In a historic 12-week trial which ended in Germany on July 15, Oskar Groning — a former SS soldier who was posted to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp from 1942 to 1944 — was convicted of complicity in mass murder and sentenced to four years in prison. Groning, now 94, was not a major figure in […]
Joseph Mitchell spent the greater part of his career at the intersection between journalism and creative writing. A reporter on the staff of The New Yorker for 58 years, he brought to his craft a boundless melange of curiosity, energy, observational powers and an understated, elegant prose style. Born and bred in North Carolina, the […]
The landmark nuclear agreement signed by the six major powers and Iran on July 14 in Vienna was forged on the anvil of compromise in incredibly complex negotiations extending over 20 months. Nonetheless, it’s replete with glaring uncertainties and nagging question marks. Designed to contain rather than to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program, it’s aimed […]
If there is ever to be real peace between Israel and the Palestinians, both sides will be obliged to make painful concessions and compromises with respect to a whole host of prickly issues. But to reach that point, the Israeli government and its Palestinian interlocutor will have to establish a measure of mutual trust, of […]
Israel, in many respects, is a shining beacon of openness and tolerance. Judging by its multiplicity of political parties, its transparent governing institutions and its splendid arts scene, Israel is far and away the most vibrant democratic society in the Middle East. Yet Israel’s body politic is sullied by an unsightly stain. Since the advent […]
The current map of the Middle East is an artificial construct, having been conceived and drawn up by European colonial powers during a period of tumult, dissolution and intrigue. As a result of the upheavals unleashed by the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Empire lost its territorial foothold in the Arab world. This […]
Ukraine has loomed large in Jewish history, a point that comes across clearly enough in A Journey Through The Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter: From Antiquity to 1914, a cross-Canada travelling exhibition which runs in Toronto until July 19. First shown in Vaughan, a suburb north of Toronto, and then in Winnipeg, a major center of the Ukrainian […]
What a waste of talent. This epitaph immediately comes to mind when Amy Winehouse’s name is mentioned. One of the greatest jazz vocalists of our times, she was probably as gifted as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. But being self-destructive, she was bound to fall, as Asif Kapadia’s biopic, Amy, strongly suggests. Dead at 27, […]
She was the original red hot mama. Bold, bawdy and brassy, and invariably attired in feathers, sequins and jewels, Sophie Tucker was a huge star in her day, enjoying a 60-year career in vaudeville, Broadway, radio, film and television. William Gazecki’s documentary, The Outrageous Sophie Tucker, distributed by Menemsha Films, draws a rounded portrait of […]
In Arranged, a feel-good feature film now available on the Netflix streaming service, the barriers that normally prevent social interactions between Jews and Muslims crumble. It would be nice if this amity and fellowship could be conveniently transferred to the Middle East. But since this scenario is unlikely to transpire any time soon, you can […]