Travel and Food

By Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — You died young and troubled, dear father.  You had admonished me: “Don’t make me into a grandfather,” and I know that this was part of your struggle with mortality, with losing your vibrant and athletic youth.  We, your sons and daughter, were pained by this statement just as […]

  By Rabbi Ben Kamin TEL AVIV—My older daughter Sari and I were walking along a side street here, headed for the city’s lustrous promenade of towering hotels, swanky eateries, bike rental stands, and public docks. The corner road, buttressed between two busy boulevards, momentarily softened the big city din of construction drills, emergency sirens,

By Robert Gluck/JNS.org  Steven Spielberg’s films, including his latest, “Lincoln,” continue to reflect his Jewish upbringing. Like most movies, the script of the legendary director’s life and career begins with some adversity—he was initially ashamed of his religious identity. Born in Ohio to a Jewish family, Spielberg’s mother, Leah Adler, was a restaurateur and concert

By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Daniel Ford was born in a Catholic hospital in Boston and grew up Catholic in the city area. Now in his 60s, the book author and New Yorker magazine writer has penned a humorous look at Catholicism, but without rancor or bitterness. Titled ”The Lapsed Catholic Catechism: The

By David Amos SAN DIEGO –During the weeklong celebration of Hannukah, which just finished, I was pleased to find Radio Hannukah on the Sirius-XM satellite radio in the car. It was a special channel, entirely devoted, 24 hours a day, to recorded music related to the festival. Most of it was Hannukah music, while other

By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan– When British cookbook author and international foodie Marlena Spieler flew to Taiwan recently for a four-day visit at the invitation of the government tourist bureau, she immediately fell in love with Taipei, its people and its delicious foods. Spieler is the veteran author of over 50 food and travel

  By Robert Gluck/JNS.org   In the world of ideas and imagination, Rod Serling lives on.  Known for his work on the television show “The Twilight Zone,” Serling was born to a Jewish family in Syracuse, NY. Although it has been 37 years since his death, his work still has a notable impact. Serling was the inspiration

By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — I have known Peter Kubicek for several years now, and we often correspond by email, forwarding news links about all kinds of subjects, mostly on Jewish themes, from one Internet mail box to the other. Kubricek is in his early 80s and was born in Czechoslavkia in 1930.

By Steve Karras Much has been made of Matisyahu since he took clippers to his dangling beard and side-curls, 86’d the black fedora, and shockingly emerged from his Hasidic outer shell one year ago.  Recent photos of the international hip hop reggae sensation now reveal a clean shaven, hip rocker, looking more like he came

  By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — Hollywood is a long way from Taiwan, but I like to keep in touch with the place via the Internet, and American movies are on Taiwanese TV movie channels all the time. But recently I came across a movie maven in California who knows more about Hollywood