The Secret Jewish History of "Gilligan's Island"

(I can't believe no one has done this before!)Gilligan's Island, the enormously popular TV series of the 1960s, was created by Sherwood Schwartz, a Jew born in Passaic, NJ in 1916. Schwartz, who also created The Brady Bunch, became a writer in part because of antisemitism.He intended to go to medical school but the quota system in place limiting the number of Jews stopped...

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We are family: the secret of Israel's success

The Economist reports that the birthrates of Israeli Jews has been rising and that of Arabs in Israel and the territories has been dropping - and the Israeli Jewish birthrate is bucking the trends around the world. In short, the demographic bomb that was predicted for decades to destroy Israel has nearly fizzled. But the article then touches on an important point...

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The Secret Jewish History of "Bewitched"

I always see the Forward find Jewish angles in the most goyishe seeming parts of pop culture, so I'll do one too - from decades ago."Bewitched" was a hugely popular TV series about a witch Samantha, who marries mortal man Darrin Stevens. Most plots involve her magical relatives meddling in her marriage, especially her disapproving mother, Endora.The show was created by Sol...

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