By Loren Kantor STUDIO CITY, California — Manhattan is a sweet little gem of a movie made by Woody Allen in 1979. Shot in gorgeous black & white, the film opens with a stunning montage of New York set to the strains of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue. Unlike Scorsese’s gritty Mean Streets & Sidney […]
Notes from the Woodcutter: ‘Manhattan’ Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, USA
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO –In light of the murderous meltdown in so many Arab quarters, many commentators note the contrasting modernity and true democracy in Israel. They celebrate Israel’s postmodern cyber culture and Western avant-gardism. This says a great deal about the miraculous Jewish state, but it ultimately oversimplifies. Israel is a lot
Israeli prosperity has changed Kfar Saba Read More »
Middle EastBy Robert G. Sugarman and Abraham H. Foxman NEW YORK–The start of a New Year always offers an opportunity to reflect on the events of the past year and to contemplate what lies ahead for the Jewish people and the state of Israel. It has been a year of momentous change both at home and
How the ADL views the past Jewish year Read More »
Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an effort to protect the delicate sensibilities of Egyptian rioters who invaded the American Embassy and tore down the American flag, Secretary of State Clinton accepted at face value the claim that the rioters were just so outraged and horrified by an anti-Muslim movie that they couldn’t control
Insulting or not, freedom of speech is protected Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — After Torah School on Wednesday, Judaica teacher Cheryl Katz, told me about her experience teaching her students about parashat Nitzavim: “You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God…to enter into the Covenant of the Lord your God….” (Deut. 29:9-11) She was trying to explain
Remembering the covenant made at Sinai Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Jeffrey F. Barken/JNS.org Speaking over lively klezmer music in a Krakow café, Canadian author and freelance journalist Menachem Kaiser wonders if Jewish readers are comfortable with the term “Jewish fiction.” Kaiser is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in Lithuania, where he teaches creative writing. His story, Din, was recently published alongside several prominent
Jewish fiction finds a new home on the Internet Read More »
Travel and FoodBy Israel Hayom and JNS.org Israel stepped up security after a controversial American film, Innocence of Muslims, sparked protests at U.S. embassies in Libya, Egypt and Yemen. In Libya, U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other diplomats were killed. Several dozen protesters from the Islamic Movement’s northern branch demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in
Israel wary as protests engulf Muslim countries Read More »
Middle EastSome U.S. counties late in sending ballots to voters in Israel (JNS.org) Several U.S. counties are planning to send out absentee ballots to registered voters living abroad later than is required by federal law, essentially rendering these votes irrelevant, Israel Hayom reported. In a statement issued by iVoteIsrael— a group of American expats living in
JNS News Briefs: September 14, 2012 Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — An Israeli should be careful in criticizing the United States. One reason is pragmatic. The United States–like all the rulers of empires in the past–holds our fate in its hands. True, the United States does not aspire to rule in the fashion of Rome or latter day Britain, but the
What else doesn’t Hillary Clinton understand? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy David P. Goldman The Obama administration is baffled by the Egyptian government’s response to the Sept. 11 attack on the American embassy in Cairo. It took President Mohamed Morsi two days to denounce the assault on the embassy, and even then he placed the blame on a hitherto unnoticed clip posted on YouTube rather
Is Egypt governable? Read More »
Middle East
By David Brin ENCINITAS, California — Let’s start with a simple wager. During this election please count the number of times that Republican candidates actually run on their party’s record. How often do they speak of their periods in power, which were far more extensive than the Democrats’? Any statistically measurable accomplishments or proved positive effects?
The economic case for the Democrats Read More »
USA“Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.”—Deuteronomy 32:7 By Dr. Erica Brown/JNS.org It’s that time again: a new Hebrew year is upon us. It’s time for the Jewish year in review based on a mandate
Year in review 5772 Read More »
Jewish ReligionBy Ben Cohen/JNS.org If you’re looking for an online aggregator of Israel-bashing articles, you could do a great deal worse than visit Open Zion, the website edited by the darling of America’s Jewish far left, Peter Beinart. All the obsessions of today’s anti-Zionists are neatly organized there, in the form of hand-wringing tracts about Rachel
Undermining the Jews of the Arab world Read More »
Middle East
By Carol Davis SOLANA BEACH, California—North Coast repertory Theatre in Solana Beach is celebrating its 31st season. For this, a big Shout Out is due. On the occasion of this birthday, they are also mounting the San Diego Premiere of Steve Martin’s adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s 1911 Die Hose or translated, The Underpants. Tantalizing? Titillating?
Comedy focuses on aftermath of wardrobe malfunction Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast