicated, … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender and the Body, Jews and Judaism, literature | Comments Off  

Who Is a Jew? Court Ruling in Britain Raises Question – from The New York Times

Posted on November 8, 2009 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

The Supreme Court in England is set to rule by the end of this year on a case involving a question that has vexed Jewish communities throughout the world for centuries: Who is a Jew? The case began because a … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year!

Posted on September 19, 2009 by Ampersand

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Jessie Brown celebrates the day with Moishe Oysher and the Barry Sisters, and it does seem like a nice way to kick-start a new year. From Chazzanut.com: Moishe Oysher (and that was … Continue reading →

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Jews Earn Like Jews And Vote Like Jews

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Ampersand

From a New York Times review of Norman Podhoretz’s new book, Why Are Jews Liberal? In the book, Podhoretz — a conservative — wonders why most Jews are liberals (in recent presidential elections, an average of 75% of Jews have … Continue reading →

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Terrorist

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Jeff Fecke

So the guy who shot up the Holocaust Museum is James W. von Brunn, Holocaust denier, neo-Nazi, and generally swell guy: James W. von Brunn holds a BachSci Journalism degree from a mid-Western university where he was president of SAE … Continue reading →

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Easter in Orange County

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Julie

Last Sunday, sitting on the steps next to my container garden outside my Long Beach apartment, I heard a group of people singing in the next building. I thought of the seder I’d had a couple of nights before; my … Continue reading →

Posted in Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Families structures, divorce, etc, Jews and Judaism, Race, racism and related issues | Comments Off