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Here’s what Jewish New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast’s dreams are made of
(New York Jewish Week) — Cartoonist and writer Roz Chast is best known for her work at The New Yorker, where she’s been a contributor since 1978. But the Brooklyn native is also famously associated with the city from which the prestigious publication takes its name.
Chast’s cartoons often explore the mundane hilarity of everyday life in the city, from the vagaries of the subway system to the anxieties of everyday New Yorkers. “I love living in Manhattan because everything is close together,” Chast told the New York Jewish Week. “There’s a kind of density and you don’t need a car — the city is so walkable. Even as an older person, you can have a rich life.”
As a creator, Chast said that New York City offers unlimited material. “There’s always so much going on,” she said. “It’s hard not to find something interesting or funny. Or aggravating.”
And yet, Chast’s focus is decidedly inward in her latest book: “I Must Be Dreaming” takes readers on a nighttime tour of her phantasmagorical mind. In its nearly 200 pages, Chast unpacks her dreams in all their technicolor glory — featuring birds in hats, animated fruits, human distortion (which she categorizes as “body horror”) and celebrity encounters — and includes dream theories from the likes of Carl Jung and Kabbalah.
“I didn’t research it to come to conclusions,” Chast said of the book, which was published last month. “I’m interested in what others make of dreams.”
After all, in a city where a movie ticket can cost $25, dreams provide “free entertainment,” she added.
Rosalind Chast, 68, grew up in a Jewish family in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. Her parents, children of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland and Russia, spoke Yiddish to each other, their siblings and friends — but Chast never picked it up, she said, despite the occasional word or phrase that pops up in her cartoons.
Her parents worked in the NYC school system: her mother, an assistant principal, and her dad, a Spanish/French teacher. The anxious pair would become well-known thanks to her award-winning 2014 graphic memoir, “Can We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” which the New York Times describes as “an instant classic of eldercare literature.”
Roz Chast’s latest graphic memoir unpacks her dreams. (Courtesy Bloomsbury)
An only child, Chast said she grew up fairly isolated, not maintaining much of a social life. In an interview with the New York Jewish Week, she recalls fondly how her parents would host friends and they would take turns telling jokes. They had a small apartment and she was not permitted to make a lot of noise, so she would retreat to her room, where her options were limited to reading, writing or drawing.
As it happens, to this day Chast still locks herself in her room alone for hours as she works. “Pretty solitary” is how she describes the life of a cartoonist, adding, “if you spend your childhood doing that, it feels more natural.”
Although she does not consider herself at all religious, Chast’s work typically reflects a Jewish sensibility, exploring Jewish mother stereotypes, for example, or feelings about gefilte fish. Growing up, her family celebrated Hanukkah and Passover, and her mother lit candles on Friday nights and she would return home from college to share Shabbat dinner with her family.
Chast graduated Midwood High School and attended Kirkland College (sister school of Hamilton College) until she transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1977 with a BFA in painting. She did some cartooning at RISD, but her feelings ranged from “indifference to actual dislike” of the quality of her own work. She found her classmates’ artistic abilities daunting, describing them as “the most incredibly talented people.”
“Any sense that I had that I was talented or special, by the time I left RISD, I knew that not to be the case,” she said.
Chast’s feelings of inadequacy kept her from getting her hopes up when she submitted a cartoon to The New Yorker for the first time in 1978. Although she had been contributing to the Village Voice and National Lampoon, she had no expectation of having any work accepted by the prestigious publication, especially as she was a 23-year-old non-male, and her style was very different.
“My cartoons didn’t look anything like New Yorker cartoons,” she said.
Chast said she was flabbergasted when they accepted her “Little Things” cartoon — a black-and-white diagram of 10 fanciful household objects straight from Chast’s imagination, including a pipe-like “kellat” and a “hackeb,” which vaguely resembles a shish kebab.
The New Yorker ultimately hired Chast, and the magazine was where she met her husband of 39 years, writer Bill Franzen. The pair bonded over shared childhood memories of joke books and a love of pet birds. Chast had a series of parakeets as a child, “because on the pet ladder it’s the highest rung I could go,” she said. Nonetheless, Chast’s love for birds has endured: Her current avian residents are Eli, an 18-year-old African grey parrot, who was presumed male until she laid an egg, and Jacky, a younger female Caique, who snuggles in her hair as evidence of her affection. Chast is proud of Eli’s vocal abilities and doesn’t seem to mind when she exclaims “vanilla ice cream!” whenever she opens the freezer for a late night snack.
