But it’s not as intense as it seems. Some of our most commonly used Hebrew and Yiddish phrases have astrological origins. The phrase mazel tov comes from the word mazzal, meaning constellation or destiny—that is, one’s fate as determined by the stars. The Yiddish word schlemazel means “one on whom the stars don’t shine.” 

I first became interested in astrology, and how it intersects with elements of Judaism, while preparing for my bat mitzvah, which took place on October 23, 1999. I had been reading the play Inherit the Wind and fortuitously came across Clarence Darrow’s contention that creation began on October 23, 4004 BC at 9 A.M. That’s all a teenager needs to hear to know that everything does, in fact, revolve around her.

Although I pay attention to trends in planetary movement—taking into consideration planet retrogrades and moon cycles, as Susan Miller does—I do not directly observe planets. These horoscopes are based on people and my study and comparison of individuals. It is a fusion of personology based on astrological patterns, rather than pure technical astrology.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 20): Ruled as you are by the moon, you are especially affected by lunar phases, particularly new moons and lunar eclipses. A water sign, Cancers rule the cyclical rhythms of the universe. Although water flows, taking on the shape of its container, Cancers often find it difficult to remain flexible. Instead, you hide inside of your shells of logic, skepticism, and neuroses.



Cancer is the widest ranging of all the signs. Because you are ruled by the moon, you often find yourself in the thrall of your extreme mood swings. Cancers are very contradictory creatures—some are fundamentally conservative and give the impression of being unemotional and uncompromising, unyielding and sulky, inclined to self pity and self-absorption.


Alternately, Cancers can use their sensitivity as a way to relate to others. If they’re able to embrace this sensitivity and turn it outwards, they can be some of the most nurturing and emotional individuals in the zodiac. Often romantic and idealistic, Cancers rule domesticity and motherhood—it tends to be a feminine sign. Your connection to the lunar energies and attraction to the mystery of night keeps you up at all hours.



Because Cancers are very private people, you thrive when left to your own devices. But as much as you may want to seclude yourself in your private nest of doom and gloom, it is important that you share your gifts with the world. 



With several planets in retrograde (appearing to move backward through the zodiac), now is not the best time to start a romantic entanglement. Cancers will be pleased to hear that they should avoid making any radical changes to their life at this time. Saturn turns direct on June 25th, which will help in any decision-making processes that you’ve been putting off.

Venus ends her retrograde cycle on June 27, opening up the possibilities for progress in romance and career. Let yourself break the rules sometimes—after all, you’ve gotta have something to atone for! 



Famous Cancer Jews: Carl Levin, Emma Goldman, Emma Lazarus, Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust, Marc Chagall, Mel Brooks, Walter Benjamin, Larry David, Richard Lewis, Dear Abby, Ann Landers, Harrison Ford (1/2 Jewish), Fred Savage

LEO (JULY 21-AUGUST 20):
You may have felt like you were on top of your game last month, but now you’ve been forced into a powerless position—which is something Leos will simply not tolerate. While you lions have the monopoly on chutzpah, you tend to sink into a pit of despair when not getting the attention you crave. Snap out of it! Although you hate to wait, if you’re patient for just a bit longer you’ll see that your efforts weren’t for nothing.



VIRGO (AUGUST 21-SEPTEMBER 20): 
While you’re predisposed to all things practical, now is the time to pay extra attention to your fantasy life. Although you are an Earth sign, you are ruled by swift-moving Mercury, the god of communication. Your strengths lie in system-building, but it is essential that you pay attention to your fantasies. It’s time you either acted or put the kibosh on them once and for all. 



LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 21-OCTOBER 20
): There’s no need to look to one extreme or the other—what mishegas!  You’ll find your balance once you’re able to see how ridiculous it is to reduce life to either/or. Once Venus turns direct on June 27, matters of the heart gain momentum. But remember: with too many irons in the fire, you’ll never be able to pinpoint your true calling. 



