Category: Culture

((JR)) — After its first two song entries were denied, Israel has officially been approved to compete in this year’s Eurovision music competition. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs the annual contest, approved Israel’s most recent submission, titled “Hurricane,” which had been revised after its first-choice song, “October Rain,” was rejected because of the competition’s […]

((JR)) — Over the course of nearly four decades as a professional wrestling promoter, broadcaster and executive, Paul Heyman has been called a number of things: manager, announcer and CEO, as well as “evil genius,” “mad scientist,” “hothead” and “the wise man.” In April, he will officially add one more title: Hall of Famer. WWE, […]

(New York Jewish Week) — B&H Dairy Kosher Restaurant wasn’t particularly remarkable when it opened on Second Avenue in 1938. At the time, kosher dairy restaurants were commonplace in Manhattan and Brooklyn, particularly on the Lower East Side. But now, B&H Dairy is something of an anomaly: The tiny eatery is one of the city’s […]

((JR)) — Jewish day school graduate and actor Ike Barinholtz successfully answered a question about the ancient Roman poet Ovid to win on “Jeopardy!” Monday night, in a rare success for a celebrity during the quiz show’s regular competition. In the program’s Tournament of Champions, Barinholtz defeated two previous winners on the show, an artist […]

(New York Jewish Week) — When Barry Bernstein, a fictional theater teacher at a Bronx public school, learns the entire budget for the spring musical has been eliminated, he has to figure out a way to raise $10,000 — quickly. But first, Barry pays a routine visit to his elderly grandfather, who tells him, “You […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Like so many stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Marlo Gorelick picked up a new hobby: cake decorating. She learned all the trendy techniques of the day, from of-the-moment decorations to how to properly layer colorful cakes and jams in order to create the all-popular rainbow cake. […]

(New York Jewish Week) — What if the first book of the Hebrew Bible had a female God who created the world — and what if the first human created was a woman, not a man? What if the story of the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham was flipped — and a mother was […]

((JR)) — David Draiman, the Jewish frontman of heavy metal band Disturbed, is raising money to provide private security for Matisyahu after the Jewish reggae singer had two venues cancel on him in the face of pro-Palestinian protests. “I’m raising funds to provide security for our brother @matisyahu,” Draiman, the heavy metal singer, wrote on […]

(New York Jewish Week) — “My feelings about Israel are the reasonable ones,” says Asaf Sternheim, an adjunct writing professor at an unnamed university who is the protagonist in a buzzy new play opening in New York this week. Speaking to his wife, Asaf — played by Jewish actor and “How I Met Your Mother” star […]

When Rabbi Avraham Wolff leaves the Mishpacha Children’s Home in Odessa, Ukraine, most evenings, he whispers a silent prayer.  He prays that the 120 children for whom his organization cares will be able to sleep through the night, uninterrupted by air raid sirens and a race to the bomb shelter. He prays that the food, […]