Category: Culture

(New York Jewish Week) — It’s safe to assume that there were many, many Jews among the crowd at the Dead & Company’s New York City show on Wednesday evening, where thousands of fans gathered at Citi Field to hear their favorite Grateful Dead songs played live. Among them was Rabbi David Kalb of Riverdale, […]

A version of this article first appeared on Hey Alma. As a science fiction horror film, Alexis Jacknow’s movie “Clock” is relatively unremarkable. Its images aren’t unique, and its narrative comes across as self-important. All of its attempted metaphors are spelled out by the director, leaving the audience with nothing to do except nod silently […]

((JR)) — Viewers of the popular game show “Jeopardy!” got a glance of one of the United States’ most distinctive synagogue buildings on Tuesday, after a clue showcased Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan. The Conservative synagogue had leaked the fact that it would appear as a trivia item on “Jeopardy!” for days before the […]

((JR)) — More than 50 years after she became the first woman to be ordained by an American rabbinical seminary, Rabbi Sally Priesand has set another precedent: Beginning later this year, she will be the first woman rabbi to be featured at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. But Priesand will not be the gallery’s only […]

TEL AVIV ((JR)) — Israel’s Declaration of Independence has taken central stage this year in the country’s divided politics — sometimes literally, as when Israelis opposed to proposed changes to the judiciary carried a massive version in their protests. Now, the Declaration of Independence is also the subject of a new podcast from the producers of […]

((JR)) — England’s massive Glastonbury Festival will no longer show a documentary claiming that former British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was wrongfully accused of antisemitism, bowing to pressure from Jewish groups that labeled it a vessel for conspiracy theories. “Jeremy Corbyn’s diehard supporters are determined to peddle the false myth that the only reason he […]

((JR)) — One spring morning in 1934, two little girls followed their mothers to a corner grocery store in Amsterdam. The mothers, hearing each other speak German to their daughters, discovered they were both Jewish refugees who had recently fled Nazi Germany. The two girls peeked shyly at each other from behind their mothers’ skirts, […]

((JR)) — A biopic of Golda Meir, the Israeli prime minister who helmed Israel during the Yom Kippur War, is set to hit screens just one month shy of the conflict’s 50th anniversary. “Golda,” directed by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmaker Guy Nativ and starring Oscar-winning actor Helen Mirren, will begin playing in theaters on Aug. 24. […]

LOS ANGELES ((JR)) — The White House recently released a detailed strategy for combating antisemitism, complete with more than 100 action items. One thing not on the list? Comedy. That’s where Jewish celebrities such as Howie Mandel, Rachel Bloom and Michael Rapaport came in on Wednesday night at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, at […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Broadway actor Oliver Prose and I met on a bench outside of the iconic Bow Bridge in Central Park in the middle of a sunny afternoon. He’s nearly six months into his Broadway debut in “New York, New York” — and two days fresh off a performance at the Tony […]