SCORPIO (OCTOBER 21-NOVEMBER 20): 
You have been working hard to maintain your so-called values. But by forcing yourself into a position for form’s sake you have given up an essential part of your character. Rather than getting defensive, relinquish some control and get real with yourself. Playing with fire might get you burnt, but it can also be an essential element in the process of self-discovery. So let it burn.



SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 21-DECEMBER 20): 
A tendency to over-analyze can ruin something before it’s even begun.  Sometimes you lose sight of your passionate origins: fire signs rely on intuition, not logic. Suppressing your instincts is dangerous. If you find yourself stymied by an idea of what you should have accomplished by now, you will only secure yourself a position in the dark chasm of spiritual deadlock.  



CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 21-JANUARY 20): 
It might do you some good to embrace your subconscious desires. Ruled by Saturn, the planet of boundaries and limitations, you often err on the side of rationality. While you prefer to fly solo, blaming other people for cramping your style isn’t going to hold up for much longer. You only have yourself to blame.



AQUARIUS (JANUARY 21-FEBRUARY 20
): Ruled by wild and erratic Uranus, you are able to detach yourself from your emotions. You hold grudges and play for keeps. Your dispassionate approach to relationships means you tend to value career over your personal life, but this is often to your detriment. Focus your energy on letting go of resentments. Whatever you put into the universe will come back to you. 



PISCES (FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 20)
: With your ruling planet Neptune in retrograde until November 11, you and your heightened psychic perceptions will go on a supernatural wild ride. Because your intuition is strongest now, it would be wise to avoid psychic overload. Whatever happens, just know that everything will make sense in the calm after the storm. 



ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 20
): Warrior Mars, your ruling god and planet, does not spend needless time devising strategies for love. However, he does often take impetuous, reckless action, seizing the beloved in a knock-down drag-out fight. Consider your opponent’s strengths without taking their weaknesses for granted. You’ll be glad you did.  



TAURUS (APRIL 21- MAY 20): 
You’ve been through so much this year. With your ruling planet Venus turning direct on June 27, you finally have the opportunity to assess the value of the decisions you’ve made and figure out what’s working for you—and what isn’t. If you aren’t getting the most of a situation, then give it the kiss off. Good riddance to bad rubbish!



GEMINI (MAY 21- JUNE 20): 
Your mischievous duality is wearing thin, you tricky little dybbuk. You may have let some of your most treasured passions fall by the wayside in deference to others, and you’ve been questioning your choices. Use the next few months wisely to determine where your priorities lie. 

(Art by Margarita Korol)

The post Introducing Jewcy Horoscopes: Cancer, June 21-July 20 appeared first on Jewcy.

For now, here’s a troubling Onion report on that most Kafkaesque of airports, Franz Kafka International:

Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport

The post How Will You Celebrate Franz Kafka’s 129th Birthday? appeared first on Jewcy.

“Put your best foot forward,” the Kafkarate poster invites (though presumably not into the rotating fountain of two men peeing outside Prague’s Kafka Museum). Other activities include swan riding and the ever-popular fencing with oars, which we don’t recommend trying at home.

College admissions offices, take note: Kafkarate is basically the new squash.

The post Introducing Kafkarate, the Highlight of this Summer’s Whimsical Prague Games appeared first on Jewcy.

Since we were off for the July 4th weekend, we were unable to discuss two very important birthdays that took place while we were watching fireworks and grilling hot dogs.  July 3rd marked the 128th birthday of Franz Kafka.  Nothing too Kafkaesque ended up happening, but we’ve already got a long enough list of things that fall under that category, so we’re good to go.

And while we were celebrating the birth of the USA, another milestone went somewhat unnoticed: the 84th birthday of Neil Simon.  Saying Simon is a giant among living American playwrights is an understatement.  He is easily one of the all time greats among Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Eugene O’Neill, and I move to carve out a tiny bit of our Independence Day celebration to watch the 1988 film adaptation of Biloxi Blues starring Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken.

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Seth Fried, whose book The Great Expectations is fantastic, talks to Largehearted Boy about music he likes.

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And finally this week, Emily Gould has gone into the e-book business.

The post The Weekly Yiderati: 128 Years Of Kafkaesque, Celebrating Neil Simon, Emily Gould Selling E-books appeared first on Jewcy.

Jews have done a pretty good job holding up our end of the “People of the Book” deal, especially over the last hundred years.  Jewish writers from all over the globe have contributed fiction in a number of different languages, influencing the form in ways immeasurable, in turn helping to document the Jewish experience better than most history books.

Our criteria for this list was any work that could be considered “Jewish fiction”: written by a Jewish author or dealing heavily with Jewish topics and themes, all written in the last 100 years.   Short story collections, plays, graphic novels and novellas were all taken into consideration.  All publication dates reflect the American publication.

Think we missed something?  Think something deserved a higher ranking than it got?  We’re open to comments below.

1. The Metamorphosis (1915) by Franz Kafka

It’s really impossible to rate anything– especially the ultimate “Kafkaesque” work—any higher.  The Prague-born writer’s ultimate work about poor Gregor Samsa is one of the most seminal works of Jewish fiction in the last century.

2. In Search of Lost Time (1913) by Marcel Proust

Jews are naturally nostalgic folks, so simply replace the Madeleine with a rugelach and you might have one of the most Jewish works in literature.  And yes, Proust was a Jew.

3. Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) by Philip Roth

Trying to pick one book as the ultimate Philip Roth work isn’t as hard as you think.  Portnoy is the book you see every new title compared to, even to this day.  Goodbye, Columbus made him famous, but Portnoy made him a creepy god.

4. Death of a Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller

Miller’s play tells the tale of Willy Loman, but also works as the perfect parable of the death of the American Dream.

5. The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D. Salinger

No list dealing with best fiction of the last century would be complete without Salinger’s ode to teenage angst, and the limited knowledge we have of the late writer tells us that this book was indeed the product of Jewish neurosis.

6. The Trial (1925) by Franz Kafka

We recognize that we should have just said “Everything Kafka did” at the #1 position, but that wouldn’t have been fair, now would it?

7. Herzog (1964) by Saul Bellow

It’s hard to pick Bellow’s masterwork, but we really have to go with the book that made  mid-life crisis into an art form.

8. The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories (1971) by Cynthia Ozick

Same as the Herzog: It’s nearly impossible to pick the greatest work from the Ozick canon, but for the sake of argument, we’re going to pick The Pagan Rabbi as the must read collection by this brilliant writer.

9. A Contract With God (1978) by Will Eisner

Some call it the first graphic novel.  Others dispute that.  Nobody denies this work’s greatness.  Eisner’s semi-autobiographical short stories of Jewish life in The Bronx was called “something momentous,” by the LA Times.

10. Call it Sleep (1934) by Henry Roth

This is the quintessential Jewish experience of the ghetto known Lower East Side of the early 20^th Century.  They should issue it to students in Hebrew school.

11. Angels in America (1991) by Tony Kushner

It’s almost scary how lacking the 1990s were of “generation defining” art by Jews.  Thankfully, Kushner’s tour de force play made up for that by being one of the greatest artistic works in the entire Western Canon, both literally and according to Harold Bloom.

12. The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer (1982) by Isaac Bashevis Singer

We aren’t going to play around with the Nobel-winning writer.  His short stories are the first place you need to go to experience his true greatness.

13. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) by Michael Chabon

The story of how Jews created the modern superhero might not be the most interesting idea for a story, but leave it in the hands of one of modern fiction’s greatest writers, and it’s an epic.

14. American Pastoral (1997) by Philip Roth

15. Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret (1970) by Judy Blume

A story about a girl growing up in an interfaith family, getting her first period, buying her first bra, and all the other fun issues that go along with being a teenager.

