Five finalists have been announced for the new Sami Rohr prize for Jewish literature. According to the official announcement (a PDF), the whopping $100,000 award is the largest ever for a Jewish literary prize.
The prize will be given annually to an “emerging writer” and this year’s nomination list has a distinctly international flavor:
-Naomi Alderman of […]

I love Wikipedia as much as the next guy (who’s constantly debating facts with his friends), but as the editor of another internet resource I’ll admit to a measure of schadenfreude when I stumble upon something on Wiki that’s grossly and oddly mistaken.
The tidbit I just found is even funnier because it pertains to one […]

Walter Benjamin was one of the most idiosyncratic 20th century intellectuals. Though his formal academic training was in philosophy, he eventually wrote his major works in areas that are closer to literary, art, and pop-culture theory. For this reason, and for his association with the Frankfurt School, Benjamin is revered as a kind-of grandfather of […]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had unannounced cosmetic surgery last week. On what part of his body, you ask?
Find out here.

The discussion boards on MyJewishLearning.com have always been an important part of our website, and consistently offer insightful conversation and rich debate. This week we are spotlighting the following two discussions relevant to today’s culture.
What is a Secular Jew?
How to keep kosher?
We invite you to take a look at these discussions, and contribute to them […]

Thanks to FailedMessiah for pointing out this ynet article about Ultra-Orthodox families in Israel who are struggling financially because of an overbearing modern-day dowry system.
A daughter’s wedding should be one of the happiest events in a parent’s life, but it’s become a nightmare because sought-after grooms are demanding that the bride’s parents buy the couple […]

The latest installment of Adeena Sussman’s MJL food column “The Inspired Kitchen” is now available. The newest recipe: Schnitzel (Israeli chicken cutlets) — with a spicy kick.
Want a vegetarian alternative? Well, there’s always Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. Chikin frikin good!
If you missed Adeena’s first two recipes, here they are:
- Parsnip-Sweet Potato Latkes
- Baba Ganouj

It’s notable and laudable that many Jewish groups commemorate Martin Luther King Day, but I’ve always found it a bit troubling that these commemorations often return to a single image: Abraham Joshua Heschel marching arm in arm with Martin Luther King at Selma.
Of course, it makes sense that we, as a community, are proud of […]

Though I have mixed feelings about the Kabbalah Centre, I do feel that the mainstream Jewish community and press has, perhaps, been too hard on the place, too judgmental, maybe.
So I was pleased to see that the Tiferet Institute had invited the Centre’s Michael Berg to its recent conference on Kabbalah for the Masses. Similarly, […]

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was the featured guest on Oprah yesterday, and I figured I would take one for the team and watch so I could report it to all you loyal blog readers.
Shmuley’s appearance was something of a promotion for his TLC reality show, Shalom in the Home, in which the rabbi infiltrates America’s dysfunctional […]