Arts and Culture

Gal Gadot to play Hedy Lamarr in series
August 15, 2019 / Josefin Dolstein, JTA

It’s official: Gal Gadot will portray Jewish actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr in a Showtime limited series. The cable network made the announcement on Aug. 9. Gadot had been rumored as the leading candidate for the role for about a year. The Israeli actress and her husband, Yaron Varsano,… Read more »

Six stunning finds from the Met’s exhibit on medieval Jewish treasure

At left, a gold coin of Louis of Hungary, 1342-53; at right, a jeweled silver brooch, second quarter of 14th century, both from the Colmar Treasure. (Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge, RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY via Metropolitan Museum of Art)
July 26, 2019 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — There are few remnants of the once flourishing Jewish community of the town of Colmar, in France. Jews were blamed for the outbreak of the Black Death plague there in 1348-49, and many were burned to death. A Roman emperor who then controlled the area… Read more »

Rescued twice: The archive that survived the Holocaust and the AMIA attack

Ester Szwarc, the academic coordinator of the AMIA building's Idishe Wiesenshaft Institute, or IWO, said the archive had split in two “like an apple" on July 18, 1994. (Courtesy of IWO)
July 16, 2019 / Alan Grabinsky, JTA

(JTA) — Abraham Lichtenbaum was getting ready to leave his house on July 18, 1994 when, at 9:53 a.m., he heard an explosion: The headquarters of Argentina’s 200,000-strong Jewish community, the AMIA, located less than four miles from his home, had been bombed. Eighty-five people died and 300 were injured… Read more »

Emmys 2019: All the Jewish nominees

Natasha Lyonne at the Women in Film Annual Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif., June 12, 2019. She's nominated for best comedy actress for her role in "Russian Doll." (Emma McIntyre/FilmMagic,)
July 16, 2019 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — It’s Emmy season again and Jews in the TV industry have plenty of reason to celebrate. Out of all the nominees announced Tuesday, here’s a roundup of the Jewish picks on the list. Winners will be announced on Sept. 22 at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater. “The Marvelous… Read more »

Mad magazine taught me to think like a furshlugginer Jewish intellectual

A cover of Mad Magazine, which will no longer publish new content, from 1968. (Elizabeth W. Kearley/Getty Images)
July 12, 2019 / Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA

Mad magazine is on life support, and I can’t say I’m either surprised or all that sad about it. DC Entertainment announced last week that the satirical magazine will stop publishing new content. It was like hearing about a beloved old relative who passed away: I hadn’t had any… Read more »

Museum on Southern Jews moves its eclectic 4,000-item collection across state lines

Postcards in the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience collection show Jewish-owned department stores throughout the South. (Courtesy of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience)
July 12, 2019 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — A prosthetic leg that belonged to a Russian Jewish immigrant to Lake Providence, Louisiana. An 8-foot neon sign from a hotel that advertised itself as the only establishment with an “up to date kosher kitchen” in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Two synagogue organs from the now-shuttered Temple B’nai… Read more »

Is there enough creativity in your life?
July 11, 2019 /

New research suggests Americans may be picking up paint brushes over remote controls. Two-thirds of adults in a recent survey say they seek to use their creativity more in life, and 77 percent would rather give up their Netflix subscription for a year than their favorite creative hobby. The… Read more »

Gal Gadot to star in $130 million Netflix film
July 10, 2019 / Marcy Oster, JTA

(JTA) — Israeli actress Gal Gadot will star in the biggest feature film ever made by Netflix. “Red Notice,” also starring Ryan Reynolds and Duane Johnson, will have a production budget of about $130 million. The action thriller, set for release in late 2020, is centered around the pursuit of… Read more »

The new Netflix show ‘Family Business’ is a French-Jewish version of ‘Breaking Bad’

Jonathan Cohen, third from left, is seen with other members of the Netflix series "Family Business." (Netflix)
July 10, 2019 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — One fan’s recent description on Twitter of the new Netflix series “Family Business” isn’t too far off: a “French Breaking Bad but with weed.” The French series, which debuted last week, is a wacky comedy about a Parisian Jewish family, the Hazans, that turns its failed kosher… Read more »

UA seeks Middle East travel photographs
June 28, 2019 /

Visiting Israel or other parts of the Middle East this summer? The University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies is seeking photo submissions for its 29th annual exhibit, “Ordinary and Extraordinary.” Each year, the UA Center for Middle Eastern Studies organizes a photography exhibit featuring images from the… Read more »

James Caan’s latest character: A Jew who moves to Israel to become a pig farmer

In "Holy Lands," James Caan plays a secular American Jew who moves to Israel to escape the drama of his family -- and to raise pigs. (Cinedigm)
June 28, 2019 / Stephen Silver, JTA

(JTA) — “Raising pigs in Israel? Couldn’t you play golf like everyone else?” That’s a quote that doubles well as the concept behind the movie “Holy Lands,” which stars Hollywood veteran James Caan as a relatively secular American Jew turned Israeli pig farmer. The film, directed by the French… Read more »

We need fewer stereotypical Jews on TV — and more Walter Sobchaks

John Goodman, right, plays Walter Sobchak in the Coen brothers' classic film "The Big Lebowski" opposite Jeff Bridges in the title role. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
June 26, 2019 / Molly Pascal, JTA

(JTA) — The other day, my Catholic mother-in-law again implored me, her sole Jewish daughter-in-law, to watch “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The third season of the award-winning show is expected to air in a few months, so I dutifully resigned myself to the task. But as I watched, I… Read more »

A former lawmaker hopes HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’ spurs change in Israel

A new HBO series portrays the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and aftermath. This image shows a building at the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
June 25, 2019 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — The HBO historical drama “Chernobyl,” which dramatizes the events surrounding the 1986 nuclear explosion in the now-Ukrainian city, has generated plenty of buzz around the world. In addition to garnering critical acclaim, the series has renewed conversation about the incident and even spiked tourism to the area of… Read more »

Tucson natives, plus Italian chef, make Frost gelato a hit

Frost co-founder Jeff Kaiserman, left, enjoys a sorbettini (dairy free milkshake made with sorbet and sparkling water); Chef Nazario Melchionda, center, indulges in marble black cherry gelato, and Stephen Ochoa has a cone with stracciatella and creama di biscotti gelato, May 29. Photo courtesy frost A Gelato Shoppe)
June 14, 2019 / Barbara Russek, Special to the AJP

It was a sunny afternoon this May with temps in the ’90s, a preview of this month’s triple digit coming attractions. After lunch at a local café, I craved a dessert that was at once scrumptious and refreshing and wouldn’t break the calorie bank. Light bulb moment! I hurried… Read more »