Four years ago, Jew in the City stood outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza with a simple message: Orthodox Jews deserve fair representation. At the time, NBC’s Nurses had aired an episode that grotesquely and inaccurately depicted Hasidic Jews. The portrayal sparked outrage across the Jewish community. But instead of simply protesting, we chose to do something […]
Several weeks ago JITC (Jewish Institute for Television & Cinema) Hollywood Bureau hosted an official panel at Sundance Film Festival on Jewish representation in media. We presented the findings from our groundbreaking study conducted with the Norman Lear Center at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The research examines how general Jewish characters—and also […]
Dear Jew in the City, How do Orthodox Jews view Jesus? Sincerely, Wondering Dear Wondering, Thanks for your question. I would be hard-pressed to tell you how many times in the course of my “day job” a non-Jewish reader has written me asking, “What do Jews think of Jesus?” Sometimes they just can’t accept […]
Dear Jew in the City, Why do Jews kiss the door? Sincerely, Puzzled Dear Puzzled, Thanks for your question. I’m going to answer it but before I do, I’m going to tell you a story. Many years ago, when the interwebs were in their infancy, people got their information from a thing called newspapers. (Imagine […]
At the 2nd Annual Jewish Media Awards, held at Lincoln Center on November 12, 2024, actor Jonathan Lipnicki presented the Keter Shem Tov Award to the crew of “We Will Dance Again” for their courageous and compassionate storytelling in the wake of tragedy. The documentary, distributed by Paramount (which recently merged with Skydance), centers on […]
Grab your caramel popcorn. We’ve got something to celebrate! Reality television doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to representing its cast members positively or fairly as increased drama equals increased eyeballs. The risks only multiply when the subjects are Orthodox Jews, a group often vilified in the media. But Aaron Zutler, co-founder […]