16.  The Odessa Tales (1931) by Isaac Babel

If there is any justice in this world, Babel’s work would be mentioned along with Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Gogol and any other great Russian writer you can think of.  Until then, it’s undisputed that he’s certainly the greatest Jewish writer the country ever produced.  These, his stories of Ukrainian tough guys in the waning days of Russian Empire, are his best.

17. The Assistant (1957) by Bernard Malamud

18. Catch-22 (1961) by Joseph Heller

In terms of the greatest dark humor anti-war novels, we’d pick Heller’s book over other Slaughterhouse Five or anything else you could think of.

19. The Brothers Ashkenazi (1936) by Israel Joshua Singer

We’ve stated on this website that Isaac Bashevis Singer was the most famous member of his family, but I.J. Singer was definitely the better writer.  Here, with The Brothers Ashkenazi, he gave us one of the greatest snapshots of pre-World War 2 Jewish life in Eastern Europe.

20. Where the Wild Things Are (1963) by Maurice Sendak

Essential?  Isn’t every child issued a copy of this when they’re born

21. The Day of the Locust (1939) by Nathanael West

West (born Nathan von Wallenstein Weinstein) gave us the great Hollywood novel through the eyes of unforgettable characters.  The influence of this novel on writers from John Fante to Joan Didion is undeniable.

22.   Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986) by Art Spiegelman

The only comic book to ever win the Pulitzer Prize.  Art Spiegelman’s biography of his father’s life before, during and after the Holocaust, brought the medium to a whole new level.

23.  Goodbye, Columbus (1959) by Philip Roth

24. The New York Trilogy (1987) by Paul Auster

If anybody is looking for the post-modern mystery book of the last thirty years, look no further.

25. The History of Love (2005) by Nicole Krauss

Krauss’ second novel that launched her into the literary spotlight, is the story of a very old man and a very young woman, and how their lives are joined by one very special book. (Check out our interview with Krauss)

26. The Pawnbroker by Edward Lewis Wallant

The story of a holocaust survivor attempting to live with his demons will haunt you long after you’ve read it.

27. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959) by Mordecai Richler

Henry Roth had the Lower East Side, Philip Roth New Jersey and Saul Bellow ruled over Chicago; but Richler wrote the greatest books about Jews in Montreal, and Duddy is his finest work.

28. Everything is Illuminated (2002) by Jonathan Safran Foer

Upon this book’s release, some called it “genius,” others said it was “overrated.”   We’d like to say that it is one of the finest works of “Post-Holocaust Fiction.”  Everything is Illuminated is a book for people who want to try and make some sense of the senseless.

29. Absurdistan: A Novel (2006) by Gary Shteyngart

As of the writing of this list, Mr. Shteyngart is  3for 3 in terms of great novels, but the story of the very rich and very rotund Misha Vainberg, is his masterpiece.

30.The Nimrod Flipout (2006) by Etgar Keret

31.  The Man With the Golden Arm (1949) by Nelson Algren

32. The Street of Crocodiles (1936) by Bruno Schulz

Considered by many to be the greatest Polish writer of the 20^th Century, Schulz’s masterwork is starting to peek back onto the cultural radar in the last ten years.

33. The Lazarus Project (2008) by Aleksander Hemon

The Bosnian-born Hemon might not be Jewish, but his novel juxtaposes a very autobiographical sounding protagonist with an immigrant Jew murdered in early 20th Century Chicago.  The Lazarus Project is impeccably researched, and written so well, that you’d think Hemon had been speaking English his entire life.

34.     Mind-Body Problem (1993) by Rebecca Goldstein

35.      The Tenants of Moonbloom (1963) by Edward Lewis Wallant

We’d suggest reading Dave Eggers’ essay on the book to better understand.

36. Motherless Brooklyn (1999) by Jonathan Lethem

Is it fair for us to say that Lethem’s 1999 novel set the stage for the current literary renaissance going on in the borough of Brooklyn to this day?  It certainly made the “Neuronovel” a trendy thing.

