Alef: The NEXT Conversation

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20: Stereotypes

Whether they make us laugh, cringe, or both, the truth is – Jews live with stereotypes all the time. For our 20th issue, Alef looks at stereotypes, assumptions, and how others see us.

19: Israel

For the next couple of weeks Alef will take a look at Jewish relationships with Israel at a particularly interesting time, a time when, despite public opinion sometimes turning against Israel, more Americans are continuing to make aliyah.

18: Friday Night Lights

Alef presents Issue 18: Friday Night Lights, where we’ll share the sentiments of Shabbat through stories from people who have found unique and personal ways to relate to the weekly holiday, even if that means developing some very non-traditional approaches.

17: People of the (comic)Book

Most of us doodled in the margins of our Hebrew school textbooks. Some of us took those doodles and turned them into a career. Welcome to the world of Jewish Comics.

16: Diverse Jews

Sure, the populations of Israel and the United States are a great source of the world’s Jewish people, but you’d be surprised at where else you can find fellow members of the tribe.

Recent Entries

Atypical Jew

When it comes to being a “stereotypical Jew”, sometimes defying expectations can be as rewarding as living up to them.

The Nuns and Me

When your knowledge of Catholic nuns begins and ends with Whoopie Goldberg movies, it’s no surprise that you might have some stereotypes to work though.

Real

The details I remember: I was on bus #1.

Forgetting Tel Aviv

I didn’t come looking for anything in particular, as I had in the past. Particularity breeds expectation, which, more often than not, leads to disappointment. So I came just hoping not to be disappointed.

If I Forget You

A video companion to the non-political side of Israel.

Oh Yes, Oh Yes, Oh YES!

Years ago, I was talking with an acquaintance who was planning a weekend conference for a Jewish youth organization. “Do you observe Shabbat?” I asked him. He looked at me, silent for a moment. “We say ‘yes’ to all the ‘yeses,’” he replied….

Transgender and Jewish

“I can be a whole person
Jewish and queer
And now I am coming into an even more complete identity”

Coming Out (Again)

“When I reflect on the challenges I have faced as a queer Jew, it is the countless, everyday experiences of coming out and being out that, perhaps surprisingly, impact me….”

Chanukah in June

“Chanukah in June makes about as much sense as Christmas in July. But the Festival of Lights does have something in common with Pride Month: coming out. Yes, Chanukah is a “coming out” holiday, in both its origins and its contemporary forms….”

Half-and-Half

What do you say when your own father asks if you will admit that you’re not really Jewish in order to marry your hypothetical Orthodox future-husband?

Black Jew Syndrome

Being an American of mixed-heritage, I have always found dating Jewish women to be a somewhat…complicated endeavor.

Harvey Pekar’s “Upmanship and Downmanship”

The late Harvey Pekar tries to “out-Jewish” a group of passers by. The results? Not quite what he was expecting.

Alef Interviews: Eli Valley

Alef interviews The Forward’s satirical cartoonist Eli Valley about comics, MAD, the Jewish Community, and working at JCCs.

Cartoons for Shabbat

Ask any ten-year old, and they’ll tell you – weekday cartoons are fine, but if you want the good stuff, you’ve gotta get up on Saturday morning, and start flippin’ channels.

On Being Magneto

Comic book movies are supposed to be escapist fantasy, right? So why does this one start with Auschwitz?

Alef Interviews: JT Waldman

Alef interviews JT Waldman, author and illustrator of the Megillat Esther graphic novel. JT talks about his life, his comics, his work with the late Harvey Pekar, and how he discovered his Judaism in the middle of a Catholic country.

The Best Year

It wasn’t too long ago that I found myself telling someone: “My best Jewish year was 2006.” That year, I stopped going to Hillel every Friday night and made the evening my own, remains my best Jewish year….

Friday Night In Israel

One of the beautiful things about Friday night in Israel is that there are many people celebrating Shabbat in so many different ways. Regardless of who you are, everyone is observing Shabbat together and radiating that special feeling. Elsewhere in the world, Shabbat isn’t shared with such an array of people. There isn’t a central place, like the Kotel, where everyone gathers in order to welcome Shabbat.

Unplugging

At the heart of the Sabbath Manifesto, created with the non-profit organization Reboot, are 10 core principles that can be interpreted broadly to allow anyone to carve a weekly timeout into their lives. The principles were developed in the same spirit of the Slow Movement, (Slow food, Slow living) with the idea of taking time off to observe each of the ten principles one day per week, from sunset to sunset.

Keeping Shabbat

“My mom told me that I didn’t need to wait until I had children to observe Shabbat, that I could start celebrating on my own in college and continue through my adult life as well. Until then, I never thought of Shabbat as something you do without your family….”

Evolution of Shabbat

Though I am sure there is a rationale (or three) for every Shabbat tradition, I have to wonder if the original justification for Shabbat really is far more simple than a few thousand years of rabbinic arguments would suggest: perhaps Friday night at sundown to Saturday night at sundown is simply meant to be a break from work and a time of relaxation, time best spent with loved ones. The execution of this idea would be like fingerprints, then: unique to everybody.

Tales of a Rabbi’s Kid

Shabbat, which I now consider a relaxing, joyous, and prized weekly occurrence, was dreaded. From the outside, it probably looked like a nice family dinner followed by services, the Alpert family sitting in the front row while my dad, the rabbi, stood before the congregation. On the inside, it was a stressful, scarfed-down meal followed by a frantic rush to get to the synagogue to set up….

The Earth is Not Quiet

No place but a sidewalk crack, a bridge across water, the oily death of a crooked coast…

The Evolution of a Shabbat Guest

If I had grown to love being a guest at Shabbat meals, I was head-over-heals in love with the experience of being a host. It was electrifying… The planning, the shopping, the cooking, the last minute calls asking if someone could bring along another guest, or two, or three… I felt honored.

The Magnet That Pulls At My Soul

Home? This doesn’t look like home. I just flew 13 hours to the other side of the world and entered a place I have never been before.

On Park Avenue

There is no better way to see the similarities between the two biggest Jewish communities in the world than observing how their members complain. Luckily God summoned a visit from a Jew from the Promised Land – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – to the Council of Foreign Relations on 68th Street and Park Avenue to help my cause.

A Piece of Land

Let’s be realistic. My experience of what a country is, well, it’s a little unique. My homeland was built by people deserting their old one, where it’s not uncommon to ask someone’s nationality (and get a laundry list back).

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