KYIV (JTA) — In a historic building in the most industrial part of Podil, the hipster district of Kyiv that once was the heart of the Jewish trading community, a senior and passionate Esther seduces a much younger Ahasuerus. She flirts with the handsome king to the raucous giggling of the audience, which breaks into […]
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(New York Jewish Week) — When Jewish literary power couple Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss divorced in 2014 — amid rumors that he was in love with his longtime friend Natalie Portman — it captivated the nation. Well, maybe not the nation, but certainly the literary and media worlds, as well as the hipster […]
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(JTA) — The film producer Daniel Dreifuss has only one surviving photo of a distant relative: his grandfather’s cousin, who fought for Germany in World War I and died in combat two days before the war’s end. He has a few more photos of his grandfather, who also wore the German uniform in WWI — […]
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(New York Jewish Week) — The American Kennel Club’s Museum of the Dog, just two blocks south of Grand Central, boasts many things, including an extensive library about dog breeds and one of the world’s largest collections of dog-themed art. As of this past weekend, it’s also a place where dogs and their owners can […]
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Spoilers for “History of the World: Part II” follow. (JTA) – Finally fulfilling the promise Mel Brooks made in 1981, the long-belated “History Of The World: Part II” brings us … “Hitler on Ice.” For a sketch first teased during the end credits of Brooks’ film “History Of The World: Part I,” the leader of […]
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(JTA) — Starting tonight, many Jews around the world will celebrate Purim in the same ways: by reading the story of the heroic Queen Esther, dressing in festive costumes and drinking alcohol. For many of the 900 or so Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will be the first of two annual Purim celebrations. Since […]
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(New York Jewish Week) — As they say in the mameloshn (mother tongue), “Dos Yidish lid iz umetum.” In other words, “Yiddish song is in the air.” This month a collection of new Yiddish songs will be performed for the first time in America at a Manhattan museum; two Brooklyn blues musicians will release their […]
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BERLIN (JTA) — A plan to get Germany’s non-Orthodox rabbinical schools back on track after nearly a year of tumult has hit a snag: the country’s main Jewish organization says it can’t fund the group that took control of the schools in January. The Jewish Community of Berlin had announced in a surprise move that […]
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(JTA) — In 1996, Jordan Gorfinkel launched two series of comics that get at the two sides to his personality and career. One was “Birds of Prey” — which has since been the basis for several television and film adaptations — that he created while overseeing the Batman franchise as an editor at DC Comics. […]
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(JTA) — Albania’s prime minister announced plans to open a museum in Tirana dedicated to the stories of its citizens who saved Jews during the Holocaust. The museum will also honor Jewish history and culture, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced while on a state visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday. The Besa Museum will be named […]
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