Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams taste the sweetness of forbidden fruit in Disobedience, a dark yet illuminating film by Sebastian Lelio set in London’s Orthodox Jewish community. Ronit (Weisz), a professional photographer who lives in New York City, and Esti (McAdams), a teacher at a local Jewish day school, are old friends who haven’t seen […]
It was a momentous moment in the Middle East, a dangerous turning point fraught with uncertainty. On May 9, a day after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow on one of his periodic trips to Russia to discuss current Middle Eastern issues with Russian President Vladimir […]
In what is probably a strategic blunder, U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the 2015 landmark Iran nuclear agreement, having denounced it as a “disastrous” and “horrible one-sided deal” that was “defective at its core.” Trump, however, offered to negotiate a new deal with Iran, but Iran is very likely to reject his proposition. […]
Weissensee, the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, contains the remains of some of the most illustrious figures in German Jewish history. Covering an area of 42 hectares in northeastern Berlin, Weissensee is the final resting place of 115,000 souls in 120 sections. Prominent German Jews ranging from Leo Baeck and Hermann Cohen to Rudolf Mosse and […]
The parliamentary election in Lebanon on May 6 produced, as always, a confusing array of winners and losers. But one thing is crystal clear: the militant Shia Muslim group Hezbollah is in the driver’s seat. Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament allocates 64 seats each to the country’s Christian and Muslim faiths. They are then further subdivided between […]
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), one of the oldest humanitarian organizations, emerged from World War II with its reputation stained and damaged. Having come under fire for its failure to condemn the Holocaust or extend substantial assistance to Jews trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe, it attempted to improve its tarnished image by […]
Anton Chekhov’s 1896 play, The Seagull, has been brought to the screen by Michael Mayer. Thanks to his unerring eye for detail and a fine ensemble cast, he has resurrected this costume drama of unrequited love quite successfully. It opens in Canada on May 11. Unfolding in a country estate near Moscow, The Seagull takes […]
From 1942 to 1944, German occupation forces in France sealed off and systematically looted at least 38,000 “abandoned” apartments in Paris that were owned by Jews who had been forced to flee, or who had been deported to Nazi concentration camps. The pillaged furnishings were then shipped to Eastern Europe or Germany. After the war, […]
A few days ago, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered what he described as a “history lesson” to the Palestinian National Council in Ramallah. Some history lesson! During the course of a long and rambling speech, he made false and grotesque claims. They will surely diminish him in the eyes of peace-loving Israelis and Jews […]