Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Larry Kornit: Cantor in Shul, Social Justice Advocate Outside

Four areas of interest have shaped the life of Cantor Larry Kornit of Congregation Beth Tikvah: Religion, music, politics, and sports. In addition to serving as a spiritual leader of what he described as his Conservative/ Reform/ Eclectic congregation, he also has volunteered as a member of the City of Oceanside’s nine-member Housing Commission.  The commission meets in the City Council chambers the fourth Tuesday of each month. [Donald H. Harrison]

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California, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Lunch and Yiddish Songs Entertain 57 Holocaust Survivors at Congregation Beth El

“We were honored to be able to put together a program of primarily Yiddish music so that we could reach this special audience with songs in the language most of them grew up with.” [Steve Mishek]

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Holocaust, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Scooter Braun Pledges $200k to Help Palestinians and Israelis in Honor of His Late Holocaust Survivor Grandmother

Published by OK Magazine (CA) Scooter Braun just wants to help others amid the Israel-Hamas war, which began in October 2023. “Ahead of the campaign launch for Care Together next week, Scooter Braun pledged $200,000 for both Palestine and Israel in memory of his late grandmother who was a Holocaust Survivor,” a representative for the

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Holocaust, Israel, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Nordot, Philanthropy & Volunteerism, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Neil Sedaka

More Sedaka hits followed in the 1960s, among them “Stairway to Heaven,” “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” and “Next Door to an Angel.” In addition to his own songs, Sedaka and Greenfield wrote songs for other performers including Connie Francis, and Jimmy Clanton. Sedaka’s piano work is heard in Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover.” [SDJW staff]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

R.I.P. Eric Carmen: Raspberries Frontman and ‘All by Myself’ Singer Dead at 74

Published by Q Magazine Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, best known as the frontman for power pop band the Raspberries, as well as the singer of the 1975 hit “All by Myself,” died over the past weekend, his family revealed on March 11. He was 74 years old. Carmen’s family shared the news on the singer’s website,

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Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Nordot, Obituaries & memorials, USA

OpEd: Vandals who attack our heritage must be prepared to face the consequences

Published by City AM By Bella Wallersteiner Defacing a portrait of a former Prime Minister, as pro-Palestine activists did last week, is an attack on democracy itself, argues Bella Wallersteiner When a protestor drenched a portrait of former Prime Minister Lord Balfour in red paint and slashed it to pieces she didn’t just attack a

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Nordot

‘Oppenheimer’ sweeps up at Oscars

Published by AFP Hollywood (United States) (AFP) – “Oppenheimer” swept the board on Sunday at the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, with seven awards including best picture and best director, crowning a triumphant year for filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s masterful drama about the father of the atomic bomb, half of last summer’s massive

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California, Holocaust, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Nordot, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Walter Benjamin’s ‘Little History of Photography’

Benjamin, however, was critical of such commercial photographic studios, noting with derision their paraphernalia and ‘props’ intended to enhance the impact of the image or portrait. In the exhibition an enlarged photo of young Franz Kafka illustrates this concept, with the serious young boy holding a stick and a large black hat, surrounded by heavy, dark furniture emphasizing the gravity of the situation. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

In ‘MJ’ the King of Pop Rises Again

To illustrate the various periods in Jackson’s life, there are three versions of Michael, “MJ” (Banks) is the Michael of the 90s,  “Michael” (Brandon Lee Harris) is a teen Michael, and “Little Michael” (Josiah Benson) covers the childhood and young Jackson 5 version. [Sandi Masori]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Sandi Masori, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Louis Kahn

From 1958 through 1965, he collaborated with biologist Jonas Salk on what some have described as his defining work, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla. The architecture, sometimes described as brutalism, emphasized the cement and wood materials used in its construction. The laboratory cluster, consisting of two parallel blocks, frame a long view of the Pacific Ocean, accentuated by a thin linear fountain that seems to reach for the horizon. [SDJW staff]

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Business & Finance, California, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

An ‘Escape’ to Tel Aviv

But all Israelis, and not just Jewish citizens, feel the pressure that comes from seeing, hearing, and reading about the daily casualties and the damage being done to our society, financially and socially. So, as a diversion, Michal planned a day trip to Tel Aviv to take our minds off of the situation and to enjoy several hours away from tv, newspapers, and social media. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Dinah Shore

In 1951, she debuted The Dinah Shore Show on NBC television, and in 1956 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, a variety show that continued through 1961.  She sang with Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and Pearl Bailey. When Tennessee Ernie Ford appeared on the show, she kiddingly introduced him as Tennessee Ernie Chevrolet. [SDJW staff]

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Jewish Celebrities, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Prayer Melodies from Tifereth Israel

Kol Tefilah, led by Debbie Mishek, M.D., is a performance group that periodically leads Friday night services at Tifereth Israel Synagogue “with joy, music, intimacy, and an awareness of God’s presence,” according to an announcement for the 6:15 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat service at 6:15 p.m., Friday, March 1. [SDJW staff]

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California, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Meir Dizengoff

After moving back in 1905 to Palestine, where he settled in Jaffa, he formed a partnership with the Ahuzat Bayit company to develop land on the outskirts of Jaffa. Sixty six families drew lots for housing locations along the beach from which the city of Tel Aviv would grow. The Dizengoffs were among those first families, and he served as head of town planning from 1911 to 1922. When Tel Aviv was recognized as a city, Dizengoff was elected as its first mayor. [SDJW staff]

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Today's Jewish Birthday