The Top 17 Most-Read Stories From 2017

By | Dec 25, 2017
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The Top 17 Most-Read Stories From 2017

BY ELLEN WEXLER  |  December 25, 2017

It’s been a tumultuous year—and our top stories reflect that. Our readers spent time with a number of our stories on intolerance, injustice and political turmoil. But the rest of our list is an eclectic mix: Our readers also wanted to learn about everything from great Jewish cinema to zombie mythology to Israeli-American identity. Here are our 17 most-read stories from 2017.

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Growing Up Trump

Trump has long resisted attempts to trace the roots of his character, but he does concede that he was very much shaped by his childhood.

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Book Interview | Max Brooks

“I am curious about the way the world works, specifically survival mechanisms. That doesn’t just mean disaster, apocalypse, hoarding beans and bullets. When I say survival mechanisms, I mean: How do countries stay countries? How do societies keep together? How do individuals thrive?”

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Letter From Whitefish

Anglin disavows violence, but people here know it just takes one nut with a gun. There aren’t many Jews in the Flathead community—just around 40 families—and right now they’re doing their best to avoid media attention.

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Tanya Gersh

Report From Whitefish: After the Cyber Storm

At last count, Tanya Gersh had received more than 700 threatening, hateful and anti-Semitic messages. “You are surprisingly easy to find on the internet. And in real life,” threatened one.

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The New Israeli Americans

Tamar Biala does not like the term “Israeli American.” She sees herself as an old-fashioned Zionist, who thinks Israelis should stay in Israel. But then she wonders: “What right do I have to say this when I am here?”

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Ask The Rabbis | What Should Jews Know About the Muslim Faith?

“I used to think I knew what Islam was about. Yet as I came to know more Muslims personally and learned more about their faith, I realized that much of what I knew was either flat-out wrong or grossly misguided.”

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Leon Wieseltier on Charlottesville: ‘The Darkness Is Now in the Light’

“We will never live in a post-racial era. The struggle for moral, social and political progress is unceasing.”

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Super-Sukkah for Sale!

“My father is selling his sukkah. It’s the only piece of real estate he and my mother own, a temporary hut without even a real roof. It’s priceless, of course, but he is asking $4,900.”

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Favorite Jewish Movie Scenes of All Time

What’s the best Jewish movie scene of all time? Moment asked a group of actors, filmmakers and experts—from Mayim Bialik to Leonard Maltin to Carl Reiner—to weigh in.

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Is Intermarriage Good for the Jews?

Almost everyone we spoke with agreed on two points: Intermarriage is here to stay, and it is imperative to reach out to and integrate interfaith families into the Jewish community.

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Twice As Many Jews Quit As Convert

Only 40,000 people worldwide are expected to convert to Judaism between 2015 and 2020—and that doesn’t replace the 80,000 who are expected to give up Judaism.

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Sheldon Adelson: Playing To Win

Sheldon Adelson’s newspaper, Israel Hayomchanged the course of Israeli politics and moved the country further right. Will the hard-charging casino magnate have the same luck in Las Vegas?

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Alan Alda’s Passover

Alan Alda is not Jewish—though many think he is. Luckily, however, he is insatiably curious. He loves to ask questions, and he is unsatisfied with flimsy answers. And that goes for everything—including the history of Passover.

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Jake Tapper: ‘We May Never Know How Many Women Left Journalism’

At Moment‘s annual gala, Tapper spoke of “men of means and power who not only treated women as prey but in all too many cases robbed these women of their dreams. We may never know how many women left journalism because these men treated them that way, and that has been heartbreaking.”

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Malta: A Hidden Gem With a Rich Jewish History

Less than 200 miles south of Sicily, Malta is like nowhere else in Europe. Occupied by one European power after another, the island nation sizzles with a mix of great food, fine wines, monumental fortresses and an ancient past—a past with deep Jewish roots.

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Part of an anti-Jewish flyer found on the street

New Winds Blow In

“During this time of flux, we Jews need to be doing everything we can to proactively help weave together divergent parts of our country and protect the rights that have made the United States so hospitable to Jews and other minorities.”

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The Polish Republic of Untruth

After the fall of communism, Poland embraced democracy and free enterprise with a passion. This optimism came with more than a bit of arrogance—and with a total underappreciation of the pull of national glory and the dark appeal of conspiracy theories.

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