Sarah Silverman with "Finding Your Roots" host Henry Louis Gates Jr. (PBS)
(JTA) — “I was the hairy Jewish monkey in a sea of blond kids.” That’s not Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill — it’s Sarah Silverman talking about her upbringing in Bedford, New Hampshire, on an upcoming episode of “Finding Your Roots,” the celebrity genealogy show on PBS. Bedford, the… Read more »
Rabbi Susan Silverman Activism and family values are in Rabbi Susan Silverman’s DNA. Raised in a secular Jewish home in New Hampshire by parents committed to liberal politics, she is active on behalf of asylum seekers in Israel, advocates for liberal Judaism and is founding director of Second Nurture, which promotes adoption… Read more »
Donald Trump speaking on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, July 21, 2016 (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — It’s never been easy for Jewish Republicans. Jews have broken overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates since Woodrow Wilson. Despite rising American Jewish affluence, usually a harbinger of conservative voting patterns, a plurality self-defines as liberal. Republican Jews have poured millions into upping their share of the Jewish… Read more »
Sarah Silverman, shown here with co-star Josh Charles, aims to break out as a dramatic actress in 'I Smile Back.' (Eric Lin) PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) — The Sarah Silverman that the world knows and loves is a loudmouthed, foulmouthed, ribald comedian who tramples on the boundaries of social decency with sharp purpose and uproarious glee. The Sarah Silverman who stars in the domestic drama “I Smile Back,” which premiered at… Read more »
Sarah Silverman, shown here with co-star Josh Charles, aims to break out as a dramatic actress in "I Smile Back." (Eric Lin) LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Although it’s now well entrenched in the Hollywood ecosystem, the Sundance Film Festival remains a venue for some of the film industry’s more offbeat voices and still largely unknown talent — and a place for boldfaced names to redefine themselves. Jewish subjects and artists again… Read more »
Women of the Wall holding their monthly Rosh Chodesh service at the Western Wall, in contravention of rules barring women from wearing prayer shawls or reading from the Torah at the site, March 12, 2013. (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — If ever there were a gathering of Women of the Wall that was going to spark a wider conflict, Tuesday’s would have been the one. For the past several months, police have detained members of the women’s prayer group during their monthly Rosh Chodesh services for… Read more »
BERKELEY, Calif. (JTA) — The Chmielnicki massacres weren’t particularly funny. From 1648 to 1651, nearly 100,000 Jews were slaughtered throughout Ukraine by Bohdan Chmielnicki and his roving bands of Cossacks. It was arguably the worst pogrom in history, leaving hundreds of Jewish communities in ruins. Yet according to Mel… Read more »
