Benjamin Ivry


Geza Vermes, Hungarian Bible Scholar Who Returned to Jewish Roots, Dies at 88

By Benjamin Ivry

Geza Vermes, Hungarian Bible Scholar Who Returned to Jewish Roots, Dies at 88
The renowned Hungarian Jewish biblical scholar Geza Vermes, who died of cancer at age 88, disproved the old canard ‘You can’t go home again’ — at least when it comes to Judaism.Read More

Joyce Brothers, Brought Jewish Sensibility to Suburbia Through TV, Dies at 85

By Benjamin Ivry

Joyce Brothers, Brought Jewish Sensibility to Suburbia Through TV, Dies at 85
The Jewish psychologist Joyce Brothers, who died May 13 of respiratory failure at age 85, became an improbable authority on how to live in the mid-century suburban age.Read More

Vladimir Nabokov and the Jews

By Benjamin Ivry

Vladimir Nabokov and the Jews
One of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, Vladimir Nabokov, author of ‘Lolita’ and ‘Pale Fire’ had a rich history with the Jewish people.Read More

Russian Jews on the Silver Screen

By Benjamin Ivry

Russian Jews on the Silver Screen
My Dad Is Baryshnikov,” directed by Dmitry Povolotsky, about a klutzy Russian Jewish version of Billy Elliot, is among the latest in a tradition of Russian Jews ardently seeking reflections of their own experience onscreen. This impulse dates back to the earliest years of cinema history, as is explained in the brilliantly researched “Kinojudaica: Representations of Jews in Russian and Soviet Cinema from the 1910s to the 1980s.”Read More

Remembering Hungarian Cello Master János Starker

By Benjamin Ivry

Remembering Hungarian Cello Master János Starker
János Starker, the Jewish cellist who died at 88, was one of the most accomplished musicians of his age. His uncompromising style never hid a fierce elegance.Read More



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