Jason Alexander, meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres at Peres' residence in Jerusalem, Oct. 25, 2011. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90/JTA) (JTA) — To those who know him as the lovably neurotic and lazy George Costanza from TV’s “Seinfeld,” there was something comic — if not downright ridiculous — in seeing actor Jason Alexander being asked by an elder statesman of Middle East diplomacy about making peace between Israelis and… Read more »
Many parents savor memories of cozy nights reading to their young children, looking at beautiful illustrations, and appreciating the cadence of a story told well. Those moments connect children not only to their parents, but also to a love of reading so vital to literate, inquisitive young minds. The… Read more »
Version Jew.0 Is your Yiddish rusty? Want to whip up a kosher culinary masterpiece? Trying to remember which prayer to say as you cast off your sins on Rosh Hashanah? Don’t worry—there’s an app for it! Oy! Ever wonder when it’s OK to toss out an “oy”? The opportunities,… Read more »
Anna Solomon’s debut novel, “The Little Bride,” opens with Minna Losk, a poor Jewish girl in Odessa, submitting to a humiliating examination in order to immigrate to the United States as a mail-order bride. The scene is so powerfully written, I was instantly captivated, avid to learn more of… Read more »
Untitled 1968 lithograph by Marc Chagall “Flight: Mid-Century Masters Interpret the Escape for Survival,” an art exhibit that includes pieces by Marc Chagall and Joan Miró, is on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center until Dec. 4. The exhibit is presented by the International Rescue Committee in Tucson, in partnership with the JCC. The… Read more »
Tiffany Shlain incorporated her father into her documentary "Connected" after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. NEW YORK (JTA) — Filmmaker Tiffany Shlain is certainly no Luddite. She co-founded the Webby Awards in 1996 to showcase excellence on the then-fledgling Internet. Yet 15 years later she, like many of us, is ambivalent about the technology that allows people to connect to the web 24 hours… Read more »
Art Spiegelman answers questions at a book talk in Los Angeles about the 25th anniversary of his Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘Maus’ series and the new book and DVD ‘MetaMouse.’ (Micah Cordy) Wearing a three-piece suit and looking more elder statesman than the artist he is, Art Spiegelman was addressing an audience of about 100 at the high-toned Soho House on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The occasion was the taping of a conversation with book scholar Michael Silverblatt,… Read more »
Scene from the 2010 Tucon Meet Yourself Festival (Steven Meckler) Tucson’s Jewish community will have a significant presence at the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival this weekend. In celebration of the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which started Thursday, the Jewish History Museum will house its festival booth in a sukkah (which is apropos, as the word “sukkah” means “booth”)… Read more »
In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War, the Jewish History Museum, in partnership with the Tucson Jewish Community Center, will present a free screening of “Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray” on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. at the JCC. The film reveals the… Read more »
Pope John Paul II visits Rome’s Great Synagogue with Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff in April 1986, the first recorded papal visit to a synagogue. The Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is sponsoring a bus trip to Phoenix on Tuesday, Nov. 29 to attend the exhibit, “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People.” The 2,000 square foot, multi-media traveling exhibit chronicles the friendship of… Read more »
Uri Banai As Israeli actor and singer/songwriter Uri Banai takes the concert stage at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Oct. 30, he will take the audience on a journey through the history of his family — one of Israel’s leading entertainment dynasties. Told through songs, video clips, rare photos… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — Here is a weekly roundup of Jewish newspapers from around the world. JEWISH SECRETS: A community art project now on display at a Montreal cafe asked young Jews to anonymously divulge their Jewish secrets on postcards. Among the spilled secrets cited by The Canadian Jewish… Read more »
A building at Columbia University, which is being investigated for an alleged incident of "steering" at its affiliated Barnard College. (Creative Commons) NEW YORK (Tablet) — “You’ll feel very uncomfortable,” Barnard Professor Rachel McDermott allegedly told an Orthodox Jewish student at the college when the undergraduate inquired about a course called “Arabs and the Arab World” taught by a controversial Columbia University professor, Joseph Massad. “Why don’t you look at ancient… Read more »
A performance by the Jerusalem String Quartet will open the season for Arizona Friends of Chamber Music on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Leo Rich Theater. The Jerusalem Quartet has garnered acclaim for its recordings of the quartets of Shostakovich. The concert will feature Shostakovich’s Sixth… Read more »
Daniel Libeskind's design for the national Museum of the Jewish People (Courtesy Ori Soltes) WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — Washington needs a major national museum of the Jewish people — at least that’s what a group of local heavy hitters and international Jewish celebrities believes. They have been trying for more than five years to get that museum built, and a decision to… Read more »
Jessica Chastain and Sam Worthington star in "The Debt." (Laurie Sparham/Focus Features) LOS ANGELES (Jewish Journal) — As Jessica Chastain was preparing for her role in the Mossad thriller “The Debt,” her voluminous research led her to the story of a survivor who witnessed the destruction of her entire family in the Holocaust. “It was a woman’s memory of something she… Read more »
Diana Golbi performed in new york on behalf of ELEM, a nonprofit Israeli organization that helps "distressed youth" from whcih she herself benefited in her earlier teens. (Courtesy ELEM) NEW YORK (JTA) — For her first visit to New York and the United States, Diana Golbi adopted the unofficial uniform of most city dwellers — head-to-toe black. Black shirt, black top and tight black jeans. Her long brown hair was straight and hung past her shoulders. Pointing to… Read more »
Many Holocaust memoirs cross our desks at the Arizona Jewish Post. “Waltzing With the Enemy: A Mother and Daughter Confront the Aftermath of the Holocaust” (Penina Press) has an evocative title and an Arizona connection (Phoenix, not Tucson), but what intrigued me most are the many dualities in this… Read more »
Marine Corps Sgt. Stuart Schulberg, youngest member of the OSS Field Photo-War Crimes unit, later wrote and directed ‘Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today.’ (Courtesy Shulberg family archive Stuart Schulberg, a Jew working for the Hollywood director John Ford in the OSS film unit at the end of World War II, was given the mission of finding German-shot footage to be presented at the Nuremberg trial of the top surviving Nazi brass. Speed was essential, as Germans… Read more »
Diamonds are the Oltuski family’s best friends. Although 27-year-old Alicia Oltuski’s only foray into the business was to strap on a chest pack of gems for delivery to other jewelers on New York’s 47th Street, her first book is “Precious Objects: A Story of Diamonds, Family, and a Way… Read more »
