This has been quite the Jewish year for pop culture. Jewish actors, musicians, athletes and writers shined in a year that was full of uncertainty. And so, for the third year in a row, we’ll soon be presenting The Almas — our pop culture awards — for our favorite things in Jewish pop culture, from breakout Jewish actress to best Jewish director to favorite Jewish debut novel. As we gear up to welcome the New Year of 5782 on Rosh Hashanah, we’re excited to be looking back on all that 5781 had to offer, from Daveed Diggs’s “Puppy for Hanukkah” to Ben Barnes stealing our hearts in “Shadow and Bone.”
The Almas will launch just after Rosh Hashanah, on September 9, 2021, but before we can announce our winners, we’re turning to you, our dear readers.
This year, we’re asking you to vote on your favorite pop culture moment of 5781. The winner will be shared alongside our picks next month (so just because you don’t see your favorite moment here doesn’t mean we won’t be writing about it…). You can check out last year’s Almas here.
In chronological order, here are 10 standout Jewish pop culture moments from 5781 that you can vote on now:
- “Schitt’s Creek” sweeping the Emmys
- The return of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
- Leslie Odom, Jr. and Nicolette Robinson’s cover of “Ma’oz Tzur”
- The Bernie Sanders mittens meme
- Doja Cat’s viral songs on TikTok
- Mandy Patinkin’s home videos
- “The Nanny” returns to streaming
- Eden Alene performs in Eurovision
- Disney releases Kronk’s challah recipe
- Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent in “Ted Lasso” season two
Your favorite moment didn’t make the list? Fear not, we’re also taking write-in nominations.
Please vote here by August 9. And stay tuned for the third annual Almas, coming soon!
