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literature
Home and Jerusalem
The two greatest Jewish inventions of the 20th century are, to my mind at least, Hollywood and Israel. Jews founded Hollywood to help the world escape reality; they founded Israel to help Jews escape the world.
Guide to Torah fleshes out flat characters in stories
Etshalom\’s book cannot replace a study partner; no single book can do that. I\’m sure that Etshalom would agree with me on this point, but his book is not meant to do that. Etshalom\’s book is meant as a sort of introductory field guide to Torah.
Posters by Czech Students Bring Back Lost ‘Neighbors’
The Czech nation, in its many incarnations, has figured prominently in Jewish lore and literature. It has spawned the Golem and Franz Kafka, to say nothing of the recent Maurice Sendak and Tony Kushner collaboration, \”Brundibar,\” a play that was staged by the Berkeley and Yale repertory theaters and that took its story of children who vanquish a monstrous adult, a stand-in for Hitler or fascism in general, from an opera written in the Terezin ghetto at the time of the Holocaust.
Eluding Death Gives Life to Roth Novel
Eluding death is the central issue of life for Philip Roth\’s nameless leading character in his newest novel, \”Everyman\” (Houghton Mifflin). A thrice-married and divorced retired advertising executive, Roth\’s lonely everyman wants to keep on with the messy business of his life — \”he didn\’t want the end to come a minute earlier than it had to\” — even as friends get sick and die around him, and his own body\’s failings persist. \”Old age,\” Roth writes, \”isn\’t a battle, it\’s a massacre.\”
The ‘Chosen’ Ones Across the Street
It has long been a cliché that Los Angeles does not respect the culture of the book. It is true that this town famously eviscerated Faulkner and Fitzgerald, that Hollywood suits to this day treat screenwriters the way Henry VIII treated his wives. Yet, it is also true that Los Angeles has spawned unique brands of literature, such as the hard-boiled detective story.
7 Days in The Arts
Hollywood Fight Club\’s current production \”A Lively … and Deathly Evening With Woody Allen\” brings to the stage three written works by the Neurotic One. Woody Allen\’s \”God,\” \”Death Knocks\” and \”Mr. Big\” all deal with existential dilemmas as only Allen can.
Jewish school spirit can be found in abundance on the USC campus this weekend. The Jewish Student Film Festival has coordinated a weekend of Jewish activities, which culminates in today\’s film fest. Friday evening, attend Shabbat services at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion followed by Shabbat dinner at USC Hillel; Saturday, attend \”Jewzika: A Night of Jewish Musicians\” featuring Dov Kogen and the Hidden, SoCalled and the Moshav Band.
Nathan Takes a Bite Out of Boring Fare
\”I never think of food as something that\’s stationary,\” Nathan said on a recent book tour stop in Los Angeles. \”Things change, neighborhoods change, food changes, we get new ingredients, people get ideas. And when you come to a country you adapt what you knew to that country.\”
Beware of Formerly Observant Writers
In Shalom Auslander\’s recent collection of short stories, \”Beware of God,\” God appears as many, many things, except for the Almighty, All-Knowing, Omniscient powerful Being He has traditionally been for the last however many-thousand years (depending on which religion you ask).
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