Charles Krauthammer knows his way around the written word. But next month, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist and his wife, artist Robyn Krauthammer, will unveil a project devoted to the music note. Pro Musica Hebraica, a new Washington-based organization spearheaded by the couple, will be devoted to highlighting historically neglected works of Jewish art…
Etgar Keret is well known as an Israeli fiction writer; now, he’s also an Israeli filmmaker. Keret and his wife, Shira Geffen, co-directed “Meduzot” (“Jellyfish”), an independent film written by Geffen. The movie won the coveted Caméra d’Or Prize at the Festival de Cannes in 2007 and opens in New York on April 4. “Jellyfish”…
As many of us know, tzedakah doesn’t actually mean “charity.” It means “righteousness.” But our family generally uses tzedakah to mean donating money or goods, and mitzvot to mean doing good deeds. My desire to have my children engaged in acts of tikkun olam — repairing the world — is entirely selfish: If my children…
For Sandee Hier, making a Friday night challah was no ordinary endeavor. With a husband and two kids who are gluten intolerant, creating bread that measures up in taste and appearance to the real thing was a mighty challenge. But after five years of experimenting in the kitchen, Hier finally came up with something she…
The saffron in the cake adds not only its distinctive beautiful color but also an elegant earthiness. Remember, rosewater and orange blossom water (which can be found in the baking sections of most grocery stores) are exotic and potent. A little goes a long way. This recipe can also be used to make a gorgeous…
Sydney, Australia — Australia’s tight-knit ultra-Orthodox community is being roiled by allegations that the principal of a girls’ high school molested a number of her former students. Malka Leifer, headmistress of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Girls’ School for the past five years, left the country within 24 hours of board members confronting her with allegations of…
Los Angeles – Last December, when Sharron Aisenman read in her local newspaper about a lawsuit over a city council member’s alleged antisemitic remarks, it was the first she had heard of anti-Jewish bias in her tiny, overwhelmingly Latino city tucked away in Los Angeles County’s San Fernando Valley. And, she determined, it would also…
Early next month, representatives of Orthodox Jewish communities from across North America — from cities such as Indianapolis, New Orleans and Edmonton, Alberta — will gather in Manhattan to make the case that their hometowns offer something that New York City can’t: affordability. The Orthodox Union, an umbrella organization representing some 1,000 Modern Orthodox congregations,…
With the national mortgage crisis growing worse by the day, a Boston lawyer is looking to alleviate matters by appealing to Jewish law. David Grossack, an attorney representing an elderly couple whose home is being foreclosed on, argued in a letter to a Boston rabbinical court, or beit din, that his opposing counsel, Jewish lawyers…
Haifa, Israel — Israelis in the West Bank woke up earlier this week to be informed that they now live under Palestinian rule, though they were restored to Israeli rule on Friday. Who was responsible for changing the map, and how did it change back so quickly? As it turns out, the Israelis in question…
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC AND TONY BENNETT APPLAUD LEONARD BERNSTEIN At the February 6 American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra tribute to Leonard Bernstein (with which the composer had a 40-year-long association), Bernstein’s daughter Jamie, the gala host, informed: “‘Candide’ was father’s valentine to Europe… [but] he blossomed when in Israel.” Addressing the black-tie crowd at…
