The dichotomy of the popular holiday movie in Jewish culture As a young Jewish person growing up in the United States, I often found myself yearning for more Jewish representation in the media. In an article titled, The Christmas Story Christmas and How It Broke Me, I explored how there has always been a dominance of Christian media over Jewish. I have found even more inspiration in many Christmas films as I grew up, noting that these iconic films have... Read more
Gender roles in a Jewish household Growing up in Midwestern America, as a young girl who grew up in a solely Jewish based sense of identity, it is easy to find the roles of gender a bit muddled. Many would relay their astonishment at my heritage. I remember so strikingly the time in class as we were discussing holidays, the teacher signaled me out to explain Hannukah to the class. It was also easier to remain the class clown and... Read more
What is a hero? I keep asking myself this over and over and over. I know about unsung heroes, super heroes, anti-heroes. I explored the morality behind anti-heroes in popular media here in this article, if you’re interested. But what is a real hero? Heroes that have a mortal thread I think about my entire life. I think about everyone in it. My friends, neighbors, bullies, partners and family. I think about how I’ve impacted their lives and how they’ve... Read more
How can art and film make us have open discussions for faith and mortality? When I think about the first time I watched Lost Horizon, I get chills. I feel sick. I can’t feel my feet, and my legs get heavy. A wave of terror hits me. Dubbed a fantastical drama/adventure (1937), I have never had a more viscerally emotional reaction to a film than when I had watched this particular venture. You may be wondering why, and that’s a... Read more
Disenchantment and the representation of morality I never thought that an adult animation show could make me seriously ponder religion, God and morality. I am happy to relay, however, that Matt Groening, the creator of the prolific long-running show The Simpsons and the more science fiction animated series Futurama, has done just that. In his new 2018 series, Disenchantment, he creates a world of a mix of steampunk and medieval kingdom in a crazy and innovative way. The first idea... Read more
Graphic from the Skylight website Your link to Spirituality Can Boost Your Immunity & Cortisol Levels The Radiant Foundation, which operates and provides mental health support and wellness through an app called Skylight: Spiritual Self-Care, has based their efforts on scientific studies and research. This app has been launched with the aim to provide (according to the app page located here), instant access to daily spiritual wellness with short, simple exercises that generate deep love, strength, and healing. World Mental... Read more
A Jewish person’s perspective Growing up as a Jewish youth, I was not exposed to Christmas media in copious amounts. We didn’t have a Christmas tree. We only had a Menorah, we only had our dreidels and our prayers and I could only watch the seasonal stop motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie and Jack Frost live action films and the loveable Frosty the Snowman short from 1969. We never had those flickering lights on our house for all to... Read more
TruPlay’s Safe Online Gaming for Children TruPlay (founded in 2019 and launched in 2023) has innovative and creative ideas to get children to engage in Biblical principles utilizing an highly popular platform: online gaming. I had first become acquainted with the up and coming Christian gaming company from the Fox News interview featuring Brent Dusing and Dean Cain. The innate sense of passion for creating a safe online platform for children to engage in biblical scripture was apparent, and I... Read more
Analyzing Religious Art Series: A Deeper Exploration In this ongoing series for An Exhibition Of Art History, I am going to be analyzing famous works of religious art. The focus will be religious symbolism, the history of the piece, biblical history and reference and my personal interpretation of the piece. I hope you enjoy this series as it will take on a wide variety of artistic expressions and spiritual avenues. Each article will represent one piece to keep a clean... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
The Banksy Copycat: a historical fiction
A historical fiction that seeks to express hope through art Author note: I wrote this historical fiction piece as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022. The devastation of the torn-down cities and bombed hospitals, schools, and homes sent shockwaves of terror and confusion across the globe. I have always valued and believed in the power of humanity and our capacity for hope, empathy, and love. I find that through art, we can... Read more