Letter from the Editor

As I write, thousands of barrels of oil gush out of the BP well each day in the Gulf of Mexico. The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan grinds on and car bombs explode in Iraq, as extremists try to undercut a political solution to the country’s sectarian strife. The fallout from the confrontation between Turkish and other pro-Palestinian activists and Israeli soldiers on the Mavi Marmara off the coast of Gaza continues to dominate the news. Still, amid the morning’s headlines are reminders that we humans are capable of solving our problems: Not too many years ago it would have been unimaginable that the 2010 World Cup would take place in a post-apartheid South Africa.

Where are Jews in the march of humanity? When I walked into the office this morning, senior editor Nonna Gorilovskaya was on the phone, smiling. She handed over the receiver without identifying the caller. On the line was Steve, a reader.

“Moment is a bird’s-eye view of the Jewish contributions to society,” he told me unbidden when I took the phone. “It is about what the world would miss if there weren’t any Jews.” Moment, he continued, “is the most interesting conversation I’ve run across, reaching back 5,000 years and across cultures” and should be read by everyone, not just Jews. Steve told me some of his favorite articles, including our 2006 profile of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. “I had heard of Brian Epstein, but I had no idea that he played such an important role in shaping The Beatles.” He asked if we would consider publishing a collection of articles in book form to highlight the positive impact Jews have had on the world.

It made my day to talk to a Moment fan and hear the mission of the magazine articulated so well. I forgot about the looming magazine deadline and all the work that goes into it. For a few minutes, I even forgot about the world’s problems, several of which appear on the pages of this issue.

We have two opinion columns from completely different perspectives about the Gaza flotilla clash. I hope you read both. The incident highlighted the growing rift between Turkey and Israel. The alliance between these two countries is vital to Israel, which has few friends in the region. “The Rise and Fall(?) of the Israel-Turkey Alliance” goes beyond superficial analysis. We talk with Anat Lapidot-Firilla, a senior research fellow at the Van Leer Institute in Jeruslalem, and Ilker Ayturk, assistant professsor of political science at Bilkent University in Ankara.

Farther to the east is another country with which Israel shares history: Burma, now known as Myanmar. The military junta that rules over 50 million people is notorious for its repression of ethnic minorities and its Orwellian control of information. Our 2008-09 Rabbi Harold S. White Fellow Jeremy Gillick traveled to Yangon (Rangoon) to report on the country’s dwindling but very proud Jewish community and investigate the regime’s sometimes controversial ties with Israel.

After you read these serious pieces, it’s time to kick off your shoes, head out to the porch with a glass of lemonade and peruse the rest of our 2010 entertainment issue. Sarah Glazer in London describes the talented and close-knit Baron Cohen clan. You’ll meet a family of creative rebels that includes Borat and Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen, his musician brother Erran, their cutting-edge independent filmmaker cousin Ash and many more. They’re all descended from a red-headed immigrant from Belarus who tacked Cohen to his surname to make sure the British didn’t miss that he was a Jew. I talk with actor Ed Asner, who has endeared himself to an entire new generation as the voice of Carl Fredricksen in the 2009 Pixar movie Up. The 89-year-old jazz legend Dave Brubeck converses with Chicago Tribune arts critic Howard Reich about the role of spirituality in jazz and his “Jewish” compositions. And in honor of the 35th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, we pay tribute to Hanukkah Harry, Linda Richman and all the great Jewish humor the show has produced.

This issue includes a special summer books section. Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying and this year’s Moment Magazine–Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest judge, reviews Gary Shteyngart’s latest novel and interviews the Leningrad-born author to boot. For mystery lovers, Welshman and former Time Jerusalem Bureau Chief Matt Rees talks about his brainchild, Omar Yussef, a Palestinian professor turned sleuth, and why fiction may be better than journalism at explaining life in the Middle East. Shalom Auslander, our guest columnist for “Speaking Volumes,” tells us why he reads Stanley Elkin’s stories when he’s feeling fearful or stifled.

As I turn to edit the pile of articles stacked on my desk, I think about the reader who called. Unknowingly he hit upon the topic we will be discussing at our 35th Anniversary Symposium and Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC, on October 24: “The Influence of the Jewish Ethos on American Culture.” Wherever you live, I welcome you to join us and support the magazine, and our featured project, the Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative.

And Steve, I will think about compiling a new Best of Moment Magazine. We have such a collection on our shelves published in 1986; it may be time for a new one. If any of you have suggestions about what to include or other ideas, please write me at editor@momentmag.com. I always love to hear from you.