Friday, July 30th 2021 |
By ALAN SMASON, Special to the CCJN
“The World of Bob Dylan“ edited by Sean Latham. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, United Kingdom ©2021. 351 p.
Beginning with the pivotal musical period of the Folk Era and the later emergence of rock, the mysterious figure of Bob Dylan has exerted an influence that can best be described as iconic. But despite many biographers, the man born as Robert Allen Zimmerman in...
(JNS.org) – Jackie Mason, a former rabbi who went from Catskills comic to hit one-man shows, passed away on Saturday at the age of 93.
Mason died at 6:00 p.m. at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. His death was confirmed by longtime friend and entertainment lawyer Raoul Felder, AP reported.
His memory was honored by celebrities of all stripes. Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld” fame tweeted, “I took my folks to...
By PHILISSA CRAMER
(JTA) — Jackie Mason, who died Saturday at 93, didn’t always set out to be a comedian. In fact, it wasn’t until he was 30 that he left behind the Orthodox rabbinate for irreverent open-mic nights.
Mason, born Yacov Moshe Maza to Orthodox parents, was one of the last survivors of the Borscht Belt comedy circuit that propelled a host of Jewish funnymen, including Jerry Stiller and...
By JACQUELINE RODERICK
(Kveller via JTA) – Our deepest condolences go out to Rush lead singer and legendary bassist Geddy Lee, whose Jewish mom, Mary Weinrib, passed away on July 2, 2021. Weinrib, who was set to turn 96 on July 16, was not only a massive supporter of her son’s music career but she was also a Holocaust survivor.
In a moving tribute on Instagram, Lee shared a brief...
By BEN SALES
(JTA) — Three Jewish filmmakers working on a documentary about far-flung Jewish communities in Africa have been detained for days by Nigerian authorities and accused of aiding a separatist rebellion led by a Nigerian Jewish activist.
Their families say they were doing nothing of the sort.
They say the men were giving a Torah scroll to a small Jewish community in southern Nigeria — a gift as...
By EMILY BURACK
(JTA) — At the last Emmy Awards, “Schitt’s Creek,” the comedy from Jewish father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy, swept the night, winning every comedy category for its sixth and final season. While there’s no big Jewish show to cheer on for another powerhouse performance this year, there’s still a bevy of Jewish nominees, which were announced Tuesday.
Black Jewish actresses lead the way
Jurnee Smollett received her...
By ALAN SMASON, Special to the CCJN
He may not be Peter Fonda or Dennis Hopper, but Steve Goode is advancing towards New Orleans on his motorcycle as part of his self-guided “Great American Deli Schlepp” tomorrow, Saturday, July 3 at 11:30 a.m. at Stein’s Deli, 2207 Magazine Street.
The Chicago area native is using the 16,000 mile motorcycle trek to 42 delicatessens across a variety of states to call...
(JTA) — Yes, Quentin Tarantino is learning Hebrew — at the same speed as his toddler.
The famed non-Jewish American director, who has been married to Israeli singer and actress Daniella Pick since 2018, opened up Tuesday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” about his new life in Israel, which included a longer-than-expected stint in Tel Aviv during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The idea was that we would spend three to four...
By DAN FELLNER
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (JTA) – The large crate sat unopened in a 20,000-square-foot warehouse here for more than four decades, concealing a little-known fact about one of America’s cultural icons.
Inside was the headstone of Elvis Presley’s mother, Gladys, which had been stored in the Graceland archives along with 1.5 million other items since 1977. And on the upper left side of the long-unseen marker — designed by...
By RENEE GHERT ZAND
In the century or so since its founding as Israel’s first university, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has acquired a reputation as a driving force of Israeli innovation.
Four Nobel Prize winners and several recipients of the prestigious Israel Prize are among its more than 100,000 graduates and faculty — not to mention creators of billion-dollar companies, life-saving medical technologies, and too many startups and innovative...
