SHTETL MAGAZINE

JetLAG of Cultures

JetLAG music festival is a collision of cultures. Is it Russian? Jewish? American? One Russian Israeli headed to the festival to sort out the confusion.

Identity

Operation Desert Stork
By

“I am now heading on a very long trip to two places, which for most of my adult life, I have been ambivalent about. And frankly, scared of. Parenthood and Israel. “

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History

How Hip is Hitler?
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When is it ok to laugh at a madman from our not-too-distant past? What does it mean when we use fascist imagery in pop-culture? Niki Minaj just did it and so do many others. Erin Corber contemplates the trend.

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Holidays

5775 Is Here!
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Check out some of what Shtetl got up to in the past year. Let’s hope 5775 brings us all more weird and wonderful adventures in Jewish arts and culture! Shana Tova!!

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More Shtetl Magazine

Miriam Katin on Letting Go
By

Graphic novelist and Holocaust survivor Miriam Katin’s son wants her to help him get European citizenship from Hungary so he can move to Germany and be with his girlfriend. What to do?

Popping That Bacon Cherry
By

“We were walking down the street on our way to the pharmacy to pick up condoms when the whiff of spicy Los Angeles street meat hit us.” A tale of pork and dating by Dvora Meyers.

Mimouna-Wha’?? Crashing a Moroccan Passover
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Mimouna-hopping Moroccan-style Passover ritual live in Mile End. (And a mimouna is…???)

Aboriginal Rewrite of The 10 Plagues
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The 10 Plagues of Passover as told from an Indigenous perspective by Nathan and Howard Adler: twin brothers from Ottawa of both Jewish and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe heritage.

Equal Rights Since Eden
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When it comes to Jewish Feminism, Lilith magazine has covered it all. From Jewish hair stories to JAPS to rabbinical misconduct to reproductive rights. Read and listen to Shtetl’s interview with Lilith Editor Susan Weidman Shneider.

Sayed Kashua: On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
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Kashua is an Arab Israeli novelist, journalist and sitcom writer for the funny and controversial Hebrew show Arab Labor. And he’s a bit of a nervous wreck too.

Interview with Isaac: Our Tormented 2nd Patriarch
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It has long been pointed out by historians, theologians, and psychiatrists that Isaac, son of Abraham and the second Jewish patriarch, got a raw deal. One intrepid Shtetl reporter- Jarrod Tanny- actually got an interview with the guy.

Follow The Light: The Photography of Kitra Cahana
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Images of a nomadic youth subculture, the eviction of Settlers from Gaza, of Indigenous rituals from Venezuela and of her father Rabbi Ronnie Cahana. Young photographer Kitra Cahana is making it big. Check her and her evocative work out here!

Lance Armstrong Reads The Talmud
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“Yes, I doped, I lied, I tried to destroy anyone who challenged those lies, but it’s not my fault. It’s Rabbi Hillel’s.” Finally, Lance Armstrong spills the Talmudic beans about what really happened during his infamous days of doping.

I Heart Macabees: New Jewish Cinema
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With Oscar season upon us, one Jewish Big Shot in the world of film has got some tips for you on how to make it in Hollywood. Kid, read this, and you’re sure to be a big macher in the movies.