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William Berkowitz, 83, Leading New York Rabbi
Rabbi William Berkowitz, a longtime spiritual leader of a major New York City synagogue, died February 3. He was 83. Berkowitz served as senior rabbi at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun between 1950 and 1984. He was also well-known for creating the Dialogue Forum, an innovative series of public conversations with such figures as Martin Luther King,…
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Revolution on Stage
The Moscow Yiddish Theater: Art on Stage in the Time of Revolution By Benjamin Harshav, translated by Benjamin Harshav and Barbara Harshav Yale University Press, 248 pages, $45. In 1992, the Guggenheim Museum collaborated with scholar Benjamin Harshav on an exhibit of Marc Chagall’s legendary set designs for the Moscow State Yiddish Art Theater, known…
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Curious Linguists
You don’t have to be Spanish to study Spanish. You don’t have to be Chinese to study Chinese. But, do you have to be Jewish to study Yiddish? “It has come up in class at the National Yiddish Book Center,” said Amanda Lineweber, an 18-year-old Smith College student. “People think if there is no cultural…
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Beatle Mania
Folk singer Gerry Tenney breaks into song midway through an interview: “Ze ikh a royte tir ikh vill es farbn schvartz….” Sound familiar? Perhaps not in Yiddish, but in English: “I see a red door and I want it painted black….” Yes, the Rolling Stones classic is only the latest to which Tenney, 66, has…
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Lost in Translation: From Mameloshn to Belarusian
Aleksander Astraukh, editor of a 50,000-word Belarusian-Yiddish lexicon currently on press in Minsk, Belarus, admits that his is “not a normal dictionary.” A bridge between two languages equidistant from the mainstream, the book includes in its entries illustrations, idioms, etymologies and citations from the literature of both tongues, which have historically shared large swaths of…
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Haynt Iz der Geboyrn-tog fun George Washington!
Geboyrn-tog! A simkhe groys! Shoyn lang tsurik, in Vaysn Hoyz Iz dort a prezident geveyn Mit hor vi shney – a man mit kheyn. A khokhem, er hot “guaranteed” S’iz frayhayt – yeh! – far yedn Yid. A zeltnkeyt! A verdiker mentsh! A brokhe oyf im! Daven! Bentsh! An ander George voynt dortn yetst, Un…
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One Hundred Years Later, Still Talking
One hundred years ago, the great classical Yiddish writer I.L. Peretz declared Yiddish the national Jewish language, a tongue and a culture that had transcended the boundaries of the nation-state. “The folk, not the nation-state, is the modern concept! The people, not the Fatherland!” Peretz proclaimed at the First Conference for the Yiddish Language, held…
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Hollywood Story: Israeli Lands (Another) Big Role
It’s a real-life plotline familiar enough, and perverse enough, that it has become a running joke in the Israeli film industry: Actor forsakes Tel Aviv for the bright lights of Hollywood; actor struggles for years to get a part; actor finally gets cast, thanks to his dark looks and funny accent, as an Arab terrorist….
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History in the Making
Voting in this year’s primary was thrilling. As always, Josie accompanied me into the booth. She’s clueful about how it works now, after reading a number of books about the democratic process. Our favorite is the delightful picture book “Vote!” by Eileen Christelow (Clarion, 2003), which uses a pretend mayoral election to explain debates, fundraising,…
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Diamond Mogul Receives Angry Valentine
JDate users scouring the Jewish dating Web site in anticipation of Valentine’s Day may have found a surprising match. Lev Leviev, the controversial Israeli diamond mogul, had appeared to register a profile on the site, including such information as, “in my free time, I enjoy: Exploitation, Profiteering, Union-Busting, and Macrame.” The JDate profile was one…
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Boxer’s Story on the Big Screen
“ORTHODOX STANCE”: A FRUM MENSCH IN THE BOXING RING “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” that old joke goes. “Practice, practice,” is the reply. So if the question is, “How do you get to the White House?” a possible answer might be: “Box! Box!” Case in point: Jason Hutt’s new documentary, “Orthodox Stance,” which…
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