Choreographer Paul Taylor has never demonstrated any fondness for religion. But in his latest premiere, “In the Beginning,” he uses his satirical wit as the primary narrative voice for the book of Genesis. The ballet, which made its New York City debut with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at City Center on March 3 and…
Paintings by the German artist David Stern announce themselves with the subtlety of a lion’s roar. A quick glance reveals an awesome abundance of paint: gummy impasto surfaces inches thick, rough and uneven like a tempest-torn sea. This first impression is so strong, in fact, that it is not uncommon to see no more in…
Howard Stern, the radio shock-jock who delights in tweaking minorities, gays and women, is emerging as liberalism’s newest and most unlikely poster boy after unveiling his latest persona: dump-Bush militant. Stern, who has habitually endorsed Republicans and helped elect at least two Republican governors, announced his opposition to President Bush’s reelection earlier this month, protesting…
Jeremy is a 14-year-old in dire need of a liver transplant, which in his case stands a good chance of success, but his parents are reluctant to give their consent; they are the ones who would bear the burden of the child’s long-term care, not the surgeon or hospital. The surgeon, not understanding the parents’…
The apparent evolution of Al Qaeda into a loose network of autonomous terrorist cells, as a result of U.S.-led attacks on Osama bin Laden’s inner circle, may be having the unintended effect of boosting the importance of Jewish targets as a primary focus of international Islamic terrorism. Declassified U.S. documents, German court testimony and interviews…
‘No one,” recently wrote political commentator Yosi Verter in the Hebrew newspaper Ha’aretz, in an article on the attitude of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s fellow Likud politicians to the financial scandals threatening him, “wants to appear to be dancing on the blood.” By “dancing on the blood” — roked al ha-dam — Verter meant taking…
Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and his Kabbalistic Fellowship By Lawrence Fine Stanford University Press, 504 pages, $25.95. * * *| He was a charismatic preacher from the Galilee whose teachings challenged the regnant Jewish doctrines of his day and undermined rabbinical authority. He communed with the spirits of the…
Poet Natan Yonatan (1923-2004) was a symbol of an Israel that no longer exists. The prize-winning people’s poet from a strong socialist background published 20 volumes of poetry translated into several languages, yet he was never fully accepted by the intellectual establishment. Still, it is not for his lyrical poems nor his verses about nature…
WASHINGTON — Israel’s housing minister, Effi Eitam, called on American Jews this week to “speak out, both as Americans and as supporters of Israel” against his own prime minister’s plan for disengagement in Gaza. “American Jewry should approach this issue both as citizens of a superpower that is fighting a global war against terrorism… and…
When diagnosed with breast cancer more than two years ago, Naomi Spira was inundated with pot roast dinners from kindly neighbors. She was somewhat surprised, though, when a distant relative sent a large bag of toys with a note instructing her to dole them out to her children whenever she needed a break. Spira decided…
The ex-Soviet republic of Uzbekistan is the largest and wealthiest of the core states of Central Asia, and it is home to 23 million citizens, 88% of whom are Muslim. Few Americans can find it — or its capital, Tashkent — on a map, a point that was highlighted in a popular American TV sitcom,…
