When most of us think about the institutions that define the typical American Jewish experience, we think of synagoguges, summer camps, JCCs and youth groups. Not Sing Sing prison in New York or death row in Texas. Boston-based filmmaker Rhonda…
Catholics?
Since A.B. Yehoshua’s recent remarks at the AJC centennial symposium, Haaretz has been compiling a diverse set of responses written by various public figures I liked this one from Natan Sharansky: There is no Zionism without Judaism and there never…
I just received this e-mail from my good friend Ian Cooper, a student at Pardes in Jerusalem: Hi everyone, Many of you know that I’ve been in Israel since September studying at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies. I’ve also…
Haaretz is reporting on a survey indicating that 65% of Israelis believe prostitution should be legalized At first, it seems like Israeli society has reached a new moral low. But read this: A prostitute who had been a victim of…
Ha’aretz reports that the melody for Naomi Shemer’s (Z”L) classic song “Jerusalem of Gold” (Yerushalyim shel Zahav) was lifted from a Basque folksong. Shemer wrote that she had heard the Basque lullaby sung by a friend, Nehama Hendel, in the…
Those of you that are concerned with the Middle East should see The Dreams of Sparrows, the first documentary film by an Iraqi filmmaker to be made in post-Saddam Iraq. I had the opportunity to work on this film, and…
I just watched the Frontline documentary “Israel’s Next War?” It focusses on the Kahanists, the Hilltop Youth and Jewish terrorists whose primary goals are to rid “greater Israel” of non-Jews, to rid Israel of Western influence, and to establish a…
Just a small treat for the Jewschool crowd: “Sunset Over Mt. Meron” from Strignettes for String Quartet, a set of nine short pieces I composed between 2001-2004. This movement was inspired by my last trip to Tzefat, where we celebrated…
Composer and downtown ringleader John Zorn is launching a New York City club of his own: The Stone. Sounds like a fatal blow to the already struggling Tonic, though I don’t know if this new business model will succeed either…