''Moment'' is an independent magazine which focuses on the life of the American Jewish community. It is not tied to any particular Jewish movement or ideology. The publication features investigative stories and cultural criticism, highlighting the thoughts and opinions of diverse scholars, writers, artists and policymakers. ''Moment'' was founded in 1975, by Nobel Prize laureate

Elie Wiesel Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...

and Jewish activist Leonard Fein, who served as the magazine's first editor from 1975 to 1987. In its premier issue, Fein wrote that the magazine would include diverse opinions "of no single ideological position, save of course, for a commitment to Jewish life."

Hershel Shanks Hershel Shanks (March 8, 1930 – February 5, 2021) was an American lawyer and amateur biblical archaeologist. He was the founder and long-time editor of the ''Biblical Archaeology Review''. Life and career Shanks was born in Sharon, Pennsylvani ...

served as the editor from 1987 to 2004. In 2004,

Nadine Epstein Nadine Epstein an American journalist and author. Career She is editor-in-chief and CEO of '' Moment'' magazine. She also is founder and executive director of the Center for Creative Change. Epstein frequently writes and speaks on a variety of t ...

took over as editor and executive publisher of ''Moment.'' The magazine was named in honor of an independent

Yiddish-language Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

newspaper, entitled ''Der Moment''. Founded in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1910, ''Der Moment'' remained in operation until the eve of

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

1939, when the building housing the newspaper was destroyed by a German bomb. At the time, the publication was one of two Yiddish-language newspapers in the city. ''Moment'' magazine is an independent journal that publishes articles on

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

culture, politics, and religion. Its editorial staff, writers, and articles represent a diverse range of political views. ''Moment'' publishes a print magazine once every other month, maintains a website, runs literary contests, and hosts esteemed events. The magazine is a publishing project of the

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

-based Center for Creative Change. ''Moment'' contributors have included

Calvin Trillin Calvin Marshall Trillin (born 5 December 1935) is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist. He is a winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor (2012) and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts an ...

, Chaim Potok,

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

Abba Eban Abba Solomon Meir Eban (; he, אבא אבן ; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was an Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. During his career, he served as For ...

Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City, the second of two children. She moved to the Bronx with her Belarusian-Jewish parents from Hlusk, ...

Wolf Blitzer Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He is the host of ''The Situa ...

Yossi Klein Halevi Yossi Klein Halevi ( he, יוסי קליין הלוי, born 1953) is an American-born Israeli author and journalist. Biography Yossi Klein Halevi was born and raised in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York in a Jewish family. His parents, Zoltan a ...

Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...

Jerome Groopman Jerome E. Groopman has been a staff writer in medicine and biology for ''The New Yorker'' since 1998. He is also the Dina and Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Experimental Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Me ...

Ron Rosenbaum Ronald Rosenbaum (born November 27, 1946) is an American literary journalist, literary critic, and novelist. Life and career Rosenbaum was born into a Jewish family in New York City, New York and grew up in Bay Shore, New York. He graduated fr ...

Sherwin Nuland Sherwin may refer to: Surname: *A. N. Sherwin-White (1911–1993), British historian of Ancient Rome *Adam Sherwin, journalist and a former media correspondent for The Times between 1999 and 2010 *Amy Sherwin (1855–1935), the 'Tasmanian Nightinga ...

Erica Jong Erica Jong (née Mann; born March 26, 1942) is an American novelist, satirist, and poet, known particularly for her 1973 novel ''Fear of Flying''. The book became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and figured pro ...

Dara Horn Dara Horn (born 1977) is a Jewish American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titled ''People Love Dead Jews'', which was a finalist for the 2021 Kirku ...

David Margolick David Margolick (born January 3, 1952) is a long-time contributing editor at ''Vanity Fair''. Margolick has held similar positions at ''Newsweek'' and ''Portfolio.com''. Prior to joining ''Vanity Fair'' he was a legal affairs reporter at ''The New ...

, and

Rebecca Goldstein Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (born February 23, 1950) is an American philosopher, novelist, and public intellectual. She has written ten books, both fiction and non-fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University, and ...

Programs and contests

Anti-Semitism Monitor

In 2018, ''Moment'' launched an Anti-Semitism Monitor to select, catalog and report credible anti-Semitic incidents around the world on a weekly basis. Developed and curated by Ira Forman, a Moment Institute Fellow and the former U.S. Special Envoy of the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, ''Moment''’s Anti-Semitism Monitor is a way for experts and others to track anti-Semitic incidents by date and country as well as the reactions to those incidents.

Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative

In 2010, ''Moment'' launched the Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative (DPIJI), which gives grants to young journalists doing stories on modern anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice. The DPIJI is in memory of

Daniel Pearl Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.' Pearl was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and rais ...

, the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reporter, who was murdered by terrorists while on assignment in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 2002. The winners of this contest are mentored by prestigious journalists including:

, Linda Feldmann,

Martin Fletcher Martin Fletcher (born 7 July 1956) is former associate editor and former foreign editor of ''The Times'' in London. He was named feature writer of the year in the 2015 British Press Awards. Biography Fletcher was educated at Uppingham School ...

