With eastern Aleppo back in his hands after four years of fierce fighting, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a significant victory in Syria’s five-year-old civil war. As the last civilians and rebel fighters were evacuated from there on December 22, Assad could truthfully boast that every major city in Syria — Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, […]
It’s no secret that numerous members of Germany’s Nazi Party burnished their careers in postwar West German governments as high-ranking officials, Allied de-Nazification programs notwithstanding. This contentious issue is on the table again thanks to a recent decision by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Heiko Maas, her justice minister, has established a commission to re-examine the […]
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, was demonstrably disappointed and upset by yesterday’s decision by the United States to abstain and thereby allow the UN Security Council to pass a unanimous resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. “It was to be expected that Israel’s greatest ally would act in accordance […]
Cuba usually comes to mind at this time of the year as the weather in Toronto goes from bad to worse. Holed up in my winter-bound house, I think of Cuba’s sunny weather, its sandy beaches, its turquoise waters and its tropical vegetation. Call it, if you wish, Cuba on the brain. But the lure […]
It’s the holiday season, a time to read and reflect. These books, published recently, are eclectic and stimulating. Makers of Jewish Modernity (Princeton University Press) contains 43 thoughtful essays by leading scholars about thinkers, writers, artists and leaders who had a significant impact on the 20th century. There are well-crafted portraits of philosophers (Martin Buber), […]
Shanghai is a city in transition. Before the 20th century, Shanghai was China’s vibrant commercial and financial center, but following the communist takeover in 1949, it fell into a state of somnolence. Since the economic reforms of the 1990s, however, Shanghai has bounced back and taken its rightful place as one of Asia’s most dynamic […]
The New York City neighborhood of Harlem, an African-American enclave for about the past century, used to be home to the second largest Jewish community in the United States. Only the Lower East Side had a greater Jewish population. During the penultimate years of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th […]
It’s outrageous but true. If you type the word “Holocaust” on the Google search engine site, a wave of mostly reputable articles relating to this unprecedented event in European and Jewish history appears. But if you enter the phrase “Did the Holocaust happen?”, you’ll be taken by surprise. Incredibly enough, the first item that pops up […]
Eero Saarinen passed away five decades ago, but his architectural legacy remains firm and strong. “He figured out a way to be important across time, so even though he died young, he is still alive,” says his son, Eric, who takes us on a journey of his father’s works in Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who […]
Pedro Almodovar’s Julieta, which opens in Canada on December 23, is a brooding, intricately-layered film exploring the vulnerabilities and fragilities of personal relationships. Adapted from three short stories by the Canadian author Alice Munro, and set mostly in Madrid, it spans a 30-year period. Undercurrents of melancholy, even dread, course through it, and Alberto Iglesias’ soundtrack […]