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The legacy of Isaac Babel, Russia’s Jewish Hemingway, is dissected in new Chicago play
CHICAGO (JTA) — All writers strive for a good story. How far they will go to find it depends on their ambition, their wherewithal and their sanity.
Isaac Babel, a Russian-Jewish writer who came from a relatively stable, privileged background in Odessa in the late 1800s, would go to war among Cossacks who murdered Jews, make friends with Soviet agents and then cuckold one of them. The reason why Babel constantly put himself in harm’s way may have been simple, according to another writer.
“I think he wanted something to write about,” said Rajiv Joseph, whose play at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, “Describe the Night,” centers on Babel. “He was a young man who had wanted to be a writer but had nothing to write about.”
“Describe the Night” blends three stories from different eras that engage with questions of who controls the truth. The first portrays Babel, the Soviet secret police head Nikolai Yezhov and Yezhov’s wife, Yevgenia, with whom Babel begins an affair. The second follows a young Soviet agent rising through the ranks just before the Berlin Wall falls, and the third dives into a conspiracy behind a 2010 plane crash near Smolensk, Russia.
Babel himself may not rise to the ranks of Tolstoy or Dostoevsky in terms of immediate name recognition in the United States, but the journalist, author and playwright is remembered as one of Russia’s preeminent 20th-century writers. His modernist and bloody tales in “Red Cavalry,” a collection of short stories inspired by his time on the frontlines of the Polish-Soviet War of 1919, vaulted him to the status of a Russian Hemingway. The pithy American war correspondent once expressed his admiration, perhaps even jealousy, of Babel’s writing, saying “Babel’s style is even more concise than mine.”
Like Hemingway, Babel went to war in search of a good story. Combat itself was not the only threat to him: as a Jew, he bore witness to the Cossack cavalry’s antisemitic atrocities. Babel tamped down his Jewish identity while covering the war, though he would feel a sense of isolation in both societies or as his grandson would later describe him “a Jew among the Cossacks, and a Cossack among the Jews.” In his own diary, Babel wrote “Talking to the Jews, I feel kin to them, they think I’m Russian and my soul is laid bare.”
Joseph, who is not Jewish and authored the Pulitzer-nominated play “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,” had read “Red Cavalry” years ago but was inspired to write “Describe the Night” after discovering the poetic journal Babel had kept during the war. The title of the play comes directly from the diary, which repeats the word several times in Babel’s own prompts to describe things ranging from kitchens to marketplaces to women to horses. Sometimes Babel successfully answers his own prompts by forcing himself to write, and other times he doesn’t, Joseph said.
Lead actor James Vincent Meredith is also not Jewish and admitted he had concerns about “the choice of casting a black man in the role of a Jewish man living in the world of Russia, the Ukraine and Paris.” He partly found his way to the character by watching the 2015 documentary “Finding Babel,” which follows Babel’s grandson across Russia and Ukraine as he searches for his famous ancestor’s remains.
“I can read Babel’s work (I have), I can travel to Israel (I have, decades ago), I can take Hebrew as an elective in college (I did, not very well), I can read Chaim Potok (I have). But these are at their best, however well intentioned, tourist pursuits for one who is not Jewish,” he said. “I will never come close to knowing the true soul of a Jewish person. Thankfully, Rajiv has created this character that by his design, anyone can inhabit.”
Yasen Peyankov and James Vincent Meredith in a scene from the play about Isaac Babel. (Michael Brosilow)
He added that the play isn’t meant to be historically accurate. “The character of Isaac, as well as others in the play, is meant to be an entry point into a world where the scalpel crafting the ‘truth’ is rarely placed in the hands of those who are adversely affected by it. As a black male and father of a black male in the U.S., I’m certainly cognizant of that world.”
Joseph feels that he and other artists share the instinct Babel had to leave his comfort zone. He wanted to be a writer, but growing up in suburban Cleveland gave him little inspiration. After college, he joined the Peace Corps and spent three years in West Africa.
“That was a real life-changing event for me that opened my world and opened my mind,” Joseph said. “Not nearly as traumatic as traveling with the cavalry through Poland in 1920, but the same impulse to break out of your norms.”
Yet Joseph believes Babel’s desires went beyond pushing boundaries and into a deep, pathological need to associate with danger.
“The thing I find really interesting about Babel, both through his writing and through his personal life, is this inexorable draw towards danger and filth,” Joseph said, adding that Babel would hang out in taverns with Soviet soldiers, members of the secret police and executioners like Yezhov. “He was already treading on such thin ice. So he had a recklessness, you could call it a death wish if you want.”
Meredith was also stunned by the writer’s intense flirtations with danger.
“Why get that close to the flame? That to me is one of the things that really appealed to me about this guy,” Meredith said. “I tend to play it safe, as safe as an actor can play it, but I see this guy who had these kinds of desires, he had this quest to make this amazing art as far as his stories and I just I’m just so attracted to that.”