Glenn Frankel Glenn Frankel is an author, academic and winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. He spent 27 years with ''The Washington Post'', where he was bureau chief in Richmond (Va.), Southern Africa, Jerusalem and London, and editor o ...

Bill Kovach Bill Kovach ( sq, Bill Kovaçi, born 1932) is an American journalist, former Washington bureau chief of '' The New York Times'', former editor of the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', and co-author of the book ''The Elements of Journalism: What N ...

, David Lauter, Charles Lewis,

Clarence Page Clarence Page (born June 2, 1947) is an American journalist, syndicated columnist, and senior member of the '' Chicago Tribune'' editorial board. Early years Page was born in Dayton, Ohio, and attended Middletown High School in Middletown whe ...

Robert Siegel Robert Charles Siegel (born June 26, 1947) is an American retired radio journalist. He was one of the co-hosts of the National Public Radio evening news broadcast ''All Things Considered'' from 1987 until his retirement in January 2018. Early ...

Paul Steiger Paul Steiger (born August 15, 1942) is an American journalist who served as managing editor of '' The Wall Street Journal'' from 1991 until May 15, 2007. After that, he was the founding editor-in-chief, CEO and president of ProPublica from 2008 thr ...

and

Lynn Sweet Lynn Sweet is an American journalist and in October 2013, became the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. She has been with the ''Sun-Times,'' for over four decades, joining in 1976. Sweet is also a columnist for '' The H ...

. Fellows have included: Jacob Kushner whose story "Birthright Denied" explored the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

's efforts to take away citizenship from tens of thousands of Haitians who were born in the country; Eve Fairbanks, whose story "A House Divided" tells the story of the integration and subsequent re-segregation of the dorms at the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary se ...

in Bloemfontein; Emily K. Alhadeff, whose story "An Olympian Struggle," explores the complex story of anti-Israel campaigns in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

; Cameron Conaway, whose story "Shadows in the Golden Land" tells the story of the failure of the newly-democratic

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

to end the persecution of the country's Muslim minority; May Jeong, whose story "Strangers in Their Own Land" covered the Buddhist Nationalist attacks on Muslim neighbors in Sri Lanka; Taha Anis, whose article "Persecuted in Pakistan" explored the discrimination and arrests of the

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

sect of Islam in Pakistan.

The Karma Foundation-Moment Magazine Fiction Contest

Established in 2000, the annual Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest is open to writers to submit stories related to Judaism or

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. Judges have included Andre Aciman,

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private inv ...

Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss (born August 18, 1974) is an American author best known for her four novels '' Man Walks into a Room'' (2002), ''The History of Love'' (2005), ''Great House'' (2010) and '' Forest Dark'' (2017), which have been translated into 35 l ...

Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels ''Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), ''Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), ''Here I Am (novel), Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fict ...

, Geraldine Brooks,

and

Nicholas Delbanco Nicholas Delbanco (born 1942) is an American writer. Life and career Delbanco was born in London, England, the son of German Jewish parents Barbara (née Bernstein) and Kurt Delbanco, a businessman, art dealer, and sculptor. He was educated at H ...

Moment Cartoon Caption Contest

Moment's bi-monthly caption contest for cartoons was founded by former ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * '' The ...

'' editor and humorist

Bob Mankoff Robert Mankoff (born May 1, 1944Wilson, Craig. "Top drawer at 'The New Yorker' Mankoff makes his imprint as cartoon editor," ''USA Today'' (2 October 1997): D, 1:2.) is an American cartoonist, editor, and author. He was the cartoon editor for ' ...

. The magazine asks its readers to suggest captions for the cartoon online and vote for their favorite submission.

Moment Magazine Awards

Over the years, ''Moment'' has presented a range of artists, journalists, and public activists with Moment Magazine Awards for excellence in their field. The awards include Creativity Awards, the Robert S. Greenberger Journalism Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Outstanding Leadership Award, etc. In 2018, ''Moment'' honored

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...

as the Human Rights Award inaugural recipient and presented Creativity Awards to

Dana Bash Dana Ruth Bash (born June 15, 1971; née Schwartz) is an American journalist, news anchor, and chief political correspondent for CNN. Early life and education Bash was born Dana Ruth Schwartz in Manhattan, New York City, into a family of Je ...

, CNN's chief political reporter, and American abstract artist, Carol Brown Goldberg. In 2017, CNN anchor

Jake Tapper Jacob Paul Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist, author, and cartoonist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show '' The Lead with Jake Tapper'', and co-hosts the Sunday morning public a ...

won the Robert S. Greenberger Journalism Award for his work as chief Washington correspondent. Earlier winners include

Joan Nathan Joan Nathan is an American cookbook author and newspaper journalist. She has produced TV documentaries on the subject of Jewish cuisine. She was a co-founder of New York's Ninth Avenue Food Festival under then-Mayor of New York City, Mayor Abraham ...

