Aviya Kushner is the Forward’s language columnist and the author of Wolf Lamb Bomb and The Grammar of God. Follow her on Twitter @AviyaKushner.
Aviya Kushner
By Aviya Kushner
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Culture How This Bible Got To Jerusalem — And Other Secrets Of Gershom Scholem’s Library
If you have ever wanted to visit the private library of a major intellectual, the place to be is Jerusalem, where Gershom Scholem’s personal library — along with the desk he wrote on — lives inside a room at the National Library of Israel. The space is homey, and feels a bit like a private…
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Culture Why Israel’s National Library Is Such A Treasure Trove For The Jewish People
Did you know that Stefan Zweig’s suicide note is housed in the National Library of Israel? So are Gershom Scholem’s love letters to his first wife, which mention the time he saw the poet Chaim Nachman Bialik at lunch, along with the philosopher Ahad Ha’am. In a recent visit, I held my breath as I…
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Culture How Fight Over African Immigrants Is (Literally) Dividing Houses In Israel
The refugee crisis in Israel is personal for many Israelis. In South Tel Aviv’s Shapira neighborhood, where most residents have modest incomes, one house has two signs — half the house calls for letting refugees stay; the other calls for sending them out of Israel. One sign reads: “South Tel Aviv Is Against the Expulsion.”…
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Culture Why Vowels Matter So Much At The Passover Seder — Really!
Some Seders focus on the plot of the Haggadah — the hunger-fueled journey to Egypt, the 400 years of ensuing enslavement, the long and brutal struggle against Pharaoh’s cruelty and, at last, the triumphant Exodus. But in families like mine, the main event is not plot, it’s the vowels. Dinner is postponed indefinitely as relatives…
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Culture How Vashti Said No — And Faced The Consequences
Every time a scandal erupts around the sexual behavior of a powerful man, someone seems to ask, “Well, why didn’t she say no?” It so happens that the Book of Esther begins with the story of a woman who “says no,” and it demonstrates that the consequences of “saying no” can be severe: Queen Vashti…
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Culture Do Israeli Writers Still Care About Israeli Literature?
The prominent literary critic and editor Yigal Schwartz has published a new book that considers why Israeli readers are reading less Israeli literature in favor of work in translation — and it is sparking passionate conversation in literary circles in Israel. Schwartz is the senior literary editor for Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir, the largest publisher in…
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Culture Barbara Harshav Is First Hebrew And Yiddish Translator To Win Lifetime Achievement Award
Barbara Harshav, a translator of Hebrew and Yiddish literature, will receive this year’s prestigious PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, given every three years to recognize an outstanding translator for lifetime achievement. Harshav is the first Hebrew or Yiddish translator to receive the award — and in the world of Jewish literature, Harshav’s win is being…
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Culture Breathtaking, Rare Yiddish Magazines Get New Life Online
A treasure trove of Yiddish avant-garde journals from the period between the two world wars is now online through a remarkable digitization project called Milgroym. The project presents originals, translations, and commentaries, and the visuals are breathtaking; treats for the online reader include a drawing for a Chassidic costume for a modernist ballet, circa 1923….
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