Jenna Weissman Joselit

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EnviroJews Avant La Lettre

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

When it comes to talk of eco-Judaism, the history the story of how largely urban immigrants from Eastern Europe found themselves cultivating chicken in New Jersey, gets lost in the shuffle, Jenna Weissman Joselit writes.Read More

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Dark of Night

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

Citizens of America take note: one of the central institutions of modern American life — the post office — is on the verge of disappearing. Like the nickelodeon, it may soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. I don’t mean to be an alarmist but my mailbox of late has been crammed with so many announcements about a reduction in services, a change in the hours of operation or, worse still, the closing of a local branch, that it’s hard not to notice that something’s afoot.Read More

Striking the Right Notes

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

Before we know it, Rosh Hashanah, and with it, an incentive to visit our local synagogue for perhaps the first time in many months, will be upon us. We are drawn back to the synagogue for a number of reasons, many of them having more to do with filial piety — with devotion to family tradition — than anything else. Yet others among us come for the liturgy and the music that enlivens it: The sounds of the sacred service, from the timbre of the hazan’s voice to the strains of the guitar and the beats of the electric keyboard, facilitate both introspection and a sense of community.Read More

Yoo-hoo and Hubbub

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

Much has been made of late of the yoo-hooing Molly Goldberg, the eponymous subject of Aviva Kempner’s warmhearted documentary about Gertrude Berg, the hugely successful actress and producer of the interwar years who created the long-running fictional character on radio and television. Framed by an open window and a cheery flower pot, Molly announces her presence to the world; she’s hard to miss. Though latter-day audiences, given to tweeting on Twitter, would no more lean out the window and converse with their neighbors than they would resort to using a rotary phone, we are meant to be charmed, as well as chastened, by Molly’s instructive show of affability. The apparent ease with which she moved between the public and the private spheres of daily life reminds us of a time, back in the day, when the Mrs. Goldbergs of the world held sway and things seemed relatively uncomplicated.Read More

Feeding the Body Politic

By Jenna Weissman Joselit

Long before Americans discovered the virtues of vegetables, these gifts of the soil loomed large on the modern Jewish landscape. Within Jewish circles, “Eat Your Vegetables” was not only the rallying cry of nutrition-minded mothers, but also a Zionist imperative — the stuff of moral regeneration. Adding fruits and vegetables to one’s diet, it seemed, was good for the body politic as well as the body.Read More


 

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