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer and songwriter who found fame for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, " Puff, the Magic Dragon". H ...

, and

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...

Awards

''Moment'' had two stories out of four finalists for the 2018

Mirror Awards The Mirror Awards are annual journalism awards recognizing the work of writers, reporters, editors and organizations who cover the media industry. The awards were established by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2006. Awards ...

in the Best Single Article/Story, for "Sheldon Adelson: Playing to Win" by Nadine Epstein and Wesley G. Pippert, and "Report From Whitefish: After the Cyber Storm" by Ellen Wexler. ''Moment'' won two 2018 Simon Rockower Awards from the

American Jewish Press Association The American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) is an organization of Jewish newspapers, magazines, journalists, and affiliated organizations in North America. It was established in 1944 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; ...

: Ellen Wexler's "A letter from New Haven" won for Excellence in Social Justice Reporting, and "Growing Up Trump" by Marc Fisher won for Excellence in Feature Writing, Division D. ''Moment'' also won a 2018 David Frank Award for Excellence in Personality Profiles, from the American Jewish Press Association, for "No Patience for Patriarchy", by Eetta Prince-Gibson. ''Moment'' has also won several non-Jewish journalism awards, such as nominations for two Livingston Awards, the award for Best “Investigative News Story” from New American Media; and the 2015 Clarion Award from the Association of Women in Communications for Best Feature Article/Current News for Eetta Prince-Gibson's ''An Uneasy Union''. ''Moment'' also won the 2015 first place award in magazine news reporting from the Religion Newswriters Association for Prince's An Uneasy Union, along with awards for Nadine Epstein's ''Evolution of a Moderate'' on Mohammed Dajani, and for Michael Orbach's story ''Professor of Disbelief'' on James Kugel. In 2017, ''Moment'' won in two categories of the American Jewish Press Association Simon Rockower Awards Competition for Excellence in Jewish Journalism. ''The Curious Case of Dorothy L. Sayers & the Jew Who Wasn’t''. There by Amy Schwartz won the 2nd Place Award for Excellence in Arts and Criticism News and Features, and ''Is Sitting This One Out, Who Will be Israel’s Champion?'' and ''The True Value of Cheap Books'' by Shmuel Rosner won the 2nd Place Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary. Nadine Epstein was also a finalist for the 2016 Food Writing Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals for her story The Great Hanukkah Clanging. In 2013, ''Moment'' won Second Place for the

Religion Newswriters Association The Religion News Association (RNA) is an American non-profit professional association which seeks to promote better reporting on religion in the news media and to provide help and support to journalists who cover religion. It was founded in 1949 a ...

Magazine of the Year award. In 2012, Moment won their Overall Excellence in Religion Coverage Award for magazines.

Symposia

''Moment''’s print symposia explore pressing and timely questions from a wide range of perspectives. Each ''Moment'' symposium includes interviews with a variety of creative thinkers and doers in order to present a spectrum of nuanced opinion on a broad range of questions important to public discourse. Notable symposia include: *What is the Meaning of God Today? ''Moment'' asks a diverse group of philosophers, scientists, writers, artists, and clergy this age-old question. Featuring responses from

Reza Aslan Reza Aslan ( fa, رضا اصلان, ; born May 3, 1972) is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology of religion, writer, and television host. A convert to evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam ...

, Brian Greene, and Stephen Tobolowsky. *Is Democracy Broken? ''Moment'' asks an array of scholars, journalists, and activists from the U.S. and abroad to weigh in. Featuring responses from

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...

, Tracy Kidder, Larry Diamond, and Azar Nafisi. *Is There a “Jewish” Way to Parent? ''Moment'' speaks with a range of Jewish parents and experts to explore what role, if any, Judaism plays in 21st-century parenting. Including responses from Ron Lieber,

Ruth K. Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fami ...

(Dr. Ruth), Ayelet Waldman, and Shalom Auslander. *Is There a Secret Ingredient in the Jewish Relationship with Food? Including responses from

Claudia Roden Claudia Roden (née Douek; born 1936) is an Egyptian-born British cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist of Sephardi/ Mizrahi descent. She is best known as the author of Middle Eastern cookbooks including ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'' ...

, Yotam Ottolenghi, Mimi Sheraton, and Ruth Reichl.

Moment Books

In April 2019, ''Moment'' launched MomentBooks as a joint imprint with Mandel Vilar Press. Its first title, ''Elie Wiesel: An Extraordinary Life and Legacy'', was published on April 2, 2019, and featured a foreword by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and an afterword by Ted Koppel. In 2019 it released: ''Have I Got a Cartoon for You!: The Moment Magazine Book of Jewish Cartoons'' by Bob Mankoff, which released on September 15, 2019, and City of Light by Theodore Bikel with Aimee Ginsburg Bikel, released on November 4, 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moment Jewish magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1975 Secular Jewish culture in the United States Magazines published in Washington, D.C. Bimonthly magazines published in the United States