Will Britney Become Jewish?  Has She?

By Rob Eshman
Published on July 14, 2009

Stormin’ da castle: Tony Curtis in Hollywood

Published on December 30, 2008

Curtis doesn't fully appreciate how much his on-screen allure owed to his being Jewish

‘Nick and Norah’ star Kat Dennings is infinitely Jewish, in her own way

By Amy Klein
Published on October 30, 2008

After an article about her appeared in Vanity Fair, she blogged, "push Aunt Nancy aside and throw open the screen door, because 'Hollywood's Next Wave' just got a lot Jewisher."

Streisand opens Obama fundraiser with Talmud lesson

By The Web Guy
Published on September 17, 2008

Tranforming the Synagogue—A Scorecard

By Richard Greenberg
Published on August 31, 2006

Synagogue transformation programs exude good intentions, but do they actually work?

Magen David Adom and the Case for Diplomacy

By Hillel Neuer
Published on June 29, 2006

After 75 years, humanitarianism prevailed over rejectionism. Last Thursday, in the early morning hours, delegates to the 29th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, assembled in Geneva from 192 states and 183 relief societies, voted by overwhelming majority to recognize the Magen David emblem and admit Israel's relief society.

7 Days in The Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on May 11, 2006

7 Days in the Arts.

7 Days in The Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on May 4, 2006

7 Days in the Arts.

An Ode to Parents and Other Strangers

By David Finnigan
Published on September 15, 2005

When Paul Reiser co-created and starred in the 1990s hit sitcom, "Mad About You," -- about a secular Jew married to a Christian -- he helped spur a new trend in TV comedy: the cute but neurotic Jewish leading man.

Read All About It

By Teresa Strasser
Published on February 3, 2005

There's nothing inherently wrong with reading celebrity gossip magazines. If you can do it in moderation, I applaud you (and please let me know if Lindsay Lohan's dad ever gets his act together). In my case, however, I was a problem reader and I had to put the magazines down.

Israel Serves Up a Star

By Bucky Fox
Published on August 26, 2004

Smashnova-Pistolesi has done it on the go. She was born 28 years ago in Minsk, Belarus. Her family moved to Israel when she was 14. She stays at her parents' home in Herzelia when she's in the country. She has her own home in Italy, where she lives with her husband, the former pro Claudio Pistolesi.

Meyers Writes Her Own Happy Ending

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on December 11, 2003

Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson star in Nancy Meyers' "Something's Gotta Give."

A decade ago, filmmaker Nancy Meyers became intrigued by a Hollywood friend who exclusively dated younger women.

"They were always between 25 and 30," said Meyers, 54, who directed the Mel Gibson hit, "What Women Want." "Over the years, he went from his 40s to his 60s, but the women never got any older."

Dr. Laura Loses Her Religion

By Lisa Keys
Published on August 21, 2003

Of her conversion to Judaism, Laura Schlessinger said, "I felt that I was putting out a tremendous amount toward that mission, that end, and not feeling return, not feeling connected, not feeling that inspired. Trust me, I've talked to rabbis, I've read, I've prayed, I've agonized and I came to this place anyway -- which is not exactly back to the beginning, but more in that direction than not."

Star of the Canyon

By Mojdeh Sionit
Published on June 12, 2003

The only store nestled in the verdant Laurel Canyon, Canyon Country Store, built in 1919, has served as a location for several films and is also a hangout for many artists, musician and actors.

A Time ‘Too’ Laugh

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 20, 2003

Avi Hoffman, who wowed Los Angeles audiences two years ago in "Too Jewish?" is returning with "Too Jewish, TOO!"

Meyer: Hero or Anti-Hero?

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on January 9, 2003

"A Jewish friend of mine loves 'The Sopranos,'" Italian American actor Joe Bologna said with a groan. "I told him, 'How'd you like to see a show called "The Goldsteins" about white-collar criminals and the biggest shyster is Izzy Goldstein?"

Bologna isn't about to play Izzy, but he is the co-author and star of a monologue he said breaks ethnic and gangster stereotypes. In "Meyer," he portrays Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky -- previously depicted in films such as "Bugsy" (1991) -- as both a ruthless thug and a pathetic alter-kacker. At the beginning of the play, the character sips Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda and kvetches about Israel denying him citizenship under the Law of Return.

Sephardic Survival

By Adam Wills
Published on November 29, 2001

"Survivor" as inspiration for Jewish programming? It seems strange that the divisive show where deceit, backstabbing and empty promises are de rigueur would serve as the inspiration for a Shabbaton that stresses the importance of religious and cultural continuity. Yet Sephardic Tradition and Recreation (STAR) has seized on this pop culture phenomenon and infused it with a positive spin.

Out of “Focus”

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 1, 2001

"David Mamet calls me Hebraically challenged," confides actor William H. Macy, a longtime collaborator of the esteemed playwright. "I'm the ultimate [gentile]. Part of me is the imploding WASP, a role I've certainly played to death."

With his weak smile and wounded-looking blue eyes, Macy was riveting in his Oscar-nominated turn as a car dealer struggling to cover up his wife's kidnapping in the Coen brothers' 1996 film "Fargo." He was the humiliated husband of an oversexed porn star in "Boogie Nights," and a beleaguered 1950s sitcom dad in "Pleasantville."

Which is why he was cautious when director Neal Slavin asked him to star in his noirish feature-film debut, "Focus" -- based on Arthur Miller's 1945 novel about a milquetoast mistakenly identified as Jewish by his anti-Semitic neighbors.

Every Inch a Star

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 23, 2000

In a gated community high above Los Angeles, Tony Curtis is holding court in the foyer of his two-story house in the shady corner of a cul-de-sac. Wearing white shorts and Birkenstocks, he is reclining on the staircase like a prince from one of his early movies. His famous blue eyes peer over spectacles as he simultaneously signs bills, rejects scripts, answers the telephone, and coordinates two assistants, a housekeeper, and sundry deliverymen.

Bulgarian Rhapsody

By Larry Gordon
Published on February 12, 1998

When I was asked to teach at a Bulgarian university, my only clear images of the Balkan nation included its infamous Communist-era spy system, its great Olympic weight lifters,and its national women's choir, whose haunting harmonies were popular in the West.