Jamie Oliver, left, with nonna Elena. (Twitter)
(The Nosher via JTA) – If you haven’t been watching Jamie Oliver’s current television show, “Jamie Cooks Italy,” or at least read the accompanying cookbook, “Jamie Cooks Italy — From the Heart of the Italian Kitchen,” do so immediately. The Naked Chef has, happily, given all the healthy eating/culinary… Read more »
An iconic Rube Goldberg cartoon used on a U.S. postal stamp. (Rube Goldberg Inc.)
(JTA) — When one hears the name Rube Goldberg, one concept instantly comes to mind: those fun machines that complete simple tasks in overly complicated and humorous ways. Think a ball rolling down a long ramp that hits a series of dominoes, which hits something else, so on and… Read more »
A Jewish family reunited in Budapest in 1943 following the arrival there of family members from Holland. (Courtesy of Willy Lindwer)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — When her classmates were sent from occupied Holland to death camps, Emmy Korodi and her Dutch-Jewish family were safe in Hungary — one of Nazi Germany’s closest allies. Her family were among some 90 Jews who, at the height of World War II, survived for the unlikeliest… Read more »
Deborah Benaim is creating a cookbook to showcase her family's food, which has influences from Morocco, Spain, Moldova and Venezuela. (Courtesy of Benaim)
(JTA) — Food has always been a way for Deborah Benaim’s family to connect to its roots. A typical Shabbat dinner featured dishes such as traditional Ashkenazi braided challah bread, Moroccan-style whitefish with red pepper paste and a Venezuelan hearts of palm salad. “I think it’s in my… Read more »
Walraven van Hall, right, and his brother Gijs in the 1930s. (Courtesy of the van Hall family)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Opposite the Dutch national bank here lies one of Europe’s least conspicuous monuments to a war hero. Titled “Fallen Tree,” the metal statue for resistance fighter Walraven van Hall looks so realistic that for months after its unveiling in 2010, the municipality would receive calls reporting… Read more »
Maxine Krasnow is the founder of the Tucson Clay Co-op.
The Tucson Clay Co-op is celebrating a special birthday in October. The building where clay bowls and pots come together is turning 100 years old and proprietor Maxine Krasnow wants to send it up big. “You don’t celebrate when a building is 101 or 102, you do it the… Read more »
Cake decorating is Lauren Berger’s forte.
A recent trip to Israel and India inspired cake decorator Lauren Berger, of Cayley’s Cakes, to bake pastries from around the world. “If I got my way in this world, for 10 years I would just travel and learn how to bake things from all over,” Berger says. “Then… Read more »
Shais Rishon's latest book, "Ariel Samson: Freelance Rabbi," tells the story of a 20-something black rabbi. (Courtesy of Rishon)
NEW YORK (JTA) — When Shais Rishon thinks of American Jewish literature, virtually no Jews of color come to mind — as characters or authors. “We’re invisible, pretty much,” he told JTA. As an African-American Orthodox rabbi, Rishon hopes to change that. He recently published a semi-autobiographical novel titled “Ariel Samson:… Read more »
The cover of "The Joe Shuster Story: The Artist Behind Superman," by Julian Voloj and illustrated by Thomas Campi. (Super Genius)
(JTA) – When Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel created the Superman character in the early 1930s, they were still living at their parents’ homes. Of course, the character and his story — the arrival from another planet, his dual identities as mild-mannered reporter and flying, bulletproof crime fighter —… Read more »
Ann Toback demonstrates the "shpring" command with her dog, Jesse, while trainer Miguel Rodriguez, left, and Yiddishist Leyzer Burko can be seen looking on. (Josefin Dolsten)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Dogs and their owners are a common sight in Central Park on the weekend, but there was something different about the group gathered on the grass on a recent Sunday morning. The approximately 20 people could be seen and heard pointing at the ground while… Read more »
Daniel Asia The 11th annual Music + Festival at the University of Arizona will focus on the music of Claude Debussy, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his death, and Daniel Asia, in honor of his 65th birthday and 30 years in residence at the UA’s Fred Fox School of… Read more »
Erez and Gal
An evening of Israeli guitar music and song makes for a great night out. “Something Israelis love to do is sing together. So we’re bringing that Israeli spirit here,” says Tucson’s Weintraub Israel Center Director Amir Eden. The Oct. 7 event is open to the public. Local guest singer… Read more »
Lauren Rabb, left, and Jacquelyn Feller stand before “Untitled Rainbow,” donated to Tucson Medical Center by artist Bob Kray II. It hangs near TMC’s south orthopedic unit entrance. (Debe Campbell)
Healing literally surrounds you upon entering Tucson Medical Center. The largest single-story hospital in the U.S. has nearly eight miles of hallways that have transformed into an expansive art gallery through the TMC Healing Arts Program, curated by Lauren Rabb who, like many in this story, is a member… Read more »
The Rose Petal Foundation, in cooperation with the Tucson Jewish Community Center, will present a reading of “Under Midwestern Stars” by local playwright Esther Blumenfeld as the first performance of the Jewish Community Theater of Tucson. Auditions will be held on Sunday, Sept. 30 from 2-6 p.m. in the… Read more »
Allen and Marianne Langer
Allen Langer keeps a photo on his desk of the ship that brought him and his parents from Germany to the United States in 1949, when he was 21 months old; his parents, survivors of the Holocaust, spent four years in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Persons Camp, waiting for… Read more »
Laetitia Eïdo, left, and Lior Raz in a scene from "Fauda." (Courtesy of Netflix)
(JTA) — Moshe Zonder noticed it quickly: “My students are completely serious. They are writing. They are doing the assignments. All of them. It’s great teaching here.” Zonder shouldn’t be that surprised. For an aspiring screenwriter, who better to study with than the man who wrote the entire first… Read more »
Noam Vazana wrote her upcoming album “Andalusian Brew” in Ladino. (Asaf Lewkowitz)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Wandering the ornate streets of the city of Fes in northern Morocco, Noam Vazana heard several men singing a tune so familiar that it made her stop in her tracks. Vazana, a successful 35-year-old Israeli musician living here, was visiting her ancestors’ country of birth for… Read more »
(Kveller via JTA) — Arielle Charnas, 31, is famous for being a stylish mom. She has more than 1 million followers on Instagram. And even though I’m not a mom, I’m one of them. Yes, I follow her because I like her style — her look is always put… Read more »
Pablo Solarz, right, wrote and directed "The Last Suit." (Outsider Pictures)
(JTA) — When the Argentine-Jewish filmmaker Pablo Solarz was 5 or 6 years old, he asked his grandfather if he was Polish. On the phone recently, in heavily accented English, he described his grandfather’s reaction. “He gave me a very dead face,” Solarz recalled. “My father said that … Read more »
Tucson J revamps art gallery The Tucson Jewish Community Center revealed its renovated Fine Art Gallery on Sunday, Sept. 16 at the artists’ reception for “Simcha,” a group show featuring 13 members of the Tucson Jewish Artists. Approximately 100 people turned out for the exhibit. The gallery features a… Read more »
