Kerry Brodie founded Emma's Torch after running cooking classes for refugees out of her apartment in her spare time. (Ben Sales)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Two chefs — one from Afghanistan, the other from Mexico — are learning how to make shakshuka sauce. The tomato base, cooked with onion rings and spiced with cayenne pepper and garlic confit, comes out of the oven with eggs and onto a curated brunch… Read more »
Spiced Lamb and Hummus Stuffed Arepas (Sandy Leibowitz)
(The Nosher via JTA) — I must have been about 6 or 7 years old and remember being eye level to my grandmother’s stove. I saw these white, round things frying in oil. What I vividly recall was the distinct hole on the edge of these patties and wondering… Read more »
Margret and H. A. Rey in Hamburg, Germany, May 1973. (Ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Curious George — that curious little monkey — is beloved by millions of readers around the world. His adventures with the Man With the Yellow Hat impart important life lessons amidst silliness and mayhem. But many people probably don’t know that the children’s book character was actually… Read more »
Dennis Tamblyn as Max Bialystock, Matt Holter as Leo Bloom and Liz Cracchiolo as Ulla.
If the woes of our country and the world are getting you down, perhaps you need a dose of something downright silly. Arizona Onstage Productions will provide the remedy with their production of Mel Brooks’ classic comedy, “The Producers,” which will be performed Aug. 19, 20, 26 and 27… Read more »
A scene from 'The Women's Balcony' (Menemsha Films)
Set among a congregation of observant Jews in a quiet neighborhood in the Old City, “The Women’s Balcony” begins with a bar mitzvah and ends with a wedding. But there’s plenty of tsuris (trouble) between the celebrations, triggered by a structural collapse just before the haftorah that shutters the… Read more »
Gary Wasserman, left, strolls through a corridor on the Georgetown campus in Qatar with his students in 2012. (Georgetown University-Qatar)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Near the end of his first year teaching American studies at the Georgetown University campus in Qatar, Gary Wasserman introduced a dozen Israelis to a dozen undergraduates from across the Middle East. Then he left the room so the students could have an unfiltered discussion.… Read more »
Members of the Habima National Theatre and the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv appear in an adaptation of David Grossman's novel "To the End of the Land," as part of the Lincoln Center Festival in New York, July 24-27, 2017. (Gérard Allon)
NEW YORK (JTA) — In David Grossman’s 2008 novel “To the End of the Land,” an Israeli mother flees to the countryside to avoid news of her soldier son, who is serving a dangerous stint in the West Bank. Ora considers herself apolitical and tries to avoid talking or… Read more »
From left: Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill at the 25th Annual William S. Paley TV Festival at the Arclight in Hollywood, March 17, 2008. (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
NEW YORK (JTA) — In history books, the summer of 2007 will go down as the official start of one of the worst financial crises in American history. It started in July, when Bear Stearns announced that two of its hedge funds had lost all their value —… Read more »
Golda Tencer, standing, at a Shabbat dinner during the International Seminar in Yiddish Language and Culture in Warsaw, July 7, 2017. (Katarzyna Markusz)
WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — When Gołda Tencer, the director of the Shalom Foundation and the Jewish Theater in Warsaw, lit the Sabbath candles last Friday, she was accompanied by dozens of people from various countries. Though their mother tongues differed, the voices at the table were united by a common… Read more »
Quinoa Tabbouleh (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — Tabbouleh is a classic Middle Eastern salad made with bulgur, tomatoes and a high ratio of chopped fresh herbs. It’s easy to make, fresh, delicious and healthy, making it a much-beloved side dish around the world. Instead of classic bulgur, we wanted to try… Read more »
Jeanette Chawki, far right, teaches League of Kitchens workshop participants how to cook Lebanese food. (Josefin Dolsten)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Several times a month Jeanette Chawki welcomes a handful of strangers into her Brooklyn home. There, the visitors learn about life in her native Lebanon, talk about their own backgrounds, and eat food — lots of it. Among the dishes visitors tried on a recent… Read more »
Michael Steinhardt, who takes regular 90-minute strolls around his 55-acre private zoo, enjoys interacting with his tortoises. (Ben Sales)
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. (JTA) – When Michael Steinhardt strolls around his 55-acre backyard for 90 minutes every morning, one of his favorite animals to see is the scimitar-horned oryx, whose antlers sweep back from its head like the swords for which they are named. But Steinhardt didn’t much like… Read more »
Israeli-Inspired Avocado Toast shown three ways. (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — Avocado toast has been “trendy” for several years throughout the U.S. In fact, avocados have been so trendy, an entire avocado restaurant opened earlier this year in Brooklyn. And people are putting avocados in everything lately: brownies, salad dressing, even ice cream. After all,… Read more »
Molly Yeh has taken the food blogging world by storm with her bubbly personality and creative recipes. (Chantell Quernemoen)
(JTA) — Not much could have prepared Molly Yeh for moving from New York City to Grand Forks, North Dakota — a city of a little over 50,000 residents near the state’s eastern border with Minnesota. At the time of her move in 2013, Yeh (pronounced “yay,” as her… Read more »
Staff preparing the Ets Haim Jewish library in Amsterdam for a tour, May 17, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Livraria Ets Haim is the world’s oldest functioning Jewish library. As such, it is no stranger to the prospect of imminent destruction. Founded in 1616 by Jews who fled Catholic persecution in Spain and Portugal, the three-room library is adjacent to Amsterdam’s majestic Portuguese Synagogue… Read more »
A scene from 'Shalom Italia,' a documentary by Tamar Tal Anati (PBS)
On the run from Nazis, three Italian Jewish brothers spent months during their childhood hiding in a cave in the Tuscan countryside. Nearly 70 years later, after immigrating to Israel, the three reunite in the country they were forced to abandon and rediscover their hiding place. “For years I’ve… Read more »
The Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies will hold its annual Women’s Summer Reading and Brunch event with Esther Becker on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 10:45 a.m. at Congregation Chofetz Chayim. For nearly two decades, this event has been held during the High Holiday season. “This event has become a… Read more »
Patti LuPone, in her role as the cosmetics mogul Helena Rubinstein in the Broadway musical "War Paint," performs at the Tony Awards in New York City, June 11, 2017. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
(JTA) — Patti LuPone recently discovered that she has something in common with Helena Rubinstein, the makeup mogul and Polish Jewish immigrant she is currently portraying in the Broadway musical “War Paint.” Using the genealogy website 23andMe, she found out that she is 87 percent southern Italian and 12 percent Eastern European… Read more »
(JTA) — Sure, winter might seem like the ideal time of year for curling up with a good book — but summer is when you might actually have time to read. So before these warm months all too swiftly fade to fall, here are some Jewish-themed titles, from a wide range… Read more »
Christian Friedel as Georg Elser in "13 Minutes." (Bernd Schuller/Sony Pictures Classics)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) —What if Adolf Hitler had been assassinated shortly after his armies invaded Poland to start World War II? How would global — and Jewish — history have played out? The question is not answered directly in the German film “13 Minutes.” But the movie, based… Read more »
