The Arts

Juvenile Fiction: Elephant Helps a Boy Find God

El, the elephant, offers to help the boy find God.  So off they go, the boy on El’s back, and they see a flower and a meadow; feel the effects of the wind and the sun; and the coolness of river water.  The boy asks when they will find God, and El explains that the boy already had met God in the beauty of the flower; the peacefulness of the meadow; the strong winds; the warmth of the sun; and the life-giving, thirst-quenching water of the river. [Donald H. Harrison]

Juvenile Fiction: Elephant Helps a Boy Find God Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion

Novel Portrays Catskill’s Post-Borscht Belt Era

This is an American Jewish novel about two families coming to terms with the fact that the fictional resort that best friends Benny Goldman and Amos Weingold founded in the Catskill Mountains has long passed its prime. The Golden Hotel no longer is booked to capacity, nor even near capacity, and the once famous Borscht Belt resort has quite obvious wear and tear to show its decline. [Donald H. Harrison]

Novel Portrays Catskill’s Post-Borscht Belt Era Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, USA

Beyond Functionality: Modern and Contemporary Ceramics at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

By Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D NEW YORK — What are the aesthetic, sensuous, and expressive possibilities inherent in clay as a material substance in all its physicality? How is it possible that ceramics can restore, or rather reconfigure and remake our relationship to the natural world? These are among the fundamental questions posed by “Shapes from

Beyond Functionality: Modern and Contemporary Ceramics at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Read More »

Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USA

Antisemitism and the Courts Probed in New Book

In Courtroom Trials in Jewish History, attorney and Jewish-community activist Esther Zaretsky offers an eclectic collection of stories about Jews who, in a broad sense, have had their day in court, courts representing justice at its worst, verdicts driven by antisemitism and anti-Israeli hatred. The title is somewhat of a misnomer, as there are no depositions or testimonies; no exhibits or closing arguments. Rather, Zaretsky provides the backstory leading up to the trial, the verdict, emphasizing how the “courts fail to affirm society’s most precious values of justice, equality, morality, and the preservation of human rights,” and its aftermath—we get to hear the rest of the story. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]

Antisemitism and the Courts Probed in New Book Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

An American Jewish Memoir of Food and Travel

In her zany account of her travels out west from her home in Plantation, Florida, Shari Wallack never got to San Diego, so I didn’t get the chance to see how her impressions of my hometown might match up with my own experiences.  If the two jibed, then I’d probably put utmost faith into her accounts of other places.  As it was, I simply had to enjoy her impressions of diverse locales between New York and Utah. Also, I was astonished by her reliance on serendipity and good Jewish cooking to turn even prosaic locales into adventures. [Donald H. Harrison]

An American Jewish Memoir of Food and Travel Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Travel and Food, USA

Dual Tragedies of a Patient with a Brain Hemorrhage and Her Caregiver Husband

Attorney Daniel P. Shapiro deeply loved his wife Susan and their three children.  He and Susan had enjoyed special moments together; places, songs, meals that ignited memories; meaningful yet  unspoken understandings typical of the happily married.  And then disaster in the form of a brain hemorrhage happened.  Susan slurred her speech, lost her mobility, and seemed unable to relate with the rest of her family. [Donald H. Harrison]

Dual Tragedies of a Patient with a Brain Hemorrhage and Her Caregiver Husband Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles

The Importance of Plants in Religious Art

What is the message conveyed by the representation of plants in religious text? What do the images that these references bring to our minds tell us about a people and a society? These are questions posed by award-winning artist and author Gloria Abella Ballen, whose book Garden of Eden: Plants of the Hebrew Bible was the subject of a recent webinar sponsored by the American Sephardic Federation. [Ellen Hernandez]

The Importance of Plants in Religious Art Read More »

Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

‘Black Widow’ spins new Covid-era box office record

Published by AFP Los Angeles (AFP) – New Disney superhero film “Black Widow” took in an estimated $80 million in North America this three-day weekend, a pandemic-era record as the Marvel Universe showed continuing lure, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The movie, starring Scarlett Johansson as the cat-suited superspy, took in an additional $60

‘Black Widow’ spins new Covid-era box office record Read More »

Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Good News from Israel (July 11, 2021)

-In the July 11, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include: 
–Israeli breakthroughs in transplantation and medical device technology.
–Israel provides running water to Tanzanians and Native Americans.
–Israel’s Technion is Europe’s top institute for Artificial Intelligence.
–Israel has begun producing pure water from the Jordan River.
–A face-recognition tech startup is Israel’s latest $1 billion company.
I–sraelis won medals at informatics and acrobatics.
–Stunning discoveries revealed during excavations in Jerusalem.
[Michael Ordman]

Good News from Israel (July 11, 2021) Read More »

Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Travel and Food, USA

Scarlett Johansson: I’m done with Black Widow

Published by BANG Showbiz English Scarlett Johansson has “no plans” to return to playing Black Widow. The 36-year-old actress has played Natasha Romanoff and her superhero alter-ego in several Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, and recently took on the role in her own solo movie after the eponymously titled ‘Black Widow’ movie hit cinema screens

Scarlett Johansson: I’m done with Black Widow Read More »

Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Why I Launched a Podcast About Antisemitism

In August 2016 in Berlin my younger daughter and I visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism, and Holocaust exhibits at the Jewish Museum Berlin. It seemed that Germany was doing rather well with coming to terms with the country’s horrendous crimes against Jews and others during WWII. [Phyllis Zimbler Miller]

Why I Launched a Podcast About Antisemitism Read More »

International, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA