Masha Leon
By Masha Leon
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The Schmooze Francois Hollande, France’s President Honored at Appeal Of Conscience Dinner
“Je suis la France!” declared Rabbi Arthur Schneier founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation addressing a veritable United Nations assemblage at its 2016 Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria as he introduced the event’s honoree France’s president Francois Hollande. Touting M. Hollande as “ someone who has “established himself as an integral player in…
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The Schmooze That Time Bob Dylan Went To Shul Incognito
When Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize for Literature announcement hit the waves, what immediately came to mind was my mother’s oft-repeated Yiddish assurance: “az men lebt-derlebt men” (if one lives long enough…. one lives —to experience being appreciated, rewarded…) I don’t recall the dates and/or venues in 1990-91 at which I had met him—possibly a convention/concert…
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The Schmooze Revisiting a Conversation With Film ’Denial”s Real David Irving
Watching “Denial” — the riveting film recreation of the libel suit brought against Prof. Deborah Lipstadt [British actress Rachel Weisz] by British Holocaust denier David Irving [British actor Timothy Small]— I had a visceral reaction. Notwithstanding his stellar portrayal as Holocaust denier Irving, Small [who portrayed Churchill in “The King’s Speech”] did not physically match…
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The Schmooze Ronald Lauder Welcomes Austria’s Christian Kern at Neue Galerie
“You all think ‘he’ came here for the United Nations when in reality he came to see the [new] Klimt show here—which we think is more exciting than the United Nations”— joshed Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, welcoming Austria’s Chancellor Christian Kern to the Neue Galerie. Introducing him as “very much a…
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The Schmooze Remembering Shimon Peres “A Peacemaker Among Peacemakers”
Shimon Peres —former Prime Minister of Israel and Nobel Laureate who died in Tel Aviv at 93 on September 27— left a most memorable imprint with his address at the September 18, 2000 Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation dinner at the Waldorf Astoria at which he was the honoree. In keeping with…
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The Schmooze ‘Maestro’ Hershey Felder Showcases a Yiddish Leonard Bernstein You Never Knew
Filing in to 59E59 Theaters for “Maestro”— Hershey Felder’s bravura impersonation of and tribute to Leonard Bernstein—ticketholders were greeted with a stage projection of archival TV footage showcasing a young handsome Leonard Bernstein in lecture mode. Felder—as Bernstein—in word and at the keyboard—launches this autobiographical-cum-musical recitative by recalling his father Samuel Bernstein’s antipathy to piano…
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The Schmooze Benjamin Brafman Toasts Dr. Howard Cedar at Israel Cancer Research Fund Gala
“Am delighted to see that there is no height requirement to be Consul General of Israel,” joshed criminal lawyer Benjamin Brafman, emcee at the September 13th Israel Cancer Research Fund Tower of Hope Gala, as he introduced Israel’s newly appointed consul to New York Dani Dayan who delivered a brief address to the 300 guests…
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The Schmooze Discussing ‘Demon’ with Film’s Executive Producer Olga Szymanska
“Demon”—a weird, mesmerizing film by Polish writer/director Marcin Wrona—dubbed by some as a reworking of “The Dybbuk” — is akin to a cinematic nightmare for those of us who experienced Poland’s pre-war anti-Semitism and survived to see the attempt—by some—to gloss over that painful past. The film opens with English-speaking Peter (wonderful Israeli actor Itay…
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