Joseph said he saw some parallels between Babel’s story and the exodus of some of his artistic peers in Russia, who have fled to Europe. In his time, Babel was seen as subversive by nature, existing as a Jewish man in early Soviet Russia. His relished writing about prostitutes and mobsters, transforming underworld characters into urban legends. His 1935 political play “Maria” was canceled during rehearsals and by 1939, Soviet police arrested him and confiscated his writing. Throughout the 1940s, his works disappeared from circulation. Though some believed Babel had spent time throughout that decade in a prison camp, the government had executed him in 1940.
“In the 1930s and ‘40s, I think if you are a Jewish creative writer, you’re automatically subversive,” Joseph said. He noted one pivotal scene where Nikolai Yezhov labels Babel as such because his writing portrays Russia as gloomy rather than inspiring.
“If you’re telling the truth, you are subversive,” Joseph added. “So I think that pretty much any creative writer worth his or her weight would be considered subversive at that moment.”
“Describe the Night” runs until April 9 at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.
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‘Jewish Whore’ Graffiti Targets Mexican President Sheinbaum During Anti-Government Protests
During anti-government protests, the words “Puta Judía,” which translate to “Jewish whore,” were spray-painted on the gates of Mexico City’s National Palace, apparently targeting Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Photo: Screenshot
Anti-government protests in Mexico City turned openly antisemitic over the weekend, with demonstrators chanting and scrawling graffiti attacking President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Jewish heritage — sparking outrage from Jewish leaders and politicians nationwide.
On Saturday, protesters spray-painted the words “Jewish whore” on the gates of Mexico City’s National Palace, the presidential residence, in an act apparently directed at Sheinbaum, the country’s first female and Jewish president.
According to local media reports, youth groups staged the protest to voice their concerns over escalating violence, crime, and corruption, particularly linked to the country’s drug cartels.
Clashes erupted shortly after local police moved in to contain the demonstrations, leaving dozens reportedly arrested and injured.
During the protest, demonstrators targeted the presidential residence with antisemitic insults, chanting slurs and spray-painting a crossed-out Star of David on its walls.
En México, los mexicanos pintaron con aerosol la frase “puta judía” en las puertas del Palacio Nacional, tras el descontento generalizado con Claudia Sheinbaum, la presidenta del país.
Las protestas se intensificaron especialmente tras el asesinato de un alcalde, Carlos Menzo,… pic.twitter.com/bfqfuHrW5m
— ITON GADOL es Israel y las comunidades judias (@Itongadol) November 16, 2025
The country’s Jewish community has strongly condemned these latest incidents, denouncing the antisemitic attacks and calling for accountability.
“Antisemitism is a form of discrimination according to our constitution and must be rejected clearly and unequivocally,” the statement read.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also condemned the displays of anti-Jewish bigotry, expressing solidarity with Sheinbaum and warning against such acts of political violence.
“Israel strongly condemns the antisemitic and sexist slurs directed at Mexico’s President [Claudia Sheinbaum],” the top Israeli diplomat wrote in a post on X.
“There is no place for such attacks in political discourse. All forms of antisemitism, in any context, must be rejected unequivocally,” Saar continued.
Israel strongly condemns the antisemitic and sexist slurs directed at Mexico’s President @Claudiashein. There is no place for such attacks in political discourse.
All forms of antisemitism, in any context, must be rejected unequivocally. pic.twitter.com/HEDKzq34e8— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) November 16, 2025
As in many countries around the world, the Jewish community in Mexico has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Jewish leaders have consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.
Earlier this year, Voice of the People — a global initiative launched by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to survey and amplify Jewish voices worldwide — released a study showing that concerns about rising antisemitism now top the list of challenges facing Jewish communities across demographics.
Among Jews in Mexico, 84 percent expressed deep concern about rising antisemitism.
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Dolphins Quarterback Suggests Israel as Next Location for NFL International Series Game
Oct 19, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws a pass against the Cleveland Browns during the first quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Photo: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he thinks it would be “pretty cool” to compete in an NFL International Series game in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.
The Dolphins secured a 16-13 victory in overtime against the Washington Commanders in Madrid, Spain, in Sunday’s Week 11 matchup, which was the final international game of the season. At a postgame news conference closing out the NFL’s 2025 International Series, Tagovailoa, 27, was asked where would like to play a league game internationally. The athlete first mentioned his home state of Hawaii, where his close family still lives. “Shoot, it would be pretty cool to go play in Jerusalem, I don’t know,” he added. “That would be sick.”
Tagovailoa has already played three international games throughout his NFL career with the Dolphins – in London, England, in 2021 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2023 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Miami lost both games.
Sunday night’s game at the Santiago Bernabeu marked the seventh international game of the 2025 NFL regular season, which included previous games in Brazil, Ireland, Germany, Mexico, and the UK. There have been no regular-season games in the Middle East or Asia.
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Trump Backs Carlson Over Interview With Antisemite Fuentes as Heritage Board Member Resigns in Protest
US President Donald Trump in the Oval office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended online provocateur Tucker Carlson after the far-right podcaster came under fire from prominent conservative figures for conducting a friendly interview with Nick Fuentes, an openly antisemitic white supremacist.