Much of Chast’s work is loosely autobiographical, drawing upon her experiences as a daughter, wife and mother. “When I started, graphic storytelling was not a thing,” Chast said, describing how graphic novels and memoirs evolved into an innovative “way to tell stories.”
“They weren’t just, ‘here are the words and now I’m illustrating the words,’” she said. “It was this other different art form, and that was a real breakthrough for people, for cartoonists, for publishing and now it’s kind of exploded.”
Her unique style has become recognizable to many — so much so that on the back cover of “I Must Be Dreaming,” fellow acclaimed cartoonist Alison Bechdel (“Fun Home”) describes the book as “Roz Chast at her Chastiest.”
Her drawing has been described as “scratchy” or deploying “shaky, anxious lines.” Chast maintains that that is just how she draws — whether it’s classically acceptable or not, adding she’s not good at all at uniformity. “One thing I like about cartooning is there’s no strict rule,” she said.
When she isn’t working, Chast loves to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, Zabar’s and the various trimming stores in the Garment District. “I just like walking around,” she said.
Chast and her husband lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when their oldest child, Ian, was young. At 2 ½, he explained to his mother how her job worked, telling her “you go on the train and show your pictures to men.” Soon thereafter they moved to the suburban oasis of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
These days, Ian, 36, is a web developer, and Peter, 32, is a therapist. Chast and Franzen maintain a pied-a-terre on the Upper West Side, not far from where she lived as a young writer for nine years, when she cooked using a hot plate.
“When you live out of New York and hate to drive there’s a bit of a handicapped feeling,” she said of her time in the suburbs, adding she has “a feeling of being a complete person” when she’s back in the city.
In recent years, she has pursued her love of painting Ukrainian pysanky eggs, and working on hook rugs, embroidery and book binding. But sharp-witted Chast gives no indication she will be putting her feet up anytime soon.
“I do feel that things are OK right now, but I think it’s a combination of actually being realistic and maybe just an anxious person, that’s all I can commit to,” she said. “I imagine this tall stack of chairs: One thing goes wrong and the whole thing falls to the ground.”
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The post Here’s what Jewish New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast’s dreams are made of appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Azerbaijan a ‘Potential Bridge’ for Arab-Israeli Normalization, Jewish Leader Says
From left to right, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and Rabbi Marc Schneier. Photo: Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
Amid rising regional tensions, the idea of Azerbaijan joining the Abraham Accords overlooks its long-standing and often undervalued role as one of Israel’s most trusted allies in the broader Middle East, according to one of the country’s most influential Jewish leaders.
“I think discussions about incorporating Azerbaijan into the Abraham Accords are ridiculous and insulting,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, told The Algemeiner in an exclusive interview.
“Most people are clueless when it comes to understanding the dynamics of Muslim-Jewish relations, particularly between Azerbaijan and Israel,” Schneier added.
Signed in 2020, the Abraham Accords were a series of historic US-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries. Since then, Jerusalem has strengthened diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Bahrain, and Morocco, while also expanding defense and economic cooperation.
Azerbaijan’s ties with Israel have long been significant, with the country serving as the Jewish state’s most vital ally in the Caucasus and Central Asia for more than three decades, fostering a partnership that spans energy security, defense, and intelligence.
However, the depth of the relationship between Baku and Jerusalem is often overlooked, according to Schneier, who has worked with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and was among the first Jewish leaders to foster ties between Israel and Muslim nations.
During the first Trump administration, the Abraham Accords reshaped regional alliances, with experts suggesting that Azerbaijan could play a key role in balancing regional power blocs.
As a country sharing a lengthy border with Iran while maintaining strong ties with Israel and Turkey, the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country holds a unique strategic advantage that could challenge Tehran’s influence and alter regional power dynamics.
“Azerbaijan plays a unique role in Israel’s broader strategy by serving as a potential bridge for normalizing relations between the Jewish State and other Muslim-majority countries,” Schneier told The Algemeiner.
He explained that Baku has contributed to regional normalization efforts in the past, notably by facilitating the restoration of full diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel in 2022, even though the relationship between the two countries has since gone downhill.
