When the performers of the Capitol Steps take the stage at the Fox Tucson Theater, there’s a good chance Barack Obama will sing a rock song, Joe Biden will sing a show tune and Chris Christie will dance. Even Vladimir Putin, shirtless, of course, cannot stay off the stage.… Read more »
Cuban-Style Arroz Con Pollo (Jennifer Stempel
)
(The Nosher via JTA) — Much as every culture showcases its individual form of the dumpling (um, matzah balls), arroz con pollo, or chicken and rice, is a dish for which every Latin country has its own unique spin. Some use beer vs. wine, or crushed annatto rather than saffron,… Read more »
One of the many figurines of Jesus at the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, Fla. (Uriel Heilman)
ORLANDO, Fla. (JTA) – Mickey Mouse or Jesus Christ? That was the choice I faced on a recent trip to Orlando to write a pair of stories for JTA – one about kosher vacationing at Disney World, the other about the biblical theme park Holy Land Experience. With a… Read more »
A still from “The Settlers,” which premiered Jan. 22 at the Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Shimon Dotan)
PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) – What is a settler? That’s the question that opens the new documentary film “The Settlers,” which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival here. Written and directed by Shimon Dotan, the film offers an answer almost immediately: a religious fundamentalist driven by messianic… Read more »
Bernie Madoff arriving at Manhattan federal court, March 12, 2009. (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — True story: Back in 2008, one of my son’s favorite games was one we called “Bernie Madoff.” It was basically cops and robbers — I played a police officer and Elie, 3, was Bernie. The object of the game was that I chased him until… Read more »
Isaac Newton (Wikimedia Commons)
(Jewniverse via JTA) — After Sir Isaac Newton died in 1727, his papers were given to the University of Cambridge. Valuing his scientific manuscripts most, the university eventually decided to auction off what was left — Newton’s manuscripts on alchemy and theology. In 1936, on what was probably a rainy… Read more »
Shye Ben-Tzur, right, playing with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood at the Sacred Jerusalem Festival, Sept. 1, 2015. (Noam Chojnowski)
(JTA) — For most musicians working in the underappreciated genre of world music, recording an album with Jonny Greenwood, the guitarist of the famed English rock band Radiohead, would be something of a pipe dream. And what about having that experience filmed by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson (“There… Read more »
Mayim Bialik at the 21st Annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, Jan. 17, 2016. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Pity Jennifer Lopez. As far as memorable red carpet moments go, she set such a high bar at the 2000 Grammys with her now-legendary plunging green Versace dress that she seemed destined to never top it. But many fashion insiders (and followers) have been buzzing about the actress-singer’s… Read more »
From left, Woody Allen, Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton in a 1977 publicity shot from "Annie Hall." (Courtesy of Tony Roberts)
NEW YORK (JTA) — There’s a memorable scene in “Annie Hall” when Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, rants about finding anti-Semites everywhere he goes. “You know, I was having lunch with some guys from NBC and I said, ‘Did you eat yet?’ and said, ‘No, Jew?’ Not, ‘Did… Read more »
David Bowie at a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival in France, May 13, 1983. (Ralph Gatti/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — It was clear long before the Internet swelled with heartfelt tributes to David Bowie that the late musician was an artistic legend. The 69-year-old Englishman, who died Jan. 10 after an 18-month battle with cancer, reinvented himself countless times in a music career that spanned more than five… Read more »
Rabbi Berel Lazar speaking at the Kremlin, Dec. 8, 2015. (Courtesy of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia)
MOSCOW (JTA) — Like many tourists in Red Square, I have often wondered what lies beyond the tall walls that separate this Moscow attraction from the Kremlin, the official residence of Russia’s president and the nerve center of the state. As a journalist long obsessed with Russia, I’ve wanted… Read more »
Jeffrey Tambor, right, with Judith Light in the second season of "Transparent." (Courtesy of Amazon Studios)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The prevalence of transgender issues in pop culture seems to have reached a pinnacle this year. Caitlyn – nee Bruce – Jenner appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. The movie “Tangerine,” which stars transgender actors, took film critics by storm. Director Tom Hooper’s “The… Read more »
Actor Theodore Bikel arrives at the 55th Annual Drama Desk Awards in New York City, May 23, 2010. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) (JTA) — As 2015 winds to a close, we’d like to take a moment to honor the memories of those who we lost over the past 12 months. From remembering lives cut short by senseless, dark tragedies to tributes to revered icons who lived life to the fullest, here are some Jews… Read more »
(JTA) — What do Madonna, Vampire Weekend, Usher, the Plain White T’s and Justin Bieber have in common? In addition to getting extensive play on Top 40 radio stations, they have all worked with Grammy-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid, a Los Angeles native born to Israeli parents. Rechtshaid, 36, has… Read more »
Participants in the March of the Living walking with their guide dogs. (Yossi Zeilger)
TORONTO (JTA) — Fingers flit over a tombstone in Warsaw’s Jewish cemetery, caressing its faded Hebrew letters. Feet stumble on pathways at a Nazi death camp, crooked and strewn with stones. Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, punctures the sound of rustling leaves and hard rain in rural… Read more »
Michael Zegen, center, works those biceps in a scene from "A View from the Bridge." (Jan Versweyveld)
NEW YORK (JTA) — On a trip to London last year, actor Michael Zegen caught a revival performance of Arthur Miller’s 1955 drama, “A View from the Bridge,” about a Brooklyn longshoreman whose protective impulses toward his niece tilt toward lust. “I had a terrible seat,” he told JTA.… Read more »
From left, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in Jonathan Levine's "The Night Before." (Courtesy of Columbia Pictures)
(JTA) — Director and writer Jonathan Levine (“The Wackness,” “50/50”) may have grown up in Jew-centric Manhattan, yet he recalls feeling somewhat like an alien every Christmas. “I don’t think it was malicious,” Levine, 39, says in a telephone interview with JTA. “But, in a way, I felt like an… Read more »
S'mores Brownies (Shannon Sarna)
(The Nosher via JTA) — It’s no great secret that I hate pareve desserts. Or perhaps I should more accurately say I hate bad pareve desserts. Some might even say I have made it my mission in life to dream up pareve desserts that don’t suck. And this brownie recipe… Read more »
Chloe Coscarelli, a winner of "Cupcake Wars," has opened a hip vegan eatery in Manhattan. (Mikey Pozarik/Paperwhite Studio)
NEW YORK (JTA) — There’s a buzzy new eatery on the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal streets in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The restaurant, by CHLOE, is garnering consistently good reviews and attracting slews of young, hip diners. Recently it even hosted the launch of a lingerie-line collaboration between two “it” girls.… Read more »
The 25th annual Tucson Jewish International Film Festival is dedicated to the memory of Bob Polinsky, a longtime volunteer. Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the movie’s about. —Steven Spielberg The Tucson International Jewish Film Festival uses that “magic” to promote the preservation of Jewish culture and celebrate cultural diversity. For 10 days, Jan. 14 - 23, the 25th annual festival… Read more »
