Agents of Influence — Lee Smith
John Kerry’s Silly Play
The secretary of state prattles about imaginary treaties while the Arab world is engulfed by a Sunni-Shia civil war
Columnists
Literature — Adam Kirsch
Who Can Follow These Rules?
This week’s Talmud reading prompts strikingly contemporary questions about observance and belief
The Tattler — Rachel Shukert
Sitting Shiva for Smash
The show’s demise is a blow for musical theater—the art that incorporates virtually every other form of art
Literature — Adam Kirsch
The Irrelevance of Pleasure
As the rabbis remind us again this week, the law is the law—whether it pleases you or not
The Tattler — Rachel Shukert
Gatsby’s Jew
How will Baz Luhrmann’s film portray Meyer Wolfsheim, a 2-D figment in a 3-D extravaganza?
Agents of Influence — Lee Smith
The Golan Heights Chimera
How Israel’s annexation* of the contested border region continues to keep the peace
Continental Drift — James Kirchick
The Good Murdoch
Media magnate Axel Springer’s significant, and unheralded, role in repairing German-Jewish relations
Food — Joan Nathan
The Ultimate Blintzes
Video: How to make delicious cheese-filled crepes from scratch—the perfect dairy recipe for Shavuot
Marjorie Ingall
The Woman Behind the Dolls
Madame Alexander launched her iconic doll company 90 years ago—decades before Barbie was born
Literature — Adam Kirsch
You Only Live Once
The Talmudic rabbis saw the world as a wedding—a place of charity and pleasures to be enjoyed while it lasts
Hannah Arendt, Guilty Pleasure
Thrill to the Jewish Philosopher Queen as she does battle with boring Nazis, The New Yorker, and Mossad
A Memorial Day of Hope
Serving as an Army chaplain gave one cantor a new view of the holiday, and a belief in a brighter future
Happy Birthday, Mr. Kissinger
The influential former secretary of state—courtier, careerist, proud American, conflicted Jew—turns 90
A Growing Fear in France
As political and financial crises deepen in Western Europe, French Jewry is facing a familiar test
At Home With a Jewish Psychic
Video: Astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo’s home reflects her mixed heritage—and wide-ranging spirituality
The Mideast Crack-Up
Robert Worth, David Goldman, Edward Luttwak, Amos Harel, Nathan Thrall, and Lee Smith on the new Arab map
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When Berlin Meant Business
Berlin was once home to 50,000 Jewish-owned businesses. A historian is now obsessively reconstructing their demise.
In Praise of Dairy Restaurants
A visit to B&H Restaurant on Second Avenue brings back memories of milchig establishments of yore
Curse of the Survivor
Singer Vera Gran was haunted by allegations of Nazi collaboration. A new book asks if survival made her guilty.
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