Jewish History & Culture
171 posts found
-
Whose Nuremberg Laws Are They?
Sometimes we take for granted what is right in front of us. Consider that one of the most important documents of the 20th century is right here in Los Angeles, accessible and on view for all to visit. Few realize it; fewer still appreciate it. Although originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights can be found at the National Archives in Washington, and the Magna Carta and the Rosetta Stone are part of the… -
The Next Conversation
Can a conversation inspire a city? A people? Nextbook, an organization devoted to Jewish literature, culture and ideas (www.nextbook.org) came to L.A. last weekend, staging a full day festival at UCLA's MacGowan and Freud theaters called "Acting Jewish: Film, TV, Comedy, Music," the first of what it hopes to be an annual event. According to Nextbook Director Julie Sandorf, the notion of an L.A. festival was inspired by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, filmmaker and author David Mamet, whose book, "The Wicked… -
'Rebel with a Cause' (Andrew Stevens)
Andrew Stevens, a longtime Beverly Hills resident, successful businessman, active philanthropist and Hungarian Holocaust survivor, is hard to resist. He's in his late 70s but looks 15 years younger -- not because of his hair, which is darker than nature permits, but because of his energy, drive and determination. He has a quality I find hard to describe (but which many, who have had occasion to befriend Holocaust survivors, will recognize) that is annoying yet endearing. Let me explain: In… -
Treasures of the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
Can you tell the story of a people by its music? Last November, the classical music label Naxos released the 50th CD of its American Classics series, music from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, so the time has come to give the archive its props (just imagine Randy Jackson saying: Yo! Yo! Dog, check it out....) The Milken Archive defines American Jewish Music as "music inspired by or relating to the American Jewish experience." The Naxos recordings cover… -
ASSUME EVERYONE IS JEWISH
A couple of weeks ago I found myself in a seminar room at UCLA's Royce Hall attending a presentation by professor David Shneer of the University of Denver concerning Jewish museums in Los Angeles, a city he calls, "The Newest Jewish City in the World." As someone who has argued that Los Angeles is the premier Jewish city of the 21st century, I was eager to find academic support for my own theories. Everyone thinks of New York as the… -
Old Jewish Jokes
Tom Teicholz tellsJewish jokes Let us quote from sacred text: the 2005 Emmy Award acceptance speech by "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. Spaketh Stewart: "When I first said that I wanted us to put together a late-night comedy writing team that would only be 80 percent Ivy League-educated Jews, people thought I was crazy. They said you need 90, 95 percent. But we proved 'em wrong." Welcome to Jewish jokes in the 21st century. Not really a joke, more of… -
Mamet's Question
David Mamet has written a book, "The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred and the Jews" (Shocken/Nextbook), that is by turns bold, courageous, and outrageous -- it is a book that calls Diaspora Jews to the table and asks: "In or Out?" "The underlying premise of the book," Mamet told me recently, "is to all Jews: If you can't say of your fellow Jews ' my people,' get out of my way; I don't want to know you, because our people are… -
A DIFFERENT ISRAEL
When Israel is discussed these days, more often than not it is in terms of an existential crisis, or "the situation," or as the subject of international news headlines. However, reading recently published works by three different Israeli fiction authors, Etgar Keret, Benjamin Tammuz and A.B. Yehoshua, is a bracing reminder that there is an Israel beyond the headlines, a country that despite its short history and relatively small population has produced a world-class literature. Writing in modern Hebrew, a… -
Kaplan's Collage
Here's Marty Kaplan blogging on Huffington Post about suggested treatments for Mel Gibson's "problem": "'Jew Like Me' is another strategy. Walk a mile in my shoes. Gain 10 pounds at my table. Wait two hours after lunch before swimming. Laugh that ironic meta-laugh right along with us when Jon Stewart says, 'Jewey.' Sensitize yourself to code like 'New York Times' and 'neocon.' Defend Likud. Like halvah. Who knows -- you might even get a development deal out of it. 'Gentleman's… -
The Mad Adventures of Gerard Oury
"The King of popular comedy is dead," proclaimed Le Figaro after Gerard Oury, one of France's most successful directors (if not its most successful) died on Thursday, July 20, at his home in St. Tropez. I know Oury's work because as a teenager I went with my mother to New York's 68th Street Playhouse, an art house, to see a film called "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob." A French comedy about a rabbi? Seemed like a contradiction in terms.… -
A Little Respect (for Jewish journalism)
For the 20th anniversary issue of The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, it was suggested that I write a column about Jewish journalism. Herewith the result: Jewish journalism is a much-maligned enterprise -- it cries out like the late Rodney Dangerfield for respect. No one really admits to reading a Jewish newspaper. "It comes to my home," is what most people tell me. Or they claim to read it only when they can't get their hands on anything else. "I…