The Arts

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Leslie Howard

In 1939, he starred with Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo and, in perhaps his best-known role, he performed as Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind in a cast that included Clark Gable, Oliva de Havilland, and Vivian Leigh.  He returned to England to help with the war effort thereafter, making such World War II films as 49th Parallel, Pimpernel , and The First of the Few.  [SDJW staff]

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International, Jewish Celebrities, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday, USA

Deconstructing the Myths of King Solomon

Solomon is credited for discovering the true mother of a baby simply because one of the two disputing prostitutes agreed to give up the child when Solomon foolishly said he would slice the child in two and give each a half. Rational thinkers and legal experts recognize this was Solomon’s unintelligent decision. Her act proves nothing. She may not have been the mother,
but she agreed to give up the child to the true mother simply because she did not want to carry her farce to the end, where the child was murdered. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Netanyahu seeks to use ‘Al Jazeera’ law to shut down broadcaster

Published by DPA International Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to shut down local operations of a Qatar-based news channel after Israel’s parliament approved what is known as the “Al-Jazeera law” which allows broadcasters from abroad to be shut down if they are deemed to pose a risk to state security. Israeli lawmakers voted in

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Israel, Middle East, News Media, Nordot, Travel and Food

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Sydney Newman

The Avengers debuted in 1961, becoming an international success.  In 1962, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stole him away from ABC.  He created a new anthology series, The Wednesday Play, and in 1963, he initiated the very successful science fiction series Doctor Who, about a space and time traveler who takes on human identities to benefit humanity.  Near the end of his five-year BBC contract, he green-lighted Donald Wilson’s The Forsyte Saga, which was one of the most acclaimed series of his era. [SDJW stafff]

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International, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Stories about the Music Enhance Music Academy Concerts

In recent years Dr. Ron Regev, the head of the Academy’s piano department, has taken over at the head of the concerts, injecting his own personal touch of brilliance to the program. Apart from being a virtuoso pianist, Professor Regev is also an engaging and inspiring speaker, and to hear him talk about the music he and his colleagues are about to play is always enjoyable and uplifting. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Rhea Perlman

In the television show Taxi, she played the role of Zena Sherman, the sweet girlfriend of DeVito’s character Louie De Palma. In 1982, the same year she and DeVito married, she won the role of the wisecracking barmaid Carla Tortelli on Cheers, which in a run that ended in 1993 won 20 Emmy awards out of 95 nominations. Perlman won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy four times out of 10 nominations. [SDJW staff]

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Jewish Celebrities, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Today's Jewish Birthday

Debbie Friedman’s Songs to be Celebrated at LFJCC Program

Debbie attended a Jewish summer camp where, at sixteen, on a borrowed instrument, she learned to play the guitar.  Several years later, she began to compose her own songs. She was influenced by the music of folk song luminaries such as Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Joan Baez. [Eileen Wingard

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

Evan Gershkovich: determined US reporter jailed in Russia

Published by AFP Moscow (AFP) – Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has spent a year behind bars in Russia, is awaiting a trial on espionage charges the White House says are fabricated but could still see him jailed for decades. The US-born son of Soviet emigres covered Russia for six years, including

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International, News Media, Nordot, USA

Outrage as photo of Hamas parading Shani Louk’s naked and mutilated body wins top award

Published by Mirror By Sean McPolin An image of a young woman’s naked and mutilated body being paraded by Hamas has won a top photo award – sparking outrage from many people online. The disturbing picture shows the half-naked corpse of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, being transported in the back of a van

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Israel, Middle East, News Media, Nordot, USA

Our Shtetl San Diego County: Hate Litterers May Face $25,000 Penalty

SAN DIEGO  (SDJW)– San Diego City Councilman Raul Campillo said Friday that after research with the office of City Attorney Mara Elliott, he decided that a hate littering law would be more appropriate at the state level than at the municipal level.  Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego) agreed to carry the legislation (AB 3024), which

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Antisemitism, California, Chris Jennewein, Israel, News Media, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Rudolf Serkin

At the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Serkin instructed generations of pianists and served from 1968 to 1975 as the Institute’s director.  Busch and Serkin founded the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont in 1951. Serkin made numerous classical music recordings on such labels as Columbia Masterworks, RCA Victor, Deutsche Grammophon and Terlac. [SDJW staff]

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