Last week, I was honored to receive second prize in the Religion News Association award category of “excellence in magazine news religion reporting” at RNA’s first virtual version of its annual conference. (My friend Brandon Ambrosino, who is a fantastic writer and person, took a very well-deserved first prize.)
My submission was a package of three pieces:
“How Jews Solved the ‘Design Problem’ of Gesturing to the Prohibited Name of God Without Actually Writing It: The story of the three yods and other religious and aesthetic innovations.” (Oct. 10, 2019) in Mosaic magazine.
“New York State Cracks Down on Jewish Schools: Senator Simcha Felder and Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel meet the long shadow of Joseph Hodges Choate.” (July 16, 2019; Vol. 19, no. 4) in EducationNext
“The Wreck of the Jewish Museum: From its priceless collection of artworks, a foremost cultural institution has harvested mainly inferior examples for display, while submerging Jewish identity in a sea of ‘universal values.’” (May 6, 2019) in Mosaic magazine.
A quick word about the pieces for anyone inclined to take a look. The first was born out of my attempt—triumphant in the final moments!—to decipher Hebrew abbreviations near the dome of the Florence great synagogue, and also eyeing text decorations in Rome’s great synagogue. I suppose if one’s eyes wander during Sabbath services, they ought, at least, to land somewhere interesting that yields a good story.
The story about New York State’s crack down on Jewish schools was one where the logistics of negotiating my way into some chassidic schools to observe classrooms and talk to students, teachers, parents, alumni, and administrators was more onerous than the actual reporting itself. Many of the things I observed didn’t find their way into the final article, so perhaps I’ll return to some of them again.
Finally, the essay on the Jewish Museum in New York, which comes as a package with three responses from prominent thinkers and writers, a “final word” from me, and a podcast interview with the magazine’s new editor generated quite a bit of discussion. I’ve been back to the museum several times since the piece ran, and I’ve seen some promising developments while other things have stayed the same. I’ll keep an eye out going forward too, of course.