By Eric George Tauber SAN DIEGO –If you had a chance to dine with celebrities and bigwigs, would you feel delighted, intimidated … or both? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity offered to Eric Hanes, the late father of Dr. Ann Charlotte Harvey, Professor Emerita of SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television and Film. […]
Suppose you were invited to dine with Marlene Dietrich Read More »
Eric George Tauber, Theatre, Film & BroadcastWar and peace. The line between the two is often razor-thin. For people caught up in conflicts, war does not begin with a single shot, or end with the signing of a treaty. It is a continuum that may start with sporadic hostilities and end only after generations. In this year’s Hot Docs film festival,
Hot Docs: Five stories of endless war Read More »
International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – If you didn’t have the chance to watch the John Goldschmidt comedy film Dough at the San Diego Jewish Film Festival in February, you will have another chance when the film begins an exclusive run at the Landmark Theatre May 6. It’s an enjoyable tale about an old Jewish
‘Dough’ bakes up some laughs Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Fifteen years after their liberation from Auschwitz, three female survivors have found each other and decide to celebrate their reunion at the French beach resort of Berck-sur-mer, in To Life, a film by Jean-Jacques Zilbermann. Although the women want to simply enjoy the moments, their repressed memories from
Survivors reunite, deal with memories in ‘To Life’ Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Eva Trieger SAN DIEGO — The Playwrights Project has once again proved that it does not shy away from weighty or unpopular topics. “I’M GOOD: Incarcerated Men Getting Over Obstacles Daily,” is the collaborative effort of the playwrights of the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. Partnering with the SDSU School of Theater, Television and Film,
Playwrights Project tells stories in prisoners’ words Read More »
Eric George Tauber, Eva Trieger, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Questions for Letty Cottin Pogrebin Letty Cottin Pogrebin says she is interested in “probing the many ways there are to be Jewish in America.” Photo by Mike Lovett Writer Letty Cottin Pogrebin said she grew up in a “very left-wing family” in Jamaica, Queens, and “it was not blacks that bothered anybody; it was non-Jews.”
Pogrebin tells of her Jewish life, beliefs Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA
AFP — When saxophonist Eli Degibri left Israel at the age of 18 to study jazz at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, he knew he’d come back home one day. It took 15 years, which included playing with jazz greats like Herbie Hancock and Al Foster in New York, where he also
Israeli jazz finding its groove Read More »
Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsAs the world marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday tweeted that he too, is a fan of The Bard, and highlighted “The Merchant of Venice” — famous for its derogatory depiction of Jewish moneylender Shylock — as being in “accordance with Western values.” “I have read
Khamenei lauds ‘Merchant of Venice’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Middle East, Theatre, Film & BroadcastThe Lebanese Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement has demanded that the government ban the screening of the new Hollywood movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, because it stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot, according to the Lebanese reports. Gadot, who is cast as Wonder Woman, was the subject of scrutiny in a letter the
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Middle East, Theatre, Film & BroadcastB”nai Brith in Montreal is urging officials to refuse the French performer Dieudonne from entering into Canada. Dieudonne has multiple convictions and fines for making anti-Semitic statements against Jews in France and Belgium. The controversial comedian, who routinely makes jokes about gas chambers and has publicly denied the Holocaust, is booked to play 10 shows
B’nai B’rith wants to ban anti-Semitic comedian Read More »
International, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Stanley Tiger SAN DIEGO –Passover in the 21st Century presents Jewish people with new dilemmas unimagined in previous eras: Should I have regular white flour matzah, whole wheat matzah, egg matzah, any of the flavored matzahs, and more recently “gluten free matzah.” We also have the choice of salted or unsalted matzah, domestic or
Ancient Jewish wisdom and modern science Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Jewish Religion, Trivia, Humor & SatireFrom Within the Tents: The Sabbath Prayers, Essays by the Rabbis and Professors of Yeshiva University edited by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman and Dr. Stuart W. Halpern; Maggid Books, New Milford, CT; ISBN 978-1-59264-446-9 ©2014, $29.95, p. 295 plus Appendix By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California –Hermann Cohen, arguably the greatest German-Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth
Yeshiva University essays prayers of Shabbat Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History
The House of Dreams by Kate Lord Brown, © 2016 St. Martin’s Press; ISBN 978-1-250-08453-8; 304 pages plus author’s note and acknowledgments; $25.99 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This historical novel paints a picture of international rescue worker Varian Frye as he smuggles artists and poets out of France in 1940 and 1941
A fictional variant on the life of Frye Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonBy Sheila Orysiek SAN DIEGO — One of the most dramatic stories of the Hebrew Bible is told in the Book of Exodus; the story of the enslavement of a people and their flight to freedom. Though this epic event is recounted every year during the Passover Seder, the possibility of such an enslavement still
From the Jewish library: ‘Slave, My True Story’ Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories