James Schamus, left, and Logan Lerman on the set of "Indignation." (Alison Cohen Rosa)
BOSTON (JTA) — James Schamus remembers the block he faced while writing the screenplay for Ang Lee’s 1994 film “Eat Drink Man Woman.” Creating the right voices for the film’s Taiwanese characters was not going well “and Ang Lee was getting very nervous.” In a desperate effort to turn… Read more »
(JTA) — Summer’s here, and whether from the heat or the humidity or the harrowing election cycle, we bet you could use an escape. So take our advice: Whether you’re lucky enough to be lazing on a beach or packed in like a pickled herring on a subway car, take… Read more »
Danette Devlin holding photos of the gravestones of her great-grandparents Herman and Cyril Schiff, attesting to her Jewish roots. (Courtesy of Devlin)
The “Seeking Kin” column aims to help reunite long-lost relatives and friends. (JTA) – Discovering a Jewish past of which she was wholly unaware, Danette Devlin of Little Rock, Arkansas, has also found family. Devlin was raised without any religious affiliation. As an adult she attended Catholic and Episcopalian… Read more »
Sheet Pan Chimichurri Cod with Potatoes and Squash Recipe (Jennifer Stempel)
(The Nosher via JTA) — I come from a family of hunters and gatherers, and the younger generations are no exception. My grandfather owned and operated a farm in Cuba, and to this day enjoys reaping what he sows. This love of farm-to-table delicacies doesn’t end in the garden,… Read more »
Barbecue brisket and beans combines the flavors of sweet pulled brisket and a can of baked beans. (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — If a sweet pulled brisket married a can of baked beans, this dish would be their delicious baby. I love baked beans, right out of the can, all summer long for cookouts and backyard parties. It reminds me of my childhood, not to mention it’s… Read more »
Chickens would be spared under a bioengineering method being developed by the Israeli food tech startup SuperMeat. (Wikimedia Commons)
TEL AVIV (JTA) – The founders of an Israeli food tech startup want you to enjoy your meat without the guilt — in fact, without the animal. SuperMeat, which launched in December and began an online crowdfunding campaign Monday, is developing a method for bioengineering “cultured meat” from animal cells.… Read more »
SID BRODKIN, born on July 4, 1926 in Brooklyn, N.Y., celebrated his 90th birthday with family in Tucson.… Read more »
Ross Horwitz, who bills himself simply as “Ross the Magician,” has been practicing magic since he was 7 years old. He spent his early life in Chicago and attended a Jewish summer camp in Michigan, where he got his first taste of making the impossible possible from a camp… Read more »
Arthur Naiman
Author and publisher Arthur Naiman has no time for those without humor or creativity. The Chicago-born Tucson transplant by way of New York, Paris and the Bay Area has published more than 30 nonfiction books and started two publishing companies. A philosophy major at Brandeis University, he had no… Read more »
Writer Calvin Trillin, center, interviewing John Lewis in Birmingham, Ala., as the Freedom Riders were boarding the bus for Montgomery in 1961. (LIFE Images Collection)
(JTA) — Writer Calvin Trillin may be most famous today for his humorous musings on food, family, travel and love. But before he won the Thurber Prize for Humor in 2013; before “Uncivil Liberties,” his humor column for The Nation — he has lovingly called it “a pinko magazine published… Read more »
Rocky Martinez painted the “Goddess of Agave” mural on the Benjamin Supply building at 440 N. 7th Ave. (Photo: David J. Del Grande ; Mural © 2016 Rocky Martinez/Tucson Arts Brigade)
Eight colorful new murals scattered around downtown will do more than beautify Tucson — they’ll provide an economic boost by helping to brand Tucson as an exotic, world class destination, and by reducing the money spent on graffiti abatement, says Michael B. Schwartz, director of the nonprofit Tucson Arts… Read more »
“A Creature That Doesn’t Understand What He Really Is” by Curt Kiwak Curt Kiwak will exhibit “Monsters Under the Bed,” works on paper, in the Fine Art Gallery of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, July 8-Sept. 6. An artist’s reception will be held on Sunday, Aug.28 from 2-4 p.m. Born in Chicago, Kiwak attended the Art Institute in Chicago. He moved… Read more »
This photograph of an Arab neighbor visiting a friend in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi in 1945 or 1946 is part of the Museum of the Jewish People's vast archives. (Herbert Sonnenfeld/Courtesy of Beit Hatfutsot)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Benny Daon entered the Israeli high-tech scene in 1993, the Jewish state was just beginning to earn its reputation as a global hub of cutting-edge technology. He worked his way up the ladder, first at other people’s companies and then as CEO of his… Read more »
Cold Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables (Chaya Rappoport)
(The Nosher via JTA) — I have a neighbor who makes the best cholent in New York, possibly in the tri-state area. (Sorry, Mom!) He makes it with beer, beef cheeks and a host of secret ingredients, and the result is a stew that tastes rich, spicy and almost like it… Read more »
The Weintraub Israel Center and the Tucson J, with the support and cooperation of members of Catalina Council, Boy Scouts of America, announce a free performance bythe Israeli Scouts on Monday, June 20 at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Tucson J. The troupe of 10 Israeli Scouts are… Read more »
(JTA) — Summer is upon us. And that means swimsuits, summer camps, sticky temperatures — and food trucks. True, many of these trendy restaurants-on-wheels are known to ply their wares in the depths of winter. But as the weather warms, everyone from office workers to tourists find themselves beckoned… Read more »
Former Congressman Anthony Weiner in a scene from Weiner (Courtesy IFC Films)
Congressman Anthony Weiner, for those who don’t remember or have a talent for tuning out the wavelength or bandwidth by which scandals are disseminated, represented Brooklyn and Queens for seven terms before resigning in 2011 following revelations of sexting. Two years later, the liberal Democrat announced that he was… Read more »
Sweet ricotta and strawberry bourekas. (Danielle Oron)
(The Nosher via JTA) — I’m a cheese and dairy fanatic. So for obvious reasons my favorite holiday is Shavuot. This is when spring has sprung and my family makes a whole spread of cheese and dairy-filled foods and desserts. There is always a ton of different cheeses, spreads, breads,… Read more »
HydroChic sells a variety of swimdresses, tops and bottoms. (Courtesy of HydroChic)
(JTA) — Sara Wolf was running around a water park in an oversized T-shirt when she became acutely aware of the need for a “less frumpy” yet covered-up swimwear option. So she and Daniella Teutsch, a former fashion industry colleague, launched HydroChic, a swimwear company for women who want… Read more »
Director Yvan Attal, right, with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Dany Boon during the filming of "The Jews" in Paris. (Courtesy of Wild Bunch Productions)
PARIS (JTA) — When the French-Jewish film director Yvan Attal titled his much-hyped comedy about anti-Semitism “They Are Everywhere,” he did so in reference to how some anti-Semites feel about Jews and vice versa. But the French-language title applies in another way, too: Though the film has yet to… Read more »
