Printer Friendly

Email to A Friend

Friday March 21, 2008

Shorts: Art

Klezmer artists in Palo Alto for musical Shabbat

Klezmer master Yale Strom will spend an upcoming Shabbat at Palo Alto’s Congregation Kol Emeth, sharing his knowledge of Jewish music, and even singing some as well. The event takes place all day April 5.

In a Shabbat afternoon teach-in, musician/researcher Strom will give a brief history of the Yiddish language and its impact on Eastern European culture. That evening he will screen “A Man from Munkacs: Gypsy Klezmer,” a documentary he directed. It will be followed by a performance of live music from Strom and Yiddish singer Elizabeth Schwartz.

The event takes place at Congregation Kol Emeth, 4175 Manuela Ave., Palo Alto. For more information, call (650) 948-7498.

History Channel to air doc on Israeli munitions factory

In part two in its “Cities of the Underworld” series, the History Channel will air a documentary on the Ayalon Institute, a bullet factory that helped Israel win its War of Independence in 1948. The show airs 9 p.m. Monday, March 24.

Under the noses of the ruling British, Jewish rebels built their clandestine plant for the production of bullets. Using a kibbutz laundry room as cover, the fighters produced nearly three million bullets in three years. Located in Rehovot, Israel, the Ayalon Institute was declared a historic site in 1987.

Chassidic actor drops out of movie: ‘I made a big mistake’

An aspiring actor has quit a movie starring Natalie Portman because it outraged his ultra-Orthodox community, the actor said.

Rabbis “didn’t like the idea of a Chassidic guy playing in Hollywood,” said Abe Karpen, a Brooklyn cabinet salesman cast as Portman’s husband in the upcoming “New York, I Love You.” The project, a collection of 12 short love stories, has been shooting in New York.

Karpen, 25, told the Daily News a rabbi raised objections after seeing him on a set with Portman. “This is when I woke up and saw that I made a big mistake,” said Karpen, a father of three. “My community where I live means everything to me.”

“We don’t go to the movies, so to be in a movie is the worst thing,” said Chassidic community activist Isaac Weinberger.

Executive producer Jan Korbelin said he regretted that Karpen’s role in the film had caused distress. “This is the last thing this picture should be doing,” Korbelin said. “This film is about love and understanding between different people and communities.” — ap

Did you find this article interesting? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and you'll be notified each week when "J." goes online. We'll tell you about the most important stories of the week and give you a link to each one.

This page contains a BETA version of Amazon contextual links. They are marked by the dashed underline.  Your purchases support our site. At times they point to items which are not related to the actual link. Please alert us by email if you discover objectionable links.