Category: Culture

(New York Jewish Week) — In Jerusalem, a group of teenagers meet every day at a local YMCA for swim practice. Coming from both Palestinian and Israeli backgrounds, for years the swimmers followed an unspoken rule: No politics in the pool. But, like so many other things, that all changed on Oct. 7 when Hamas […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Diamonds may be forever, but do you know what else lasts a pretty darn long time? Faux flowers. Just ask M&S Schmalberg, a Garment District-based artificial flower business that’s been owned and operated by the same Jewish family for 107 years. At the family’s factory at 242 West 36th St., Adam […]

((JR)) — The phrase “that movie could never be made today” has probably been said more about “Blazing Saddles” than any other movie in history. Mel Brooks’ spoof of Hollywood Westerns is full of the N-word and racial and ethnic jokes, and gay stereotypes are played for laughs. There are rape jokes aplenty and more […]

(New York Jewish Week) — In the three months since he started offering free plastic surgery to victims of antisemitic hate crimes or anyone affected by Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Upper East Side plastic surgeon Ira Savetsky has performed one nose job, been asked to remove a tattoo and counseled the victim […]

((JR)) — An influencer who traveled to Israel to bear witness after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack walked the red carpet at the Grammys on Sunday night in a dress meant to call attention to the Israelis who remain hostages in Gaza. And the CEO of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr., paid tribute during the […]

((JR)) — Every season premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” raises the question of just how Jewish the latest run of the show will be. On Sunday night, in the first episode of the 12th (and final) season, Larry David may have provided an answer: Not just Jewish, but possibly even Israeli. Light spoilers lie ahead. […]

(New York Jewish Week) – A hyper-realistic 19th-century painting of worshippers at the Western Wall that spent many forgotten years in a synagogue’s storage room is headed to auction at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday.  The painting, “The Western Wall,” created circa 1890 by German artist and illustrator Gustav Bauernfeind, is expected to fetch an […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Nine a.m. on a Saturday morning might be one of the few times during the week that Times Square isn’t brimming with tourists, theater-goers and commuters. But when you bring in a few dozen Jewish Broadway stars and ask them to perform a Shabbat service inside a Broadway theater, the […]

((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 […]