According to Schneier, as a strong ally of both Israel and Turkey, Azerbaijan is well-positioned to mediate further diplomatic breakthroughs. Just this week, Azerbaijan hosted Turkish and Israeli officials for talks aimed at preventing potential clashes in Syria
In this regional context, the Jewish leader argued that Baku “serves as a paradigm for the greater Arab and Muslim world,” demonstrating that strong ties with Israel are possible despite historical tensions and religious differences.
“Azerbaijan plays a strategic role by positioning itself as a model for regional cooperation and independent foreign policy,” Schneier told The Algemeiner.
“Within the greater Muslim world, Azerbaijan serves as a beacon of interfaith dialogue and cooperation, setting an example for broader Muslim-Jewish relations,” he continued.
Baku’s strategic importance stems not only from its role at the crossroads of a growing pro-Western bloc countering the regional ambitions of Iran, but also from its economic influence in the region.
Azerbaijan and Israel have continued to expand their cooperation and strengthen their bilateral ties, especially in the energy sector, highlighting the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country’s emerging role as a strategic player in the evolving Middle East.
Earlier this year, Jerusalem and Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, struck a major energy deal. In March, SOCAR also signed a gas exploration license agreement with the Jewish state
As of 2019, Azerbaijan supplied over a third of Israel’s oil. Last year, Jerusalem was the sixth-biggest buyer of oil from Baku, with sales totaling $713 million.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has acquired advanced Israeli defense systems, including the “Barak MX” missile system and surveillance satellites, and remains a leading buyer of Israeli military hardware, which was crucial in its 2020 war with Armenia.
The post Azerbaijan a ‘Potential Bridge’ for Arab-Israeli Normalization, Jewish Leader Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Navy Chief Compares Tehran to Israelites Fleeing Pharaoh Ahead of Passover
Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani. Photo: Screenshot
Ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Iran’s navy chief boasted that his country’s naval and defense power is stronger than ever, seemingly comparing Iran to the ancient Israelites and warning that enemies would be drowned at sea like Pharaoh’s army.
In an ironic twist, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani drew a parallel between Iran and the ancient Israelites enslaved by Egypt in the Exodus story, positioning Tehran as the modern-day victim of persecution.
In that biblical account, Pharaoh, fearing the growing Israelite population, enslaved them and even ordered the death of newborn boys. However, under God’s power, the Israelites, led by Moses, escaped Egypt. When Pharaoh’s army pursued them, driven by greed and fear, they were ultimately destroyed by the sea.
On Thursday, the Iranian commander praised Tehran’s naval strength and defense capabilities during a meeting with the families of the country’s 86th naval fleet, as tensions grow in the lead-up to nuclear talks with the United States.
“Our maritime power and defensive capabilities are stronger than ever,” Irani was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.
“Today, our enemies see the Islamic Republic’s armed forces and strategic navy as a superpower,” Irani continued. “The devil seeks a direct confrontation at sea, but with God’s help, we will defeat and drown it like the people of Pharaoh.” Other translations quoted him as saying Iran’s “enemies” will be defeated “just as Pharaoh was drowned.”
The apparent comparison was striking since Iranian leaders routinely call for Israel’s destruction, often describing the Jewish state as a “cancer” that must be wiped off the map.
Earlier this week, Tehran and Washington announced that diplomats from both countries will meet in Oman on Saturday to begin negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
US and Iranian officials have put out contradictory statements about whether the talks will be direct or indirect, the latter of which would involve Omani mediators passing messages between the sides.
As talks approach, Iran has warned that the country may suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if external military threats persist, following US President Donald Trump’s renewed warnings of military action should Tehran fail to reach a nuclear deal.
“Continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it,” Ali Shamkhani — an adviser to the country’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — wrote in a post on X, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday that Trump wants Iran to know that there will be “all hell to pay” if it does not abandon its nuclear program, which Western countries believe is meant to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran claims its nuclear activities are purely for civilian energy purposes.
The negotiations will reportedly be led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, with Oman’s Foreign Minister, Badr Albusaidi, serving as a mediator, as the country has long been a channel for communication between the two adversaries.
In response to the White House’s military threats, Iran issued notices to Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, and Bahrain, warning that any support for a US attack on Iran — including the use of their airspace or territory by American forces — would be considered an act of hostility.
