Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren stars as retired secret agent Rachel Singer in John Madden’s espionage thriller "The Debt." Laurie Sparham/Focus Features) A taut, beautifully crafted thriller with an Israeli accent, “The Debt” is easily and best appreciated as edge-of-your-seat entertainment. At the same time, though, the English-language remake of the 2007 Israeli film “Ha-Hov” echoes a question raised far more egregiously by “Inglourious Basterds” but otherwise rarely… Read more »
Rabbi Robert J. Marx, with glasses, is pictured with the Rev. Martin Luther King in the 1960s. CHICAGO (JTA) — Time affirms what heroism discerns. The dedication of a statue in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is a belated yet significant tribute to a man who did so much to redefine the meaning of our democracy. Make no mistake about it, there was… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — When Israeli music producer-to-the-stars Eitan Gafni put on a global song contest for Jews nearly 20 years ago, finding contestants was difficult. At the time, he called on Jewish Agency shlichim, or emissaries, residing in capitals around the world to find young Jews with musical talent… Read more »
The ancient laws of keeping kosher have now gone digital. Rabbi Eli Garfinkel of Temple Beth El of Somerset, N.J., has gained a reputation as something of a technophile, creating videos and podcasts on Jewish rituals and a website called askmyrabbi.com. Garfinkel recently found another high-tech outlet: developing smartphone… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — When I first heard that Lionsgate was remaking the classic ’80s movie “Dirty Dancing,” I had two questions: One, why won’t Hollywood leave my childhood alone? And two, will this update be as culturally Jewish as the original? While the first question is obviously rhetorical… Read more »
Maros Borsky, vice president of the Bratislava Jewish community, standing in the Orthodox synagogue in Zilina, Slovakia. The shul is one of the sites on his Slovak Jewish heritage Route. (Ruth Ellen Gruber) BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (JTA) — In 1989, on the eve of the fall of communism, the American poet Jerome Rothenberg published a powerful series of poems called “Khurbn” that dealt with the impact of the Holocaust on Eastern Europe. In one section, he recorded conversations he had had in Poland… Read more »
Ira Forman, longtime head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, was tapped by the Obama campaign to be its Jewish outreach director. (photo by Ira Forman) WASHINGTON (JTA/WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK) — The fight for the Jewish vote in 2012 is expected to be a tough one. So the Obama campaign is turning to the quintessential insider. On Aug. 16, the Obama campaign tapped as its Jewish outreach director Ira Forman, the former head of the… Read more »
ST. LOUIS (JTA) — American Jews are known for the emphasis they place on academic success. Jewish professors populate America’s universities, and, respectively, Jewish doctors, lawyers and politicians help fill the nation’s hospitals, law firms and legislatures. At the core of this success are generations of American Jewish parents… Read more »
MINORITY OF ONE: The New York Jewish Week looks at the lives of the small numbers of Jewish students enrolled at historically black colleges. “I create my own Jewish life,” says Abraham Mercado, a place-kicker for the football team at Baltimore’s Morgan State University, where he may (or may… Read more »
Tifereth Israel Congregation in New Bedford, Mass., is looking for former members and their descendants for its 90th anniversary celebration in November 2011. Please email Milton Goodman, executive director, at mgoodman@tinewbedford.org or contact the congregation through its Facebook page.… Read more »
On Sunday, Aug. 21, Ira Kerem, the TIPS (Tucson Israel Phoenix Seattle) partnership representative in Israel, reported that following the killing of eight Israelis along the border with Egypt by terrorists based in Gaza, the Israeli air force launched attacks into Gaza. “Since then almost 100 missiles have been fired from… Read more »
(JTA) – He was the Arab world’s most quixotic leader. During the Reagan era, he was Public Enemy No. 1 in the United States. Later, after his apparent cooperation in dismantling nonconventional weapons, he became an ally to President George W. Bush’s administration in the war on terror. He… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Last week, Muslim and Jewish soldiers gathered after a day’s training to eat a communal iftar, the traditional break-the-fast meal eaten after sunset during the month-long observance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. “Ramadan isn’t just one day like the 17th of Tammuz or Tisha B’Av,”… Read more »
JONATHAN ROTHSCHILD, Democratic candidate for mayor of Tucson, has released a 180-Day Work Plan focusing on jobs and economic development, “safe, vital neighborhoods,” an open government initiative and plans to develop green industries. To read a copy of the plan, go to www.jonathanfor mayor.com. “The Heyday… Read more »
BARBARA R. LEVY has been elected president of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra board of trustees. Levy is an author, consultant and speaker on board and organizational development and fundraising. With 38 years of experience in development, she is one of fewer than 90 people nationwide to earn the Advanced… Read more »
Dr. Douglas Wegner, 54, died Aug. 5, 2011. Born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, Dr. Wegner graduated from Liberty High School and earned a bachelor’s degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in mechanical engineering in 1979. He worked for Fisher Scientific and Westinghouse on nuclear reactors for submarines.… Read more »
Robert Penn, 85, died June 5, 2011. Born in Mt. Pleasant, Pa., Mr. Penn spent most of his life in San Diego, Calif. He received a Ph.D. from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) in 1955 and joined the faculty in the psychology department at San Diego State University. Mr.… Read more »
Rabbi Rafoel Franklin at his farm in Swan Lake, N.Y. (Itta Werdiger Roth) (Tablet Magazine) — Every morning before breakfast, Rabbi Rafoel Franklin, 60, an Orthodox Jew living in Swan Lake, N.Y., puts on tefillin, says his morning prayers, and then heads outside to milk his 30 cows. Three decades ago Franklin and his wife, Naomi, left Monsey, N.Y., the ultra-Orthodox hamlet… Read more »
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (JTA) — When Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve, he reportedly conducted meetings of the Fed’s Open Market Committee by going around the table and asking the 17 members for their opinions. Only after the others had spoken would Greenspan, a towering figure in… Read more »
In the last several weeks Israel has been going through one of the biggest waves of protest ever. The people in the street are calling for social justice. Most protestors define themselves as middle class. They’re raising a cry over the high cost of living and the unequally spread… Read more »
