Arts and Culture

One of the oldest gowns in the Jewish History Museum exhibit was worn in 1702. The gown was shown in the museum’s first ketubah exhibit and was so fragile it was kept behind glass. It has since been restored at the Costume and Textile Study Center in Norfolk, England, and has been donated to the JHM permanent collection.

Three dark-colored wedding gowns will be spotlighted in the Jewish History Museum’s Fifth Annual Ketubah exhibit, which opens Jan. 1, including a Virginia widow’s gown of black satin with a collar trim of white lace. The bride who wore it, Elizabeth Rachel Richardson, was a wealthy confederate widow, says… Read more »

Dmitri Shostakovich

The University of Arizona’s Center for Judaic Studies, School of Music and Center for the Study of American Ideals and Culture will present a free symposium and concert, “The Jewish Experience in Classical Music: Shostakovich and Asia,” on Sunday, Jan. 13. The symposium will look at the influence of… Read more »

Irving Berlin (Culver Pictures)

Why has the Broadway musical proven to be such fertile territory for Jewish artists? From Broadway’s golden age, names like Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, the Gershwins, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim immediately come to mind. More recently, Broadway babies such as Stephen Schwartz, Marc Shaiman… Read more »

Emilio Zweig and Noam Shahar in a scene from “The Chosen,” adapted by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok from Potok’s novel set in Brooklyn in the 1940s. “The Chosen” will be performed at Live Theatre Workshop from Jan. 3-Feb. 9. For more information visit www.livetheatreworkshop.org.

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(Jewish Ideas Daily) — About Menachem Begin the thing that I remember most was the way he talked. Begin wouldn’t say that he was born on the eve of the First World War; he’d say, as he did when a group of us from the Wall Street Journal interviewed him in 1981, that… Read more »

Elie Wiesel and Oprah Winfrey (2012 Harpo Productions, Inc./George Burns)

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times best-selling author Elie Wiesel will sit down with Oprah Winfrey Sunday, Dec. 9 on her series “Super Soul Sunday.” The episode, “Oprah and Nobel Prize Winner Elie Wiesel: Living with an Open Heart” premiers at 11 a.m. ET/PT (check local listings) on OWN:… Read more »

Hillel Tigay

In 1999, Hillel Tigay was one half of the now defunct Jewish rap group M.O.T., which stood for Members of the Tribe. On songs like “Kosher Nostra” and “Oh God, Get a Job,” Tigay’s “Hebe-hop” alter-ego, Dr. Dreidel, riffed on such timeworn subjects as Jewish gangsters and gelt-minded mothers.… Read more »

Walter Ferguson’s childhood encounter with birds piqued a lifelong interest.

Road kill, for most people, is something you try not to look at too closely and leave behind. But for Walter Ferguson these misfortunate animals could be a prized treasure. Ferguson, one of the world’s preeminent wildlife artists, would never wish for a little creature to be maimed. However,… Read more »

  The 2012-2013 Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra season will feature five local composers, including two world premieres by Tucson artists, “Running the Rim” by Jay Vosk, which opens the series in October, and “Landscapes” by Peter Fine, which will conclude the series in May. The Vosk premiere will be… Read more »

Yafit Josephson as an Israeli army officer in "New Eyes" (Courtesy Invisible Theatre)

As a struggling young actress in Los Angeles, Yafit Josephson should have been glad to get parts — any parts. Yet Josephson, 30, who was born in L.A. but raised in Israel from age 2, who served proudly in the Israel Defense Forces before moving to California to study… Read more »

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 »

The Mitzvah Magician (Kar-Ben Publishing)

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 »

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 »

New mom (Susan Kovitz) shares the joys and woes of parenting in a scene from ‘Motherhood Out Loud’ coming to the Invisible Theatre. (Susan Claassen)

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 »

Laurence Gavron, a French-born filmmaker whose film "Black Jews, Juifs noir en Afrique" tells the story of African tribes that claim to have Jewish ancestry. (Courtesy Laurence Gavron)

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 »

Nathan Englander (Juliana Sohn)

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 »

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 »

A Nicho by Anita Rodriguez with the doors open, showing a Chanukah scene. (Anita Rodriguez)

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 »

Alan Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys, the only pickle store in the once pickle-filled Lower East Side of Manhattan, June 2012. (Josh Lipowsky/JTA)

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 »

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 »