Author: Jesse Orine

((JR)) — Jewish right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro has made his disdain for rap music well-known, tweeting in 2012, “Rap isn’t music. And if you think it is, you’re stupid.” That made it all the more surprising when Shapiro released his first-ever single on Friday — a collaboration with Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald titled “FACTS.” Shapiro, […]

((JR)) — After a week of witnessing the pain and resilience of Israelis in war time I went to Jerusalem’s Yellow Submarine music club. I was driven by a prayerful hope to find some solace during the war, along with communion, with fellow heartbroken folks for whom words were failing. The last time I went […]

(New York Jewish Week) — More than 1,300 people made their way to Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, last Friday night to take part in a free Shabbat dinner at Ayat, a local Palestinian restaurant owned by restaurateur Abdul Elenani and his wife, Ayat Masoud, for whom the restaurant is named. The dinner was called for 9 p.m., […]

((JR)) — Fifteen years ago, Nimrod-Avraham May was a Disney marketing executive with a Haim Saban-sized dream. On a Caribbean cruise with other company executives, he pitched an animated children’s show about a team of superheroes who, like Saban’s hugely popular Power Rangers, joined forces to fight evil. May’s characters would belong to different religions, […]

(New York Jewish Week) — The music is blasting at a banquet hall in Midwood, Brooklyn — everything from “Hava Nagila” to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Pink, purple and turquoise balloons float above the large tables that each fit a dozen guests.  It’s just past noon on Tuesday, and waiters weave through the room to […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Among the 6,000 knitters descending on Times Square this week for a major fiber arts convention is a first-time attendee from Israel who hopes a shawl she made can counteract anti-Israel sentiment in the knitting community. A mother of seven and a grandmother of two, Liza Rodrig, 48, is something […]

((JR)) — Every artist embarks on a path of self-discovery. Any time I find inspiration to create and to paint, I find myself on a journey of trying to comprehend what aspects of life define and characterize my identity.  When I paint, I grapple with the question of “Who Am I?” Roughly a year ago, […]

((JR)) — As the 2024 presidential election appears headed toward a Trump-Biden rematch, another familiar face is returning to help Americans keep up with — or at least joke about — the news. Jon Stewart, the iconic Jewish comedian and longtime host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” is set to come back to the […]