Category: Culture

(JTA) — Hosting “Saturday Night Live” for the first time since he faced widespread criticism about jokes ridiculing transgender people, comedian Dave Chappelle opened the show with a lengthy monologue about “the Jews” — namely, the controversy surrounding rapper Kanye West’s recent antisemitic comments. In the lengthy monologue, Chappelle danced along the lines he was […]

(New York Jewish Week) — “She was the most un-grandma person that anyone could have,” says David Bourla at the beginning of a film about his one-of-a-kind grandmother, Chelly Wilson. “Except for the fact that she was Jewish, we celebrated Christmas in a porn theater. It doesn’t get any weirder than that.” So begins Valerie Kontakos’ […]

(New York Jewish Week) — With over 200 screenings and dozens of related events, DOC NYC — which bills itself as America’s largest documentary film festival — is now underway.  This year, the festival features in-person screenings at various theaters through Thursday, Nov. 17, and continues online through Sunday, Nov. 27. In addition to “Queen […]

(JTA) — Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner who donates heavily to Jewish causes, funded an advertisement that ran during Sunday’s NFL matchup between the Patriots and the New York Jets urging NFL fans to “stand up against Jewish hate.” The ad aired during a weekend in which NBA star Kyrie Irving shared a […]

(New York Jewish Week) — In “The Calling,” a new miniseries streaming on Peacock, a Jewish NYPD detective fights crime and solves mysteries by letting his Jewishness lead the way. Jeff Wilbusch plays Avraham Avraham, a detective whose Judaism is both central to his character — in more than one scene he says the Mourner’s Kaddish […]

(New York Jewish Week) — It was a stupendously bad idea to arrive at the press preview for the New-York Historical Society’s new exhibit, “‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’: The Jewish Deli,” on an empty stomach. The exhibit — which originated at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles and opens in New York on Friday, Nov. […]

(JTA) — Three weeks after saying he was “alarmed” by Adidas’ ties to Kanye West, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, donned the company’s sneakers for his group’s “Never is Now” conference in New York City. The about-face happened after Adidas ended its relationship with West weeks after the rapper began making antisemitic […]

(New York Jewish Week) — A film exploring the alleged massacre of perhaps 300 Palestinians — and further allegations of an Israeli government cover-up — will open the 16th annual Other Israel Film Festival at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Israeli filmmaker Alon Schwarz’s documentary “Tantura” will be shown on Thursday, Nov. 3, kicking off […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Ella Joy Meir, the Brooklyn-based musician who leads the alt-pop group Iris Lune, did not expect to spend the first five months of the pandemic sequestered in her father’s home in Israel. She and her wife, journalist Mikhal Weiner, and their 1-year-old son had gone to visit family in Israel for […]

(JTA) — Two years ago, a poll on Twitter tried to settle once and for all how to refer to the corner of the social media platform where Jews conversed. “Jwitter” got two thirds of the 525 votes, with the rest falling to “Jtwitter.” Whatever they call it, the Jewish users of Twitter have used the […]