Trump’s defense came hours before a leading conservative intellectual, Robert P. George, announced on Monday his resignation from the board of the Heritage Foundation think tank, a decades-long fixture of right-wing political thought in Washington, DC that has faced widespread backlash for supporting Carlson’s decision to platform Fuentes.
“I think he’s good, we did some good interviews,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, referring to Carlson. “You can’t tell him [who] to interview. If he wants to interview Nick Fuentes — I don’t know much about him — but if he wants to do it, get the word out.”
Trump added that “people have to decide.”
A few minutes later, Trump reportedly said, “Meeting people, talking to people for somebody like Tucker — that’s what they do. You know, people are controversial. I’m not controversial, so I like it that way.”
Trump dined with Fuentes and rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in November 2022, when the hip-hop star had begun a media tour announcing a range of antisemitic and pro-Hitler views.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) responded to Trump’s latest comments on X.
“When leaders are asked about antisemitism, there’s only one responsible answer: denounce it,” the civil rights group posted. “President Trump’s refusal to condemn Nick Fuentes — an avowed antisemite — or to call out Tucker Carlson for amplifying him is unacceptable and dangerous.”
George, a well-known professor at Princeton University and one of the most respected scholarly voices on the political right, took a different approach to Carlson’s embrace of Fuentes and the subsequent backing of that relationship by Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.
“I have resigned from the board of the Heritage Foundation. I could not remain without a full retraction of the video released by Kevin Roberts, speaking for and in the name of Heritage, on October 30th,” George wrote in a Facebook post. “Although Kevin publicly apologized for some of what he said in the video, he could not offer a full retraction of its content. So, we reached an impasse.”
George described Roberts as “a good man” and noted the Heritage head had admitted his error. However, this was not sufficient. “What divided us was a difference of opinion about what was required to rectify the mistake,” George wrote.
The academic who specializes in political theory and public law wrote that his hope for Heritage was that the think tank “will be unbending and unflinching in its fidelity to its founding vision, upholding the moral principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the civic principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.”
He continued, “I pray that Heritage’s research and advocacy will be guided by the conviction that each and every member of the human family, irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, or anything else, as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, is ‘created equal’ and ‘endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.’ The anchor for the Heritage Foundation, and for our nation, and for every patriotic American is that creed. It must always be that creed. If we hold fast to it even when expediency counsels compromising it, we cannot go wrong. If we abandon it, we sign the death certificate of republican government and ordered liberty.”
Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and the chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian think tank, expressed support for Roberts’ decision.
“Robert George is right about the moral rot at Heritage, and he’s not the one who needs to leave, though I totally understand his reasons for doing so,” Somin wrote. “I’m a former Heritage intern (way back in 1994) but would never work with them today.”
The Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the conservative think tank, expressed similar views on X.
“Robby George was the head of the ‘Kevin Roberts showed terrible judgment and there need to be consequences’ camp, which has apparently lost out to ‘everything is well, nothing to see here’ camp,” Shapiro wrote. “Heritage will now decline as an institution (or we will decline as a nation). Sad.”
Additional controversy over Carlson this weekend involved US Vice President JD Vance.
On Sunday, Vance re-shared an X post from conservative journalist Sloan Rachmuth and offered a defense of Carlson’s son, Buckley, who serves as the vice president’s deputy press secretary.
Rachmuth wrote, “Today, we learned that Tucker Carlson’s brother idolizes Nick Fuentes. Racism and antisemitism is a Carlson family trait. Is Tucker’s son Buckley, who serves as JD Vance’s top aide also a vile bigot? America deserves to know how deep the Carlson’s family ethnic and religious hatred runs.”
Vance responded in a post that as of Monday afternoon has gotten more than six million views: “Sloan Rachmuth is a ‘journalist’ who has decided to obsessively attack a staffer in his 20s because she doesn’t like the views of his father. Every time I see a public attack on Buckley it’s a complete lie. And yes, I notice ever person with an agenda who unfairly attacks a good guy who does a great job for me.”
Continuing, Vance wrote that “Sloan describes herself as a defender of ‘Judeo-Christian Values.’ Is it a ‘Judeo-Christian value’ to lie about someone you don’t know? Not in any church I ever spent time in!”
Rachmuth pushed back against Vance on X.
“Mr. Vice President, that ‘someone I don’t know’ is one of your top advisors being paid with taxpayer funds,” she posted. “It’s not the guy who trims your shrubs or cuts your hair. And YES, defending Judeo-Christian values entails speaking out against the antisemitism that’s tearing our nation apart. It also involves questioning those at the highest level of government about their hires, and speaking truth to power when needed. Sir, shall I remain quiet while Jews like me are being targeted by massive media platforms, and while our country is being destroyed by hate?? Or can I continue to ask questions and fight against injustices without being unfairly questioned about my loyalty to my country? I look forward to hearing back from you.”