A powerful novel of love and loss and the reverberating effects of historical atrocities on our children, \”Great House\” by Nicole Krauss (Norton, $24.95) is a testimony to the relentless grip of memory on our present, a series of interconnected stories rendered with poise and striking clarity.
It’s not every Jewish girl whose parents commission a new work by a renowned classical composer for her bat mitzvah, but then Dora Schoenberg’s lineage made a musical tribute all but mandatory.
Shmuly is the least typical Chasidic Jew you will ever meet. The guy\’s an anomaly. He will never cut his beard, and he always wears a yarmulke, no matter where he goes, but he will go anywhere. I mean, you can find him backstage at a Paul Oakenfold concert, or ranking third place in a 5K run to cure cancer. This picture of him is from a jewelry line that loves Shmuly’s look and insisted that he be in their catalog. He was just asked to be in a Pink music video but turned it down because it would have required him to lie undressed in bed with Pink and, although he’s not square, for him it wasn’t that funny a concept.
With the introduction of photography in 1839, pioneer practitioners of the nascent medium flocked to the Holy Land, expecting the glorious biblical scenes imagined by Renaissance painters, but finding instead mainly dusty villages and a largely ramshackle Jerusalem.
“We ride for those who died” — that’s the motto of the national Police Unity Tour (PUT), a grueling, three-day bicycle ride in which teams of police officers from across the United States pedal to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. The annual spring event is held to honor the memory of officers killed each year in the line of duty.
Comedian Mark Schiff and author and family therapist Mark Brenner host an evening of laughter and learning. Schiff, who toured with Jerry Seinfeld, opens with his razor-sharp wit. Brenner, known as The Family Whisperer, discusses his four-step blueprint for good parenting. A Q-and-A follows the show, providing select members of the audience with an opportunity to come on stage and talk with Brenner about their issues.
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