Category: Culture

((JR)) — When it comes to Jews and sports, baseball often reigns supreme — both in terms of Jewish fan interest and the number of high-profile Jewish professional players. But as some Jewish sports fans may recognize, the NHL has long had a large roster of Jewish players that seems to grow each year. With […]

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. ((JR)) — When he heard that Hamas had called for a global day of protest last week to accompany its deadly attack on Israel, Alex Edelman’s mind turned, naturally, to jokes. Riffing on the traditional Hebrew holiday greeting “chag sameach,” the Jewish comedian wondered aloud to a packed room of Hollywood industry […]

((JR)) — Ian Kinsler, the Jewish former MLB All-Star and Team Israel manager, wore a Team Israel jersey while throwing out the first pitch of the playoff game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. As both a player and a manager, Ian Kinsler has worn the jersey many times and […]

((JR)) — An Israeli bodyguard who has been working for superstar Taylor Swift on her global “Eras” tour has returned to Israel to fight in its ongoing war against Hamas. Eran Swissa, an entertainment reporter for the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, conveyed the news on Sunday. “I have a pretty great life in the U.S., […]

((JR)) — The Israel-Hamas war has elicited a chorus of celebrity responses, from Bono’s in-concert callout to Pete Davidson’s somber monologue on “Saturday Night Live.” Now one Grammy-winning songwriter and his wife have offered a Hebrew prayer for healing. Susan Tweedy posted a video to Instagram on Oct. 10 of her husband Jeff Tweedy, frontman […]

((JR)) — “Saturday Night Live” returned to the air for its 49th season with a somber reflection on the Israeli-Hamas war by former cast member Pete Davidson. In the “cold open,” the Staten Island native spoke directly to the camera, reminding audiences that his father, a New York City firefighter, was killed in the Sept. […]

(New York Jewish Week) — A panel on Jewish themes at this year’s New York Comic Con was planned and scheduled well ahead of Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel last Saturday, but its convenor said the traumatic week since made it more important than ever to highlight Jewish joy. “This is a tough moment to be discussing […]

(New York Jewish Week) – As Allison and Rebecca Kestenbaum stood in front of a building in Greenwich Village on Wednesday, they were thinking about another set of sisters: their relatives Celia and Bess Eisenberg, who, as teenagers, worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Bess called in sick on the day that a horrific fire […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Lou Bettinger, a stubborn but discerning businessman, has run a dingy luggage shop on the Lower East Side for 60 years when the new play “Bettinger’s Luggage” begins. “I know everything about luggage,” Lou (Richard MacDonald) says, as he give an interview promoting his family’s store on a fictitious news […]

((JR)) — On a night when Dean Kremer became the first Israeli-American to start an MLB playoff game — while his parents’ country was at war, no less — fellow Jewish player Alex Bregman drew a Star of David on his Houston Astros hat for his own Tuesday night playoff game. Kremer, who holds dual […]