From Mel Brooks to Elaine May to Ethan Coen: Producer Julian Schlossberg writes memoir about working with Jewish stars over 6 decades

(JTA) — On a couple of occasions in Julian Schlossberg’s early life, he found himself in parts of the United States where some people he talked to had never met a Jewish person. The first was a stint in the Army, the second was while selling movies to rural television stations. But over the next […]

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Turkey arrests ISIS members allegedly targeting Istanbul synagogues

ISTANBUL (JTA) — Istanbul police arrested 15 suspects connected to the Islamic State terror group who were allegedly plotting to target synagogues and churches here, Turkish media reported on Sunday. “15 people were detained on the grounds that the so-called Khorasan Province leadership of DAESH [ISIS] ordered an action against the Swedish and Dutch Consulate […]

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‘West Wing’ star Joshua Malina will join the cast of Broadway’s ‘Leopoldstadt’

(New York Jewish Week) –  “West Wing” star Joshua Malina will join the cast of Broadway’s “Leopoldstadt” starting March 14, replacing David Krumholtz in the central role of wealthy businessman and family patriarch Hermann Merz in the Holocaust drama. “I know the day that I was introduced to Tom Stoppard’s work: January 5th, 1984, when […]

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Germany celebrates UNESCO World Heritage listing for sites known as the birthplace of Yiddish and Ashkenazi culture

(JTA) — Germany held a ceremony to celebrate the first German-Jewish sites to be given UNESCO’s World Heritage designation on Wednesday. The sites in the upper part of the Rhine River valley are known as the origin point of Ashkenazi culture and where the Yiddish language first began to develop over 1,000 years ago. They […]

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With ‘Let It Be Morning’ and ‘Cinema Sabaya,’ Israeli filmmakers are winning awards for portraying Palestinian stories

(JTA) — Years ago, the Israeli filmmaker Orit Fouks Rotem took a class led by director Eran Kolirin, best known as the maker of “The Band’s Visit.” This month, movies by both filmmakers are getting theatrical rollouts in the United States. On a recent Zoom call, Palestinian author Sayed Kashua joked: “Was that his class […]

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