The Arts

Is JFest’s Programming Really ‘Jewish’?

This year’s JFest had many unusual highlights. Some events seemed more fitting than others to be part of a Jewish Arts Festival. Although I savored the Hershey Felder offering, Nicholas, Anna, and Sergei –I love Rachmaninoff’s music–( reviewed in the May 19th San Diego Jewish World), I did not understand its place in a Jewish Festival, given that the subjects were all authentic or pretending Russian aristocrats, the class that often helped perpetrate pogroms. [Eileen Wingard]

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Eileen Wingard, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Judd Hirsch and Jeannie Berlin added to Spielberg film

Published by BANG Showbiz English Judd Hirsch and Jeannie Berlin have joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s new semi-autobiographical film. The Oscar-nominated stars have boarded the new movie with Robin Bartlett and Jonathan Hadary and they will play the older relatives of a young aspiring filmmaker (Gabriel LaBelle), who is loosely based on the ‘Jaws’

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Epsteins to Donate $10 Million for Amphitheater at UC San Diego

Daniel and Phyllis Epstein have committed to provide a $10 million gift to the University of California San Diego in support of a new state-of-the-art amphitheater, signaling a major step in the university’s plan to become a top cultural destination. In recognition of the gift, the 2,850-seat venue will be named the Epstein Family Amphitheater. [UC San Diego news release]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

An Explanation of the Famous Book ‘Tanya’

Maggid Books in association with Steinsaltz Center has published part of the text of one of the two famous books by the founder of Chabad Hasidim, also called Lubavitcher Hasidim, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812). Rabbi Zalman’s other famous book is Shulchan Arukh Harav, a book that only partially survived, which deals with Jewish law. This book, a translation and commentary of part of the Tanya, originally published in Hebrew in 1797, is by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (1937-2020) a Chabad Hasid, the author of over 60 books and more than 100 articles. Not all of Steinsaltz’s writings focus on Chabad mysticism, but this book is about Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s view of mysticism. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Jackie Mason, who kept Borscht-Belt comedy alive, dies at age 93

Published by New York Daily News New York funnyman Jackie Mason — a comedy great who rose to fame in the 1960s and kept Borscht Belt-style gags alive for decades — has died at age 93, reports said Saturday. Mason’s friend and sometimes collaborator, divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, confirmed the death to The New York

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Good News from Israel (July 25, 2021)

In the July 25, 2001 1 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include: 
–Very Good news for 4 Israeli Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.
I–srael signs major cybersecurity agreement with Morocco.
–An Israeli startup converts food waste into useful bioplastics.
–Netflix buys a new Israeli series and Iranians will be able to watch Fauda.
–Five more gold medals for top Israeli gymnast.
–Israeli parachutists mark centenary of the birth of Hanna Szenes.
[Michael Ordman]

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Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, The World We Share, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA

Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to sex crime charges in Los Angeles

Published by BANG Showbiz English Harvey Weinstein has plead not guilty to sex crime charges in Los Angeles. The disgraced producer is currently serving 23 years in prison in New York for third degree rape and first degree criminal sex act, and he appeared in court in Los Angeles on Wednesday (21.07.21) for a hearing

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Daniel Gerroll Stars in North Coast Rep’s ‘Dr. Glas’

North Coast Rep Theater is not going to go gentle into that good night.  On the contrary, they are rounding out this streaming season with the intense one-man psychological thriller, Dr. Glas. The novel, penned by Hjalmar Söderberg, is a staple in Scandinavia, but lesser-known in North America. It was first published in 1905, set in Stockholm at the turn of the century. The plot unearths a moral dilemma and one man’s obsession. [Eva Trieger]

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Eva Trieger, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Amy Winehouse remembered in new film marking 10 years since death

Published by Reuters By Marie-Louise Gumuchian LONDON (Reuters) – Amy Winehouse’s family and friends look back on her life in a new documentary marking 10 years since the singer’s death, with harrowing accounts of her rise to global fame and struggles with addiction. Narrated by her mother Janis Winehouse-Collins, “Reclaiming Amy” features home footage, family

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler among Kennedy Center honorees

Published by AFP Washington (AFP) – Folk legend Joni Mitchell and beloved actor Bette Midler are among this year’s class of Kennedy Center honorees, one of America’s most prestigious arts awards. Along with Motown icon Berry Gordy, opera singer Justino Diaz and Lorne Michaels, creator of the acclaimed comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live, they

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Scott Baio still considers Henry Winkler a pal, despite their Twitter squabble

Published by New York Daily News Chachi says the Fonz is still cool with him. Former “Happy Days” actors Scott Baio and Henry Winkler found themselves in a somewhat heated Twitter exchange Monday after Winkler took exception to a photo Baio posted, seeming to mock Democratic Texas lawmakers who tested positive for COVID after flying

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Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Book Review: ‘Rationalism versus Mysticism’

Many Jews would like to find an easy way to learn what Judaism teaches about various subjects. Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, an Orthodox rabbi, gives them this information in his fact-filled book Rationalism vs. Mysticism: Schisms in Traditional Jewish Thought, with quotes from many sources and many learned footnotes, all easy to read.[Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Short Story Focuses on IBM’s Business With the Nazis

Short story writer Clive Aaron Gill presents the discovery of the connection between IBM and the Holocaust in a pair of moral dilemmas, faced first by a grandfather and much later by his granddaughter Rebecca, whom we first meet as a school girl and later as a public relations executive for a charitable organization. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Edwin Black, USA