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Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

“’I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on the Jewish community,’ Raisman said Tuesday, describing her 2012 gold medal-winning routine, which included a component to the music of ‘Hava Nagila,’ the Jewish folk song.

‘I didn’t realize at the time I was representing not only the United States but the Jewish community,’ Raisman told the Lion of Judah conference, held this year at a Florida resort. ‘I received a letter from a Holocaust survivor saying she never imagined in her life seeing a young girl performing to ‘Hava Nagila’ in front of the world and see her win for it.'”

Source: Aly Raisman, quoted in this JTA article.

Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • A list with an edge: Ira Stoll’s “Hanukkah Gift Guide of Jewish Books The New York Times Ignored.”
  • A lovely set of stories (factual and fictional) in this year’s Hanukkah Lights broadcast from National Public Radio.
  • I’ve only watched the first couple of episodes of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” but that’s enough to appreciate “A Tale of Two Maisels” on Jewish Women, Amplified.
  • Baltimore Jewish Times is looking for a staff reporter.
  • And the December Jewish Book Carnival went live this week.

    • Shabbat shalom—and chag sameach!

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • A treat from HevriaCast: an episode featuring Rachel Kann.
  • Over on the Library Journal site: “Israel in Fiction: Celebrate Jewish Book Month with These Titles by Israeli Authors,” a wonderful overview by Rachel Kamin.
  • Registration is now open for the Jewish Book Council’s Jewish Writers’ Seminar in New York. (I’ll be there!)
  • Via eJewish Philanthropy, I’ve discovered the intriguing Hewish Studio Project. Its Studio AM “is a new creative arts studio in the Bay Area that lifts up the creative potential in each person and offers an accessible, inspiring and creative pathway into Jewish connection and community.” Note an upcoming “immersive” event, to take place in January, for which applications are due November 20. (Partial scholarships may be available.)
  • And this week my the U.K.’s Jewish Chronicle published my latest “View from the U.S.A.” column. In this installment, I look back on where I was—and what I was thinking—one year ago.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • “The Etrog,” a short-story by Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon (translated by Jeffrey Saks), was re-upped on Tablet this week for the Sukkot holiday.
  • “In a moment when being Jewish in America suddenly feels threatened in a way it hasn’t in decades, the idea of a distinctly Jewish novel — a concept that has persisted in literature since the turn of the 20th century — has become increasingly urgent. Three fiction writers and one cartoonist ruminate on Jewish identity and its relationship to Israel and the U.S. in 2017.” (The New York Times)
  • “Hagar, or: The Handmaid’s Tale” (S.L. Wisenberg on the Lilith blog).
  • Last chance to enter this giveaway!
  • And a reminder that you can catch Gal Gadot on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend!

    • Shabbat shalom and chag sameach.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    1

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • I’ve never forgotten the heroism of Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns—which made Tamara Miller’s “The Rabbi in the ER” especially moving reading for me.
  • After preparing myself with this Tablet piece by Marco Roth, I’m currently reading Joshua Cohen’s Moving Kings.
  • Hard to believe: “Soon there will only be one Judaica store left in Manhattan.” (via Ben Sales for JTA)
  • On a cheerier note: “Streetwise Hebrew” is a new addition to my podcast subscriptions. (I need to focus more when listening to them, though! It’s one thing to listen while I’m walking around the city; it’s another to sit and listen and look at/study each show’s notes!)
  • And ICYMI on the Practicing Writing blog: Here’s some news about a new #JewLit-related book-publicity project of mine.

    • Shabbat shalom.