Emily K. Alhadeff Associate Editor This story complements the JTNews’ new podcast, “A Freilechen Seattle,” available here or at the iTunes store. Subscribe to The Transcript podcast on iTunes. Jeffrey Grossman’s retirement dream was to learn Yiddish. “As I got older, I can’t tell you what it was, it litContinue Reading
By Erin Pike, JTNews Correspondent On March 30, two weeks before the liberation-themed holiday of Passover, the Stroum Jewish Community Center and Jewish Family Service are hosting a performance of “Freedom Song,” a musical workshop about freedom from addiction. “Freedom Song” is an original production of Los Angeles-based Beit T’Shuvah,Continue Reading
By Tori Gottlieb, JTNews Correspondent Late last month, University of Washington Hillel opened its doors to the artwork of Alice C. Gray, a local oil painter whose most recent works center around a the Jewish community living in Russia’s Far East. Gray’s project was inspired by a trip she tookContinue Reading
By Emily K. Alhadeff, Associate Editor, JTNews Two poor children, desperate for milk for their ailing mother, go to the marketplace to perform for spare change, only to be drowned out by a wicked organ grinder — Brundibár — who monopolizes the audience. But with a little resilience and helpContinue Reading
By Erin Pike, Special to JTNews Editor’s Note: This article by writer Erin Pike is somewhat graphic, and may make you uncomfortable, but we feel those sections are important and necessary to stimulate the discussion Erin’s situation requires. For some reason I feel the need to say this first: IContinue Reading
Gigi Yellen-Kohn JTNews Correspondent Yaniv is not an uncommon name in Israel. Like all Hebrew names, it has a deeper meaning tucked inside. “It means to bear, as a tree bears fruit,” says Maestro Yaniv Attar from his new home in Bellingham. Now in his first season as music directorContinue Reading
By Michael Fox, Special to JTNews Wladyslaw Pasikowski’s extraordinary “Aftermath” is a rare, delicious example of a filmmaker fearlessly exposing a grievous chapter in his or her country’s history. You can well imagine that everyone prefers that the secret, and the amoral failings of a prior generation, remain buried, butContinue Reading
By Erin Pike, JTNews Correspondent “Brave Miss World” is an absolute must-see documentary about Linor Abargil, the winner of the 1998 Miss Israel and Miss World pageants, and her journey as she becomes a fearless activist for victims of rape. Abargil was raped six weeks prior to the 1998 MissContinue Reading
By Erin Pike, JTNews Correspondent Germany, 1933: Two performers, Siegfried Meyer and Hans Zeisig, star in a Hitler/Stalin comedy act. As Hitler gains power and control, Meyer joins the resistance and Zeisig is asked to portray increasingly offensive Jewish stereotypes. With conditions in Germany growing worse each day, Zeisig decidesContinue Reading
By Michael Fox, Special to JTNews Art challenges us with all manner of serrated edges, not least the paradox that beautiful and beloved works can be produced by loathsome — or at least deeply flawed — people. I find that it becomes easier over time to ignore the repugnant personalitiesContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist The words “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” automatically brings a certain tune and song to the minds of almost all readers. Whether or not you were alive when this Allan Sherman song became a hit, most Americans know it or have heard it parodied — thoughContinue Reading
By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist Holocaust Helga’s Diary: A Young Girl’s Account of Life in a Concentration Camp by Helga Weiss (Norton, cloth, $24.95). What makes this Holocaust memoir different than others is that the author’s diary survived the Shoah. A quick thinking 15-year-old, she lied about her age whenContinue Reading
On Feb. 14 each year, many Americans watch “Casablanca” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. As time goes by, the Jewish influences on the Oscar-winning 1940s romantic film become more apparent. Jews involved in the production of “Casablanca” includec Murray Burnett, the author of the play on which the movie wasContinue Reading
By Robert Gluck, JNS.org On Feb. 14 each year, many Americans watch “Casablanca” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. As time goes by, the Jewish influences on the Oscar-winning 1940s romantic film become more apparent. Jews involved in the production of “Casablanca” includec Murray Burnett, the author of the play on whichContinue Reading
A family film whose most ardent admirers will be children, “The Zigzag Kid†is fueled by primal adolescent urges. Not the ones you’re thinking of, but the pressing need to comprehend the past, navigate the present, and manipulate the future.Continue Reading
Wisely shunning a staid narrator in favor of archival audio and TV interviews with the late impresario, augmented with passionate recollections by the likes of Roscoe Lee Browne, Christopher Walken, Mandy Patinkin and playwright David Hare, the filmmakers create a vivid impression of a man whose métier was in-person communication.Continue Reading
Wladyslaw Pasikowski’s extraordinary “Aftermath†is a rare, delicious example of a filmmaker fearlessly exposing a grievous chapter in his or her country’s history.Continue Reading
By Tom Tugend, JTA World News Service LOS ANGELES (JTA)—In her 110 years, Alice Herz-Sommer has been an accomplished concert pianist and teacher, a wife and mother—and a prisoner in Theresienstadt. Now she is the star of an Oscar-nominated documentary showing her indomitable optimism, cheerfulness and vitality despite all theContinue Reading
By Michael Fox, Special to JTNews When “The Monuments Men” was bumped from a prime December release date to this Friday, the company line was that co-writer-director-star George Clooney needed more time to properly finish the film. Now that I’ve seen the movie, another explanation presents itself: Lacking dynamic charactersContinue Reading
By Dikla Tuchman, JTNews Correspondent While most Seattle hip-hop fans have jumped on the Macklemore bandwagon, another local rapper has been creating music that’s just as powerful. Nissim, an African-American, Orthodox Jewish hip- hop artist is joining his familial roots with the roots of his adopted religion. Joined by RabbiContinue Reading
