Ran and Dan Alterman are Israel\’s reigning triathlon champions. For the past four years, they have dominated the sport in their native land. Now, they look to bring their success to the international arena.
\”South Park\” is known for its irreverent take on political and social issues of the day, and this episode is no different.
For years, Kyle\’s loud-mouthed friend Eric Cartman has slammed him for being Jewish. But in the beginning episodes of season eight, Cartman feels justified in his anti-Semitism after seeing \”The Passion.\” He taunts Kyle to watch the movie and prove him wrong.
The \”swift boat \” attack on Sen. John Kerry, supporting the Republican effort to portray him as a weak liberal, has special resonance among those Jews who will base their vote on whether they think a candidate will be tough enough in standing up for Israel.
When Bill Platt pitched his action-oriented \”Darklight\” TV movie two years ago, he hoped to create a new genre: \”Chai-Fi.\”\n\nThe 32-year-old filmmaker intended the project — inspired by the Jewish \”demoness\” Lilith — to merge his heritage with his sci-fi obsession.\n\n\”I wondered if I could make Jewish legend fun for audiences who liked \’The Matrix,\’ he said. \”And I wanted to see if I could create my own Jewish superhero.\”
To celebrate 100 years of offering interest-free loans to the needy, the Jewish Free Loan Association (JFLA) has put together a traveling photo exhibit that chronicles its growth from bit player to an integral part of the city\’s Jewish philanthropic network.
Tony Eprile opens up the complex terrain of a changing South Africa in \”The Persistence of Memory.\”
This is an ambitious novel, a novel of many ideas. Eprile is a gifted storyteller who delves into the inner life and family, and also politics, social commentary and warfare. The literary thread that links these different kinds of stories — whether accounts of sensual meals, embarrassing school episodes or brutal battles — and propels the narrative is suggested by the title: the way that memory, the act of remembering, shapes life and history.
\”Shanda: The Making and Breaking of a Self-Loathing Jew\” by Neal Karlen (Touchstone, $23). Like Bob Dylan a decade before him, writer Neal Karlen turned up on Rabbi Manis Friedman\’s doorstep in St. Paul, Minn., in desperate search of his soul.
The Los Angeles Jewish community is blessed with many spirited, talented and prolific leaders.
From the Israel Museum in Jerusalem to the Museum of the Negev in Beersheba; from the walls of Reverend Al Sharpton\’s home in New York to the mantle of photographer Irene Furtik\’s home in Santa Monica, Ethiopian Israeli art has arrived.
Purists were skeptical when Sarah Aroeste debuted her Ladino rock \’n\’ roll band back in 2001. Most artists singing in the fading Sephardic language were traditionalists, performing classical versions of songs dating to the Jews\’ expulsion from Spain in 1492.\n\nBut here was Aroeste, mixing rock and jazz with the flamenco and Middle Eastern-tinged music of her ancestors, singing those same lush romances accompanied by electric guitar as well as oud. And, the New York press noted, she was doing so while performing with a bare midriff and gyrating hips — moves that led several publications to label her \”The Jewish Shakira.\”
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