Bob Dylan was already rather fond of self-reinvention when, in early 1964, he arrived in Hollywood, metaphorically, via the photography of Barry Feinstein. There, for a moment, and only a moment, he transformed into the poet that people frequently still want him to be. “Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript” — the recently released book in…
My husband’s first gift when we began dating was a slim volume of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s classic work “The Sabbath.” It was his way of saying, “Welcome to my world.” And a different world it was. Here we were, two middle-aged people, who each had taken a Jewish journey for more than 40 years, facing…
FOOD ALLERGY GALA NOTES: ALLERGIES NOT JUST SNIFFLES — THEY CAN KILL “I bit into a piece of bread on Swedish TV and passed out. My system shut down,” said Marcus Samuelsson, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Food Allergy Initiative’s Food Allergy Ball, held December 8, 2008, at the Waldorf-Astoria. Executive chef…
According to Raymond Sokolov’s book, Why We Eat What We Eat, “Before Columbus, there were no apples in the Americas. Settlers brought seeds and grafts, hoping to recreate their old way of life.” Any American who has ever given a teacher an apple (or seen a movie where such an exchange occurred), uttered the words,…
Birthright Israel, one of the most prominent organizations promoting Jewish identity among young adults, has worked out a deal with its largest donor to confirm a $20 million pledge that had been in question for the coming year. Officials at Birthright Israel, which sends young Jews on free trips to Israel, say that the organization…
Chanukah gelt always seems like a good idea at the beginning of December, but these days, the chocolate just doesn’t seem worth fighting with the foil to eat. Similar to Rhea Yablon Kennedy’s experience, we wanted to find another way to use up our leftovers. When my roomies came back from a trip to Ohio…
Washington — The U.S. Congress completed Friday its show of support for Israel’s attack on Gaza with an overwhelming majority of House members approving a non-binding resolution backing Israel. On Thursday the Senate adopted a similar resolution by unanimous consent. The resolutions not only demonstrated once again the wall-to-wall support Israel enjoys among Capitol Hill…
NEWS ITEM: Bernard Madoff, a heretofore widely respected New York financier, has been charged by federal authorities with master-minding a massive alleged Ponzi scheme — assumed to be the largest in history. Madoff has played an active role within the Jewish community. The central point, the vital crux: He stole some fifty billion bucks! That’s…
Much of the civilized world is mourning the death of Helen Suzman, whose tireless efforts on behalf of the disenfranchised and the downtrodden were a bright and noble light that shone in the darkness of the apartheid parliament. Helen has left a mighty legacy of achievement and set a potent example of holding power to…
Hasidic singing sensation Lipa Schmeltzer was set to perform last March before a crowd of thousands at Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theater in New York. The concert, a charity fundraiser, was billed as “The Big Event.” Then, less than three weeks before the concert date, 33 ultra-Orthodox rabbis — including some of the community’s most…
Washington — As Israel’s military campaign in Gaza entered its second week, Capitol Hill became the latest battleground where Jewish hawks and doves are trying to shape the American response to the ongoing violence. Dovish groups bombarded lawmakers with calls and e-mails in an attempt to influence the wording of pro-Israel resolutions being shaped in…
