Smell Test
After a lifelong curiosity about the prohibition against pork, one writer finds a satisfying answer—in the writings of the late Christopher Hitchens
About Nothing
The invented Seinfeld winter holiday Festivus, like the late Christopher Hitchens, demands a religion-like dogma around nonbelief
The Tenth Man
The key to Christopher Hitchens wasn’t his iconoclasm; it was his desire for belonging—and the proof can be found in an unexpected place
Seriously
We are all—from Anthony Weiner to Chelsea Handler to the lazy guy who’d rather watch TV than read a book—afflicted by an epidemic of frivolity. But Moses, who faced it, too, has a cure.
The Cryptogram
David Mamet’s The Secret Knowledge, an assault on liberal values and politics, should be viewed not as a polemic but as a yet-to-be-written play about his usual subjects: scams and hustlers
Ben-Gurion
Sounding Off
Note to some of my fellow progressives: If we can’t argue about Israel without using anti-Semitic tropes, then the debate is lost before it even begins
Cheap Eats
An entrepreneur opened a Jewish-themed restaurant in Lviv, Ukraine. Chopped liver is on the menu, but not its price—diners get to haggle over it.
Grace Notes
Orthodox klezmer and bluegrass virtuoso Andy Statman and evangelical country star Ricky Skaggs cross genres and faiths to form a mighty duo
Goodbye to All That
For generations, the Jews of Caracas had idyllic weather, prosperity, and vibrant communal organizations. Things have changed under Hugo Chávez.
