Gaby Friedman
Television – Bruce Feiler’s Biblical Road Trip
The three-part \”Walking the Bible With Bruce Feiler\” follows the recent documentary trend of sending a charismatic host to a series of dangerous or hard-to-get-to places. Accompanied on occasion by archaeologists, scholars, Egyptologists, and theologians, Feiler tracks his way through places in the Middle East where the biblical stories of Genesis and Exodus are assumed to have occurred.
Illuminating Tales of Modern Maccabees
In Myra Goldberg\’s short story, \”Who Can Retell,\” reprinted in the National Public Radio anthology, \”Hanukkah Lights, Stories of the Season\” (Melcher Media, 2005), a young girl is concerned that her school\’s holiday glee club is singling out all the Jewish students to sing Chanukah songs.
Spectator – It’s Hip to Be Chutzpah
When you think of hip-hop or rap, you don\’t generally think of jowl-necked septuagenarians or skinny, psyched-out white guys rapping about the tsuris their mother gives them, but then again, you don\’t generally think of Jews either.
Fifty Nifty Tribemembers
There are, according to The Forward newspaper\’s recently published \”Forward 50\” — a listing of the 50 most-influential Jews in America — at least seven Angelenos whose voices are being heard way beyond the West Coast.
A Small Man With Big Dreams
Thirty-seven year old Ami Ankilewitz weighs just 39 pounds; he suffers from a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy, which has prevented his muscles from growing and functioning. As a result, his body is skeletal; his small, fragile bones seem mangled and twisted, thinly covered by skin pulled tight. His eyes stare out dark and black from a gaunt, bony face, which appears too large and too animated for Ami\’s debilitated body.
Enter Three Little Maidelehs
For strictly observant women, being Orthodox can often mean putting a kibosh on artistic aspirations. Halachic prohibitions against singing and dancing in front of men means that many women who enjoy those art forms find they have little opportunity to perform.
Enter Margy Horowitz, a Los Angeles-based piano teacher from Chicago who\’d heard about all-women\’s productions in her hometown from a friend. Intrigued, she started envisioning an all-women\’s production for Los Angeles with women not only just in the cast, but also in the audience.
Madonna and the Elusive Isaac
Now, on her latest album \”Confessions on a Dance Floor,\” the track that is receiving the most attention and critical acclaim is one called \”Isaac.\” About a month before the CD\’s release on Nov. 15, rabbis in Israel claimed the song was about Rabbi Isaac Luria, the 16th-century kabbalist better known as the Arizal, and they blasted Madonna for using his holy name for profit.
The New ‘King’ of KROQ
The lyrics are from \”King Without a Crown\” by Matisyahu, the sensational Chasidic reggae artist whose CD, \”Live at Stubbs,\” is already No. 3 on the Billboard reggae charts. (\”King Without A Crown\” stands at No. 24 on Billboard\’s modern rock chart.)
New Setting Could Bring New Faces
There is an old Jewish saying that if you change your place, you change your luck. The organizers of the 21st annual Israel Film Festival are putting it to the test.
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