LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Thought your daughter’s odd behavior was just another preteen phase? There may be an alternate explanation: The dybbuk is back. The malevolent spirit from 16th-century Jewish mysticism and folklore reappears in “The Possession,” a Hollywood film featuring Matisyahu and Kyra Sedgwick now showing in Tucson.… Read more »
Arts and Culture
HIGH HOLIDAYS FEATURE: New books: Googly-eyed fish, impish magicians, sukkah-eating squirrels
BOSTON (JTA) — A giant googly-eyed fish, mischievous magicians and sukkah-eating squirrels are among the characters in a new crop of engaging Jewish children’s books that relate to the observance or themes of the Jewish High Holidays. Here’s a rundown of the new books: Oh No, Jonah! Tilda Balsley,… Read more »
SIX DEGREES (NO BACON)/JEWISH CELEBRITY ROUNDUP Mayim Bialik’s pain-coping techniques, Springsteen sings with a Jewish kid, Jewish moose necklace
NEW YORK (6NoBacon) — Mayim Bialik, who nearly lost her right hand thumb in a car accident two weeks ago, told “Access Hollywood” in an interview that immediately following the accident, her first instinct was to get out of the car, fearing it would explode. “Many Denzel Washington films”… Read more »
‘Motherhood Out Loud’ gets SW premiere
The Invisible Theatre will begin its 2012-2013 “Season of Love” with the Southwest premiere of “Motherhood Out Loud.” A series of vignettes covering every aspect of motherhood — from stepmoms to single mothers, immigrant moms to grandmothers, new moms to empty nesters, — “Motherhood Out Loud” was written by… Read more »
Jewish filmmaker, a history maker with Senegalese parliament run, puts lens on Jewish African tribes
PRETORIA, South Africa (JTA) – Filmmaker Laurence Gavron is on a journey to document lost Jewish tribes in Africa. The French-born Gavron, who has made Senegal her home since 1989, says she was immediately taken by the project, which she says combines her passion for Africa with the mystery… Read more »
Committing to memory with author Nathan Englander
NEW YORK (JTA) — Author Nathan Englander recently received the 2012 Frank O’Conner International Short Story Award for his latest collection, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank.” He spoke with JTA about the impact of his Jewish education, the challenges of translation and why he’s… Read more »
Getting chai on ‘Weeds’: the top Jewish references
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA) — Fans of the long-running Showtime series “Weeds” know that writer and creator Jenji Kohan is not afraid to pepper the show with Jewish themes. While the show, now in its final season, has changed its flavor over the years and gained some critics, many devotees… Read more »
For Crypto-Jews of New Mexico, art is a window into secret life
LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Artist Anita Rodriguez’s “aha” moment came after reading “To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico.” The 2005 book by New Mexico’s former state historian, Stanley Hordes, tells the story of the Southwest’s Converso settlers and the elements of… Read more »
Popularized in America by Jews, pickles pack a punch
TEANECK, N.J. (JTA) — Walk into a kosher deli and a big bowl of pickles is typically waiting at the table. Ever wondered why? “Pickles are vital to the deli experience,” says Rabbi Gil Marks, author of “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.” Deli mavens know that the tastiest cuts… Read more »
No business like the news business: Aaron Sorkin on ‘Newsroom’
Aaron Sorkin, the playwright, television writer and Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The Social Network,” is causing a stir with his new HBO series, “The Newsroom,” about the inside antics of a cable news show and its commentary on American journalism. Sorkin’s “The West Wing” and “Sports Night,” among others, have… Read more »
With great power comes … guilt!
NEW YORK (JTA) — My “Spidey Sense” is tingling! Almost half a century after the comic book superhero Spider-Man was conceived by Jewish writer Stan Lee, a Jewish actor named Andrew Garfield will don the red and blue Spandex for the forthcoming cinematic reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. As… Read more »
Summer is for reading — in air-conditioned Tucson or at the ocean’s rocky shore
I’m an undisciplined reader. I’m always reading a few books at a time, at least one novel, a memoir and some other nonfiction. Here’s a sampling of my recent reading, with and without Jewish connections. When I find a novelist I like I’ll read everything she’s written. At this… Read more »
Peter Singer: ‘World’s most dangerous man’ or hero of morality?
SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — He’s been brandished “the most dangerous man on earth,” accused of being a “public advocate of genocide” and likened to Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi “Angel of Death.” Yet he’s also been hailed as “one of the world’s 100 most influential people” and “among the… Read more »
Comic’s memoir presents a tortured (and hilarious) road to recovery
(N.Y. Jewish Week) — Many of the best comedians have had deeply troubled pasts. But Moshe Kasher, a rising 32-year-old comic and author of a new memoir, “Kasher in the Rye,” takes the old adage to a new level. He began psychotherapy at age 4 and started using hard… Read more »
Reporter’s Notebook: Is HBO’s ‘Girls’ about young women’s struggles, or some women’s privileges?
NEW YORK (JTA) — “Girls” begins with the conversation that many parents of 20-somethings dream of having someday real soon with their floundering children: No. More. Money. This is what the parents of 24-year-old Hannah Horvath, played by series creator, director and writer Lena Dunham, tell her over dinner.… Read more »
Israeli pastry chef makes it big as ‘Sweet Genius’
TEANECK, N.J. (JTA) — As the minutes on the clock tick away, the chefs run about their kitchens furiously trying to complete their Taj Mahal-themed desserts. “What have I got for you now?” booms the thickly accented master pastry chef Ron Ben-Israel as he overlooks the chefs’ workstations. “Another… Read more »
With a side of wry, a ‘schmucky’ deli truck rolls into L.A.
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — It’s not a dinner for schmucks but a lunch served by one. That may sound harsh, but how else to introduce a new food truck rolling on the streets of Los Angeles called “Schmuck with a Truck”? On only his eighth day of business, the… Read more »
‘Dictator’ scribes dish on Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy
LOS ANGELES (Jewish Journal) — David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer, screenwriters of Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest film, “The Dictator,” were bantering in the comic actor’s office as Alec Berg, their co-writer, joined in by speakerphone — he was home babysitting his young daughter. Baron Cohen, star of the prankster… Read more »
Jewish flavor seasoned Sendak’s works, entertaining children and adults
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA) — A few months after my first child was born, I went to a bookstore to buy a few books that I thought needed to be on the bookshelf of my new baby’s nursery. Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” was one of those… Read more »
Salute to 12 Jewish moms for Mother’s Day 2012
NEW YORK (JTA) — What do Golda Meir, Natalie Portman and Aviva Shalit have in common? They’re all on JTA’s Top Jewish Moms list for 2012. With Mother’s Day on Sunday, we present our select group (in alphabetical order but for our final choice): Bella Abzug — The first Jewish woman elected… Read more »