Apr 14, 2014 | Autobiographical, Extremism, Jewish Experiences, mic, Political Ideologies
Published: mic (April 14, 2014) The shooting yesterday at a Jewish community center in Kansas City was more than tragic. It was un-American. This crime strikes a deep personal chord with me, not only because I have also been the victim of an anti-Semitic hate crime, but because its motivations fly in the face of our nation's most important and fundamental ideals. Its perpetrator, Frazier Glenn...
Dec 16, 2013 | Arts and Entertainment, Holiday Season, Jewish Experiences, mic
Published: mic (December 16, 2013) In the name of full disclosure: I am Jewish, and I love Christmas. It's pretty hard not to. How can you not feel all warm and fuzzy inside during a holiday that encourages people to spend time with their loved ones, embrace a whole canon of fascinating holiday folk lore, and create beautiful works of art? That's why I always find it so strange to hear that...
Nov 11, 2013 | Autobiographical, Bullying, Jewish Experiences, mic
Published: mic (November 11, 2013) While I’m no stranger to covering stories involving discrimination, this one was especially personal to me. In the aftermath of a New York Times story on a rash of anti-Semitic incidents in New York’s Pine Bush Central School District, Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that he was directing the state police and Division of Human Rights to investigate any...
Aug 1, 2013 | Jewish Experiences, mic, World Affairs
Published: mic (August 1, 2013) co-author Tillie Adelson Before we were columnists at PolicyMic, Tillie Adelson and I were just ordinary Jewish twenty-somethings visiting Israel for the first time through Yael Adventures. Yael, or Birthright as it is better known, is a program that offers a free trip to the Jewish State for young Jews between the ages of 18 and 26 who have never been there...
Jul 20, 2013 | Foreign Policy, Jewish Experiences, Media Issues, mic, Scandals, World Affairs
Published: mic (July 20, 2013) How does an American political historian cope with the death of Helen Thomas? She was a pioneer for female journalists, an old-fashioned shoe-leather reporter, an astute observer of Washington's grimy, smarmy underbelly who had personally interrogated every president since John F. Kennedy. When Stephen Colbert used the third act of his legendary 2006 White House...
May 25, 2013 | Jewish Experiences, mic, Vice President Biden
Published: mic (May 25, 2013) While Joe Biden is notorious for his gaffes, his recent comments in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month should not be designated as such ... despite the outcry from some critics claiming otherwise. First, let's take a look at what he said: “The truth is that Jewish heritage, Jewish culture, Jewish values are such an essential part of who we are that it’s fair to...
Mar 10, 2013 | Foreign Policy, Jewish Experiences, mic, World Affairs
Published: mic (March 10, 2013) To anyone who may doubt the appalling nature of the late Hugo Chavez's mistreatment of his nation's Jewish community, it's worth noting that communist dictators are generally a pretty vile bunch. As such, it should go without saying that when one Marxist authoritarian feels compelled to call out another one on a humanitarian flaw, decent people everywhere should...
Jun 28, 2012 | Arts and Entertainment, History, Jewish Experiences, mic
Published: PolicyMic (June 28, 2012) As the closing credits started rolling on the new German documentary Auschwitz, I found myself thinking - of all things - of a line from the 2007 Pixar feature Ratatouille, one of my favorite movies: "In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We...