Pianist Emanuel Ax marks his 40th anniversary performing with the L.A. Philharmonic with this return for the introspective and compelling concerto-in-one-movement by Franck, “Symphonic Variations.”
Step aside, brides — those indulgent pre-wedding salon, spa and grooming gatherings are no longer exclusively your domain!
Sagi Alkobi almost didn’t go on the Taglit-Birthright Israel trip.
More than 7,000 couples around the world already have used Wedivite, the first free, socially integrated digital platform exclusively for weddings.
Artists and creative newlyweds are finding new ways to make the trappings and ceremonial elements of Jewish weddings their own — and then to have these mementos live on and remain useful long after the actual ceremony.
For interfaith couples who choose a Jewish identity for their families — even ones who have shared holidays with their extended families and answered questions for years — a bar or bat mitzvah raises new questions.
Robert Leeds’ bar mitzvah party last February was something special. During the cocktail hour, Cirque du Soleil entertainers roller-skated on a half-pipe. The celebration — which had a British invasion theme with English guards, a teahouse and traditional pub food — also featured Leeds playing electric guitar with a Beatles tribute band and participating in a breakdance routine with his brothers, Jonathan and Andrew, and an ensemble of dancers.
A wedding that costs $100,000? A bar mitzvah that costs $20,000? When did extravagance and luxury become such primary Jewish values? I can’t remember the last simcha (Jewish celebration) I attended at which there were not tremendous amounts of wasted food, overly expensive napkins and bands large enough for a royal banquet.
More than 70 years after the beginning of Hollywood\’s Golden Age, when talkies became the rage and Jews routinely Anglicized their names, film factories are playing up the Jewish angle by hosting some of the largest and most unique b\’nai mitzvah parties in town.
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