March 13, 2003

Megillah of Mixed Messages

Pearl Salkin March 13, 2003

It\’s time to take out the groggers, make some noise and watch the parade of mini Esthers at the local synagogues and Jewish schools.

Who Will Be Esther?

Amy Klein March 13, 2003

I\’ve always had an affinity for Esther, the Persian queen who saved the Jews and had an entire megillah named for her.

On a cloudy afternoon in Hollywood, Paul and Chris Weitz are recounting how their late father, legendary fashion designer John Weitz, dressed down a man who dissed their raunchy comedy, \”American Pie.\”

Out of ‘Africa’

Naomi Pfefferman March 13, 2003

When German filmmaker Caroline Link read Stefanie Zweig\’s 1995 autobiographical novel, \”Nowhere in Africa,\” she was riveted by the unusual Holocaust story. The book describes how 5-year-old Zweig and her parents fled the Nazis to Kenya, where the girl fell in love with the harshly beautiful land.

Model Virtuoso

Naomi Pfefferman March 13, 2003

In 1993, Russian virtuoso Nina Kotova was stuck in Manhattan without money, an apartment or a cello. \”I was desperate,\” said Kotova, who will perform Jewish music from her new CD March 16, 2 p.m. at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. So she dabbed on some makeup for the first time in her life and strode into the Ford Modeling Agency, where her resemblance to icons such as Paulina Porizkova caused a stir.