37. The Instructions (2010) by Adam Levin

If you’re going to make a big splash, write a 1000+ page book about a Jewish boy from the Chicago suburbs who might or might not be the Messiah.  That’s what Levin did with his debut, and that’s why it was our favorite work of fiction in 2010.

38. The Trial of God (1995) by Elie Wiesel

39. Bech, a Book (1970) by John Updike

The king of the W.A.S.Ps parodies his Jewish contemporaries, and gives the world the greatest work of “Jew envy.”

40. The Best of Everything (1958) by Rona Jaffe

It could be argued that this was the Sex and the City of its time.  But we think it’s so much more than that.

41. What Makes Sammy Run? (1941) by Budd Schulberg

Schulberg would go on to greater fame as a screewriter, but his story of Sammy Glick’s rise calls to mind The Day of the Locust, Dickens and Citizen Kane, and is a must read.

42. Comedy in a Minor Key (2010) by Hans Keilson

It took about 100 years, but Hans Keilson was finally recognized as one of the world’s greatest writers.  This book about a young Dutch couple that takes in a sick Jewish man during World War 2–only to find themselves trying to figure out how to cover up his death–isn’t the sort of dark comedy that leaves you chuckling.  It’s the sort that makes you exclaim, “that’s brilliant.”

43. Landscape in Concrete (1966) by Jakov Lind

A story written by a Jew who survived World War 2 by posing as a Dutch citizen writes a story about a Nazi soldier’s quixotic journey to rejoin the war after being declared mentally unstable to serve.  Possibly the most absurd novel on this list.

44. Homeland (2004) by Sam Lipsyte

If you check back with us in ten years, Sam Lipsyte will have replaced Philip Roth as the writer that everybody copies – whether they know it or not.   Bookslut described Lipsyte’s third book as “disturbing and comforting,” and summed up his style quite well.

45. The Finkler Question (2010) by Howard Jacobson

Salon said the underdog Man Booker winner in 2010 would “probably distress you on its way to disarming you.  Can we pay the novel any greater compliment?”  We don’t think so.

46.   Seize the Day (1956) by Saul Bellow

47. The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisneberg (2010) by Deborah Eisenberg

Eisenberg is one of the greatest living short story writers.  Do yourself a favor and read everything.

48.  For the Relief of Unbearable Urges (1999) by Nathan Englander

49. Witz (2010) by Joshua Cohen

The Jewish Ulysses?  Some have said that’s the case.

50. The Extra Man (1998) by Jonathan Ames

The post The 50 Most Essential Works Of Jewish Fiction Of The Last 100 Years appeared first on Jewcy.

According to Wikipedia, the term Kafkaesque is “an eponym used to describe concepts, situations, and ideas which are reminiscent of the literary work of the Austro-Hungarian writer Franz Kafka,” and in 2010, people pretty much think they can apply the term to just about anything.

Is the over-usage a symptom of our strange times, or are people just too lazy to search for a better term?  Maybe these ten examples will help figure that out.

1.  Estate tax.  Nothing makes me think of The Trial quite like estate tax.

2.  Zombies. They can totally be Kafkaesque: “”What I wake up into is one of the worst days any human should wake up to. It’s a Kafka-esque nightmare. I wanted to make it as truthful and as real to me as possible.”

3.  Television shows that everybody seems to be talking about, like Breaking Bad.

4.  Politics in India.

5. No-fly and watch lists, are, yup, you guessed it.

6. “Dilbert lives in a Kafkaesque world of bureaucracy.”

7.  Would you date a person whose writing style on a dating website registers as Kafkaesque?

8.  Wondering if Asian women are attracted to Western men.

9.  All of these movies.

10. Nobel laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa, describing the commute from  New Jersey to New York during rush hour: “It’s very nice. But not if you take the train at 5 or 6 o’clock. It can be a Kafkaesque commute.”

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