Natalie Portman Hits Her Stride

What the most visibly Jewish actress of her generation can teach us about being ourselves—and handling tough questions about Israel

By Rachel Shukert for Tablet

It’s happened to all of us.

You’re at a trendy wine bar or dinner party—a nice one that uses cloth napkins and serves appetizers separately from the main course—when the dreaded “I” word comes up. And no, it’s not “isometrics” or “Ireland Baldwin.” It’s Israel.

At your table, the consensus is that Israel is full of whiny and hypocritical racists and bullies. A tight knot forms in your stomach: Do you assert support for the Jewish State, causing everyone to treat you as some kind of hateful right wing reactionary for the rest of the night? Or do you agree without caveat and feel ashamed of yourself?

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

Meet the Egyptian-Jewish Owner of Kentucky Derby Winner American Pharaoh

Ahmed Zayat, who lives in New Jersey, once named a yearling ‘Maimonides’ to promote peace among Arabs and Jews

By Jonathan Zalman for Tablet Magazine

On Saturday, like a tremendous machine, three-year-old bay colt American Pharaoh pushed ahead in the final furlong to take the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. In a close second was Firing Line, followed by Dortmund.

American Pharaoh is owned by Ahmed Zayat, head of Zayat Stables, a 200-plus horse operation that competes at racetracks around the country. Zayat lives in Teaneck with his wife, two daughters, and two sons; 23-year-old, Justin, a student at NYU, currently manages the stables.
Zayat, 52, moved to the U.S. at the age of 18. He earned a graduate degree in Public Health at Boston University and founded Al Ahram Beverage Company, a distributor in Egypt, which he sold to Heineken in 2002 for $280 million. According to his bio, Zayat is also the largest shareholder in Misr Glass Manufacturing, a manufacturer of glass containers in Egypt. In 2010, the New York Times profiled Zayat and wrote about the businessman’s entry into the world of horse racing:

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

The Crazy New Invention for Using Electricity on Shabbat

By Jewniverse

For many observant Jews, not using electricity is one of the most salient aspects of Sabbath observance. But a new invention aims to change that.

By changing the way a light switch works, the patented Kosher Switch offers a novel — and, its backers say, kosher — way to turn light switches (and, perhaps, other electrical appliances) on and off during Shabbat.

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

A Journey Through French Anti-Semitism

By Shmuel Trigano, jewishreviewofbooks.com

If after the horrors of January 2015 there is any consolation for the Jews of France, it would seem to lie in the words of Prime Minister Manuel Valls. “How can we accept that people are killed because they are Jewish?” he cried out at a special session of the French parliament a week after the massacres at the Charlie Hebdo editorial offices and at the Hypercacher kosher supermarket. “History has taught us that the awakening of anti-Semitism is the symptom of a crisis for democracy and of a crisis for the Republic. That is why we must respond with force.” We are at war, he said, “with terrorism, jihadism, and Islamist radicalism” (he has spoken more recently of “Islamofascism”), but not, he added, “Islam and Muslims.” And yet, as someone who has lived through and documented the last two decades and more of anti-Semitism in France, I note that there is a problem with the inevitable reflexive warnings after every vicious attack not to slip into Islamophobia by conflating Islam and terrorism. It is a kind of automatic discourse in which the existence of a threat to Muslims erases the recognition of the hatred to which Islamic texts and doctrines have given rise, as expressed by the terrorists themselves. For there is a long history of Islamic anti-Judaism, and it is the reason for the attacks against the Jews.

Continue reading.

For more on Jewish books, check out our    page.