The Lost Jews
Odmar Braga knows who he is.”I’m the generation of the desert,” he says. “I’m not in Egypt, but I’m not in the Promised Land.” He has more than the biblical exodus in mind. Braga, 53, claims he is descended from Dutch Sephardic Jews who sailed to religious freedom in northeastern Brazil around 400 years ago. He is a Marrano, a Jew whose family converted to Christianity to escape persecution but then continued to secretly practice Judaism. And for Marranos like Braga, or bnei anousim, there have been many Egypts.
May 31st, 2006
Apr 28th, 2006
Israelis Park the Moving Truck and Head to the Mall
There’s a new rest stop on the classic Israeli road from the military to backpacking around the world: the tchotchke-laden kiosks that dot the arteries of most shopping malls. Thousands of young Israelis have been trading their M16s for aromatherapy pillows, nail buffers and foot cream. Shot in the knee two years ago during a paratrooper training session, Liran, 22, can’t lift boxes, so working as a mover, as Israeli expats have for decades, was not an option. Therefore, when it came time to earn some money to fund his post-military travels, he went to the mall.
Jun 15th, 2005
Genealogies of Catastrophe
Irin Carmon’s Thesis at Harvard University, for her degree in Literature.
Read the comments on her thesis here.
Aug 14th, 2004
Rich and Poor Join Hands
They are children of the carpenters, the factory works and the gardeners. They live just outside the gates of Pilar’s “countries”, those cloisters of wealth. In a country where nearly half of the poor are children, they face grim educational odds.
Dec 26th, 2003
Dec 26th, 2002
Dec 15th, 2002
May 1st, 2001
Ms. Magazine: Book Review of Katha Pollitt’s Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture
“When Pollitt isn’t wielding her wit to shred our assumptions, she is cutting to the heart of an issue with little patience for the sophistry that passes for public debate.”
Feb 15th, 2001