The Jewish Nomad: Ilana Zackon’s worst Hallmark Hanukkah movie script pitch
Growing up in a Jewish bubble of schools, camps, youth groups—the whole megillah, so to speak—I never really knew anyone who didn’t celebrate Hanukkah until I was about 16. Our street in Dollard-des-Ormeaux was almost entirely populated by Jews, save for one family. And, to this day, we’re still wondering what enticed them to live […]
Rabbi Avi Finegold’s hot take for Hanukkah: Maccabees, materialism and the middle path
Avi Finegold is the founder of the Jewish Living Lab in Montreal and the co-host of The CJN’s weekly current affairs podcast Bonjour Chai. I’m far from the first person to point out that there’s no history or meaning to attach to Hanukkah gifts. They’re clearly an idea borrowed from Christmas, and there are dozens of articles […]
The problem with putting on a yarmulke in Pittsburgh: a ‘Squirrel Hill’ book excerpt by Mark Oppenheimer
After the Oct. 27, 2018, mass killing at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, when 11 members of three different congregations (all houses under one roof) were killed—the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history—I traveled to the Squirrel Hill neighborhood 32 times over the next year and a half to interview people about the effect […]
