A screenshot from ChaiFlicks, a Jewish-themed streaming platform. (ChaiFlicks)
(JTA) — It was only a matter of time: A Jewish Netflix has arrived. That moniker is probably the best description of ChaiFlicks, a film and TV streaming platform focused on Jewish-themed movies that launches Wednesday. It helps that its creators were once in business with the real Netflix.… Read more »
Sarah Lefton, creator of the "Yo Semite" T-shirt, with her son, Levi. (Courtesy of Lefton)
(J. the Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — When Berkeley resident Sarah Lefton awoke on Tuesday morning, her phone was lit up with notifications. While she was sleeping, President Trump had signed the Great American Outdoors Act, a piece of legislation that will protect the nation’s parks… Read more »
Seth Rogen speaks onstage at The Workers Circle 2019 benefit in New York City, where he was honored, Dec. 2, 2019. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
(JTA) — In a new interview, Seth Rogen said his comments about Israel being a bad idea for a state were made in jest but affirmed that he found his childhood education about the country, which he received through Jewish schools and camps, to be problematic. “I don’t want… Read more »
Rabbi Yosef Langer on a yacht before the San Francisco Giants’ home opener, July 28, 2020. (Gabriel Greschler)
(J. the Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — While the ballpark Tuesday night at the San Francisco Giants’ home opener may not have been filled with fans because of COVID-19 restrictions, nearby McCovey Cove had a familiar guest. Standing on a 75-foot yacht docked in a part… Read more »
(JTA) — If you keep kosher in Seattle — whose metro area is home to more than 60,000 Jews — you now have to head to the suburbs for a restaurant meal you can eat. The city’s only freestanding, certified kosher restaurant, Bamboo Garden, is serving its last meals… Read more »
William Jackson Harper as Chidi and Kristen Bell as Eleanor on "The Good Place." (Screen shot from YouTube)
Social distancing and staying inside is hard. Thankfully, accessing good things to watch during this time is not. This is the latest installation of a weekly column on Jewish movies and TV shows that you should stream in quarantine. The Good Place Streams on: Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix, Season… Read more »
(JTA) — Days after a small corner of the internet erupted with criticism of how the Metropolitan Museum of Art labeled a Jewish ritual object in its collection, the New York museum has quietly revised the description. Where its website had previously called tefillin, the leather boxes and straps… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israelis who don’t want to see racy content have a new streaming service that allows them to skip the immodest parts. The Tov TV service, dubbed the “kosher Netflix” by the Israeli daily Haaretz, is geared toward observant Jews who follow the religious laws of modesty.… Read more »
(JTA) — After their vocal calls for Twitter to take down rapper Wiley’s spree of anti-Semitic tweets went unanswered, Jews in the United Kingdom are taking another approach: silence. British Jewish activists and their allies — including high-profile celebrities, both Jewish and non-Jewish — are staging a 48-hour boycott… Read more »
Israeli poet Rachel Korazim has been surprised by the popularity of her online classes during the pandemic. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — Israeli poetry scholar Rachel Korazim had been thinking about cutting back on travel when the coronavirus pandemic made the decision for her. “I said I really want to shift my teaching to distance learning because, you know, I’m not getting any younger. Travel is tiring,” she said… Read more »
Shari Gootter, left, and Tejpal are coauthors of ‘Way to Be: 40 Insights and Transformative Practices in the Heart of Being.’ (Courtesy Shari Gootter)
With all the chaos and uncertainty in the outside world in recent months, many people are looking for ways to stabilize their inner lives. Tucson-based authors Shari Gootter, MA, LPC, CRC, and Tejpal, MA, MBA, have written a book, “Way to Be: 40 Insights and Transformative Practices in the… Read more »
Esther Jungreis speaks during the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, Feb. 14, 2012. (Photo: U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Tristin English via Wikimedia Commons)
For the past 16 years, hundreds of women have spent summer hours reading books selected by Esther Becker of the Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies in advance of her annual book brunch. Her selections have included novels, mysteries, biographies, essays, autobiographies, and prayer. Although the format will be different,… Read more »
synagogues and Jewish agencies offer an assortment of virtual engagement programs for long summer days spent sheltering from the heat and the coronavirus. The list below includes some items that have crossed our desks recently but it is by no means exhaustive; check with other local organizations for additional… Read more »
Carl Reiner’s ‘Dispatches from Quarantine’ interview was recorded in
late May.
Comedy icon Carl Reiner left a message for these trying times through ‘Dispatches from Quarantine,” an online video series. His interview, conducted in May, was the last from the comic legend behind TV’s “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” who died June 29 at age 98. Presented by Reboot, a… Read more »
(JTA) — Jennifer Grey, the Jewish actress who starred in the original “Dirty Dancing” film, is collaborating with Lionsgate on an untitled dance movie in which she will star and executive produce, Deadline first reported Tuesday. Lionsgate holds distribution rights to the original “Dirty Dancing” films, which include the 2004… Read more »
(JTA) — Actor and television host Nick Cannon offered his “most deepest and sincere apologies” to the Jewish community for the “hurtful and divisive words” he used in an episode of his podcast. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of… Read more »
Jewish football players participated in an online conversation July 12, 2013. Clockwise from upper left: Anthony Firkser, conversation organizer Michael Neuman, Geoff Schwartz and Greg Joseph. (Screenshot from virtual event)
(JTA) — Former professional football player Geoff Schwartz wasn’t surprised when he heard about Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic Instagram posts. “I just thought to myself it’s ignorance — someone who has no idea whatsoever what anti-Semitism is, why his quote could be hurtful to Jews, or… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — An LGBTQ rights group has named a longtime Israel advocate as its leader amid increasing criticism of the Jewish state from the left. A Wider Bridge announced the appointment of Ethan Felson, formerly executive director of the Israel Action Network, on Monday. The network is the… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — They came out by the thousands across Israel to show their support for LGBTQ rights — but the numbers were a far cry from the Pride parades held annually that were canceled due to the coronavirus. Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, as well Beersheba and smaller… Read more »
Milton Glaser in his New York studio in 2014. (Neville Elder/Corbis via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Milton Glaser, the godfather of modern graphic design who passed away on his 91st birthday on Friday, didn’t talk about his Jewish identity very often. But when he did, he made clear that his New York Jewish upbringing defined his artistic sensibility. Born to Hungarian immigrant parents,… Read more »