During his first term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 nuclear deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — between Iran and several world powers, which had imposed temporary limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Since then, even though Tehran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon, the IAEA has warned that Iran has “dramatically” accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level and enough to build six nuclear bombs.
The post Iran’s Navy Chief Compares Tehran to Israelites Fleeing Pharaoh Ahead of Passover first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Passover BDS Referendum at Georgetown University Decried by Jewish Students
Anti-Israel activists protest at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Photo: Andrew Thomas via Reuters Connect.
The group Students Supporting Israel (SSI) at Georgetown University is imploring President Robert Groves to halt what they describe as an antisemitic outrage caused by the student government’s placing an anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) referendum on the ballot during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
A slim of majority of the Georgetown University Student Association’s (GUSA) senators voted via secret ballot for a resolution to hold the referendum on April 14-16, according to a report by The Hoya, the school’s official campus newspaper. It will ask students to decide whether they “support … divesting from companies arming Israel and ending university partnerships with Israeli institutions.” Many GUSA senators, however, withheld their support from the measure due to its being passed under a cloud of controversy.
The resolution only passed because GUSA senators, the Hoya noted, “voted to break rules” which require referenda to be evaluated by the Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), a period of deliberation which establishes their merit, or lack thereof, for consideration by the senate. At least one GUSA senator, Saahil Rao, has gone on the record to denounce the skipping of this key step as “secretive and rushed,” echoing concerns communicated by SSI in a letter sent to Groves that was shared exclusively with The Algemeiner.
“This referendum, cloaked in the language, represents not only a troubling overstep into Georgetown’s academic and fiduciary independence but also a campaign rooted in the discriminatory logic of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement,” said the letter, which has attracted support from members of the US Congress. “The process by which this vote was initiated raises further alarm. Reports of procedural irregularities, including a violation of student government rules, call into question the legitimacy of the referendum and risk setting a precedent where activist agendas bypass due process to achieve political outcomes.”
It continued, “More broadly, the passage of this measure would not occur in isolation. It would embolden future efforts to marginalize Jewish and Israeli students, deepen campus polarization, and risk fueling the disturbing rise in antisemitism seen at other institutions. Universities that have permitted such one-sided campaigns are now facing not only fractured communities and repetitional harm but growing federal scrutiny — including potential impacts to public funding.”
On Friday, Georgetown University sophomore and SSI leader Jacob Integrator told The Algemeiner that the BDS referendum undermines the common interests of the Georgetown community, as it has fostered the impression GUSA would violate procedural norms to alienate groups because of their shared ancestry. Alleged impropriety has already compromised the referendum’s integrity, he stressed, adding that GUSA’s holding it at a time when Jewish students will be unable to express their opposition at the ballot box is, in addition to being undemocratic, morally reprehensible.
“Georgetown SSI supports free expression by all campus groups,” Integrator said. “However, we believe that GUSA’s diverging from its standard procedures and the vote being held on Passover is not affording the Jewish community a fair and inclusive opportunity to engage in the process, voice concerns, and participate in shaping a decision that directly affects them.”
The Algemeiner has asked Georgetown University to provide a comment for this story.
Georgetown is one of 60 colleges and universities being investigated by the federal government due to being deemed by the Trump administration as soft on antisemitism and excessively “woke.” Such inquiries have led to the scorching of several billion dollars’ worth of federal contracts and grants awarded to America’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.
The Trump administration recently paused nearly $1.8 billion in combined federal funding to Cornell University and Northwestern University.
In March, it cancelled $400 million in federal contracts and grants for Columbia University, a measure that secured the school’s acceding to a slew of demands the administration put forth as preconditions for restoring the money. Later, the Trump administration disclosed its reviewing $9 billion worth of funding Harvard University, jeopardizing a substantial source of the school’s income over its alleged failure to quell antisemitic and pro-Hamas activity on campus following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel. Princeton University saw $210 million of its federal grants and funding suspended too, prompting its president, Christopher Eisgruber to say the institution is “committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.”
Brown University’s federal funding is also reportedly at risk due to its alleged failure to mount a satisfactory response to the campus antisemitism crisis, as well as its embrace of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement — perceived by many across the political spectrum as an assault on merit-based upward mobility and causing incidents of anti-White and anti-Asian discrimination.
“Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement last month. “US colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by US taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Passover BDS Referendum at Georgetown University Decried by Jewish Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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