Category: Culture

(New York Jewish Week) — In the 1960s, a drag queen named Flawless Sabrina arrived in New York City during a time when drag performances were not only stigmatized in mainstream society, but within LGBTQ circles as well.  But Flawless Sabrina had a plan: Her welcoming demeanor — which she described as a “bar mitzvah […]

TAIPEI, Taiwan ((JR)) — Rabbi Akiva’s daughter was destined for death on her wedding day, at least according to the star-gazers. So the early Jewish sage seemed resigned to his daughter’s fate. But on the wedding day, Rabbi Akiva’s daughter offered a poor old man her portion of the wedding feast. That night, before going […]

(New York Jewish Week) — The corner of Ludlow and Rivington streets in New York City is now officially known as Beastie Boys Square. The co-naming of this Lower East Side street corner — where the shop featured on the Jewish rappers’ second album, “Paul’s Boutique,” once stood — was the result of a 10-year […]

((JR)) — Those who are Jewish, or Phish fans — or both — have likely noticed at one point: Jews really seem to love Phish. There are many possible reasons for this, starting with the fact that the genre-bending jam band has many ardent fans of all stripes, having sold millions of albums and played to […]

A version of this article first appeared on Kveller. Yehonatan Indursky co-wrote the international hit show “Shtisel,” one of TV’s most sensitive portrayals of haredi Orthodox life, as a secular Jew. After growing up the youngest of five in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul neighborhood, in a haredi family, and studying in a yeshiva in Bnei Brak, […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Just in time for the High Holidays, a new, family-friendly Jewish play will make its Off-Broadway debut on Sunday, Sept. 10.  “Out of the Apple Orchard” is based on the first book of Yvonne David’s acclaimed “Apple Tree” series. The two-book series — a third is forthcoming — follows the Jewish Bieman […]

((JR)) — Some sports fans collect trading cards. Others collect autographs. You could say Jessica Berman collects sports leagues. Berman, a Jewish day school alum with deep roots in New York’s Jewish community, took the reins of the National Women’s Soccer League in April 2022. It was the latest stop in a decorated and pioneering […]

((JR)) – A South Florida Jewish community center has landed in the middle of the state’s culture wars after canceling a talk by an author whose novel focuses on race in America. The Mandel JCC in West Palm Beach had booked Jewish author Rachel Beanland to headline a $100-a-plate luncheon in January 2024. The plan […]

((JR)) — The makeup artist who styled Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein has apologized for creating the prosthetic nose that some say perpetuates stereotypes about Jews. Kazu Hiro said at a Venice International Film Festival press conference on Saturday that he was not expecting the swift backlash to early images of Cooper in character that […]

(New York Jewish Week) — The 15,000 people who gathered in Madison Square Garden for Israeli pop star Ishay Ribo’s concert on Sunday night were treated to an unofficial kickoff of the High Holiday season, less than two weeks before Rosh Hashanah. Ribo, an Orthodox musician who became the first Israeli to headline the New […]