The Arts

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Sefi Rivlin

Courtesy of Wikipedia Sefi Rivlin (November 7, 1947 – December 3, 2013) was an Israeli actor and comedian. He was best known for his roles in the satire show Nikui Rosh [he] (“Head Cleaning”), the children’s program Rega im Dodley and its spin-off At Fistuk’s Home [he]. Yosef “Sefi” Rivlin born and grew up in Nahalat Yehuda (present-day Rishon LeZion). He was born […]

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Sefi Rivlin Read More »

Israel, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Voices of Jewish Opera Stars to be Savored at the JCC on Nov. 14

“Jews in Opera” will feature the recorded voices of 15 outstanding Jewish opera singers at 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov.14, in the Astor Judaic Library of the Lawrence Family JCC. Many of the recordings are from the Music Collection of the Astor Judaica Library. I will be hosting the program, and my in-person guest will be the distinguished Ukrainian-born mezzo soprano, Susanna Poretsky. [Eileen Wingard]

Voices of Jewish Opera Stars to be Savored at the JCC on Nov. 14 Read More »

Eileen Wingard, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Dan Senor

Courtesy of Wikipedia Dan Senor (November 6, 1971) is an American columnist, writer, and political adviser. He was chief spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and senior foreign policy adviser to U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the 2012 election campaign. A frequent news commentator and contributor to The Wall Street Journal, he is co-author of the book Start-up Nation: The Story

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Dan Senor Read More »

News Media, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

A Jewish Tale Woven Through Napoleon’s Campaign in Egypt and Eretz Israel

This Jewish love story is woven into an account of Napoleon’s unsuccessful war in Egypt and Ottoman Palestine in the final years of the 18th century. Descriptions of the battles and the wanton cruelty of both sides in the war pitting mainly French Christian troops against indigenous and Turkish Muslim defenders remind current-day readers of the murderous barbarism attendant to Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. [Donald H. Harrison]

A Jewish Tale Woven Through Napoleon’s Campaign in Egypt and Eretz Israel Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Daughter Pictures Life of Mother Who Died Two Hours After Giving Her Birth

Two hours after Lola Kantor was born, her mother died of complications in childbirth. Lola was given her mother’s first name, but, of course, she had no memory of her. [Donald H. Harrison]

Daughter Pictures Life of Mother Who Died Two Hours After Giving Her Birth Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Novel Judaica Highlights Artisans Festival at Temple Emanu-El

Cecile Fleetwood is a longtime member of Temple Emanu-El who teaches jewelry making and sells her own creations, including dreidel, hamantaschen, and hamza earrings  She also makes pottery pieces that were fired in a kiln. [Cailin Acosta]

Novel Judaica Highlights Artisans Festival at Temple Emanu-El Read More »

Cailin Acosta, Jewish Religion, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Violin is the Centerpiece of a Holocaust Story

Nazis pounded on the door and confiscated the treasured violin, throwing it onto a flatbed truck, breaking its string, and then putting it in storage in a cellar, where dust filled its body and extreme weather warped and cracked it.  In the years after the Nazis’ defeat, the cellar was found, and the violin located.  A luthier lovingly repaired it. [Donald H. Harrison]

Violin is the Centerpiece of a Holocaust Story Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Biography: Leonid Pasternak, Father of Boris, Wrestled with his Jewishness

Leonid Pasternak, a painter and professor at the Moscow College of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, a master of portraiture and book illustrations, went down in history in the shadow of his son Boris, a poet and Nobel Prize winner in literature, whom he loved and with whom he diverged in his attitude toward common ancestry. [Alex Gordon]

Jewish Biography: Leonid Pasternak, Father of Boris, Wrestled with his Jewishness Read More »

Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Short-Story Collection Provides Tour of Human Situations and Emotions

This collection of short stories by Roberta Silman is similar to a travelogue, but instead of journeys through locales, these trips are through human emotions in given situations, especially, but not exclusively, through loss and dying. [Donald H. Harrison]

Short-Story Collection Provides Tour of Human Situations and Emotions Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Fiction, Staff and Bylined Contributors

50-Year-Old Takács String Quartet Performs Here with One Original Member

Of the original four student members at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, only the cellist, 75-year-old András Fejér, remains. But the uncanny melding of their instrumental voices into a unified whole continues to characterize their playing … [Eileen Wingard]

50-Year-Old Takács String Quartet Performs Here with One Original Member Read More »

Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Kinky Friedman

Courtesy of Wikipedia Kinky Friedman (November 1, 1944 – June 27, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and columnist for Texas Monthly. He styled himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. Friedman was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election. Receiving 12.6% of the vote, Friedman placed fourth in the six-person

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Kinky Friedman Read More »

Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Adam Schlesinger

Courtesy of Wikipedia Adam Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the band Fever High. He also wrote songs for television and film, for which he won three Emmy Awards,

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Adam Schlesinger Read More »

Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia