Arts and Culture

Jeff Goldblum, Terry Gross and Marc Maron get emotional tracing their Jewish heritage on ‘Finding Your Roots’

Jeff Goldblum on an episode of "Finding Your Roots." (Screenshot from PBS)

(JTA) — The latest episode of PBS’ celebrity genealogy show “Finding Your Roots” was a lesson in Jewish history. Titled “Beyond the Pale” — a reference to the Pale of Settlement, the region of what was then Imperial Russia where many Ashkenazi Jews have roots — the episode that… Read more »

IT’s Claassen to play Dr. Ruth on stage

Susan Claassen will star in the Invisible Theatre’s production of “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” a one-woman show by Mark St. Germain, which will run Feb. 11-23. “It is a privilege and awesome responsibility to portray this amazing and iconic woman who has been a Jewish ‘She-ro’ to so many including… Read more »

The top 10 Jewish stories of 2019

Police vehicles gather around the synagogue where a shooting took place in Poway, Calif., April 27, 2019. (Xinhua/ via Getty Images)

(JTA) — For many Jews around the world, there’s probably no love lost for 2019. As the year draws to a close, the Jewish community continues to grapple with the continued rise of global anti-Semitism — one major community in Europe is facing the possible election as prime minister… Read more »

In Amsterdam, the world’s priciest menorah gets a new life

The Rintel Menorah on display at the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (Courtesy of the Jewish Cultural Quarter/JCK)

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — For the Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum, Hanukkah this year entailed the stressful chore of assembling the world’s most expensive menorah. Last week, the Rintel Menorah, a 266-year-old menorah valued at over a half-million dollars, was put back on display at Amsterdam’s Jewish Historical Museum following the… Read more »

Tucson Jewish film festival brings world to local screens

Sienna Miller and Paul Rudd in a scene from ‘The Catcher Was a Spy’ (Courtesy Tucson International Jewish Film Festival)

The 2020 Tucson International Jewish Film Festival will live up to its global billing, with 20 films that will transport viewers from the United States to Austria, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Mexico, and Poland. The Tucson Jewish Community Center is the venue for most… Read more »

Brandeis scholar to explore spellbinding power of films

William Flesch

Hollywood has been known as the “dream factory” since at least the 1930s, when, with the coming of sound, movie makers figured out how to create worlds as realistic and unrealistic as dreams. When we dream or when we watch a movie, we go into another world.  What makes… Read more »

Jewish History Museum courses to delve into Jewish life in borderlands

Maxwell Greenberg

Maxwell Ezra Greenberg will be the inaugural scholar-in-residence at the Jewish History Museum, beginning in January. “Greenberg’s work, which focuses on Jewish encounters and intersections with what he calls Latinidad, has drawn him to Southern Arizona, the Jewish History Museum, and the Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives at the University… Read more »

Israeli soprano, Jewish composer to debut songs from Rumi poetry at festival

Hila Plitmann

The Tucson Desert Song Festival celebrates ‘The American Voice’ in its eighth annual fest, Jan. 15-Feb. 16. This year marks the first in TDSF’s series of composer commissions. Israeli soprano Hila Plitmann will premiere “Songs of Love and Loss,” commissioned for this festival and written by American composer Richard… Read more »

Clive Owen plays a Hasidic violin virtuoso in new film ‘The Song of Names’

Clive Owen excels in the complex role of a man torn between his talent and the need to remember. (Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics)

(JTA) — “The Song of Names” is a heartwarming film about a Jewish violin virtuoso who renounces his faith in the aftermath of the Holocaust, only to rediscover it when he hears a song of remembrance. The violinist, Dovidl Rapaport, is shown in three stages of his life, the… Read more »

‘Christmas With Your Jewish Boyfriend’: A Jewish jazz guitarist recorded a dozen famous Christmas songs written by Jews

Peter Curtis is a music professor at Riverside City College in Southern California. (Courtesy of Curtis)

NEW YORK (JTA) — A few years ago, Southern California-based jazz guitarist Peter Curtis was rehearsing for a Christmas concert that involved a choir, but he needed to find a song to play by himself for a solo interlude. Curtis is Jewish and was far from a Christmas song… Read more »

When will ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ deal with Midge’s privilege?

Midge Maisel, played by Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan, does her stand-up routine in season 3 of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." (Amazon Prime)

Critics have long called out “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” co-creator Amy Sherman-Palladino for the lack of diversity in her shows about pushy, fast-talking white ladies. This outcry probably motivated Sherman-Palladino to set “Maisel” in the 1950s, when its sheer whiteness could be blamed on historical accuracy.… Read more »

WIC, Fox to bring Israeli superstar David Broza back to Tucson

‘David Broza & Friends’ will perform at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Dec. 21. Photo courtesy Fox Tucson Theatre

Israeli singer/songwriter David Broza is considered one of the world’s most dynamic and vibrant performers. From his whirlwind finger picking to flamenco percussion and rhythms, to a signature rock and roll sound, his charismatic and energetic performances have delighted audiences throughout the world. Broza recently told the AJP that… Read more »