-A look at alleged attempts being made by the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv to persuade Russian emigrants to return from Israel to Russia. (Haaretz)
-What’s doing with the refuseniks Ida Nudel, Yosef Begun, and Yuli Edelstein? (J.)
-Sergey Kadinsky writes about how it has happened that Soviet-born Jews “do not have a clear identity in America,” […]

Should novels be political? I’m loving Daniel Handler’s answer in Jewcy’s Book Klatch:
“Political” is like “experimental,” “realistic” or thousands of other adjectives applied to fiction — I’m more convinced by an individual example. Mr. Orner’s last novel was so swell it made me think every novelist should be engaged specifically and directly with culture.
The Yiddish […]

-The strike of Israel’s teachers, which began October 10, drags on amidst discussion of class size, works hours, and salary. (Haaretz)
-And as for the separate strike at universities, “For the first time in Israel’s history, there’s a real danger that the academic year will be canceled,” says Bar-Ilan University President Prof. Moshe Kaveh. (The Jerusalem […]

I just received a survey from the Orthodox Union (OU)’s kashrut department asking me what foods I’d like to see become kosher.
Here is the list of foods they asked me to rank:
Wrigley’s Gum
Ferrero Rocher
Power Bar
Kellogg’s Cereals
Lindt Chocolate
Tootsie Roll
Charm Pops
Carnation Good Start Formula
Gerber Baby Food
Boca Burgers
Wishbone […]

Everyone’s got a blog these days. Jewish institutions, celebrities, and even fake characters like to journal what’s going on in their life. So why wouldn’t a crazy, nuclear-developing pseudo-dictator have one as well?
The New York Times featured an article yesterday about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s blog: www.ahmadinejad.ir. The site has everything from a notice to the […]

From Lee Siegel’s NYT review of the new Bernard Malamud biography by Philip Davis:
Paradoxically, the farther he traveled from his familiar environment, the more confidence he seemed to acquire in returning to it in his fiction. And the more deeply he returned to his past in his imagination, the more confident he felt in strange […]

-A conference wrestles with the question of whether there is an identity of the Southern Jew, and if so, “is that a geographic or a cultural distinction”? (The Atlanta Jewish Times)
-The play “The God of Vengeance” by Yiddish writer Sholom Asch, “sparked charges of anti-Semitism from the Jewish community,” got the producer and lead actor […]

The Writers Guild strike is still going, and while after-work TV-watchers are plunged deeper into rerun land, at-work internet watchers are getting a treat: Speechless, a series of short films featuring an all-star cast minus the all-star scripts.
What would a Woody Allen film be like without a script? Now we know.

And make sure to watch […]

I, like most people who sit in front of a computer all day long, enjoy a good viral video. And thanks to the good folks at The Forward, you don’t have to search YouTube for your Hanukkah fix.
They’ve included Israeli monkeys eating driedels, fake orthodox girls rapping, and NBA players saying “Happy Haunkkah.”
Why this stuff […]

If you’ve ever been to Israel as a tourist, it’s likely that you took a picture in front of this gigantic menorah at the Knesset. Well it’s not actually at the Knesset. It’s across the street. But not for much longer.

JTA, citing a story from Yediot Achronot, reports that the sculpture is being moved on […]