April 24 marks the centenary of the start of the genocide of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Historians estimate that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed in state-organized violence between 1915 and 1922, some in massacres, others in forced marches to the Syrian desert that left them […]
This year’s edition of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which runs from April 30 to May 10, offers a terrific selection of films. A preview: Isaac Bashevis Singer, the great Yiddish novelist and short story writer, was an up-and-coming literary figure in Poland before he left the country for good in 1935. He established a […]
When the death of Gunter Grass — Germany’s most illustrious postwar novelist — was announced on April 13, some critics were only too eager to seize upon two glaring missteps which dimmed his otherwise stellar reputation. Describing him as a hypocrite and a fraud, they castigated Grass for having concealed his membership in the Waffen-SS […]
The Toronto Jewish Film Festival, one of the best of its kind, gets under way on April 30 and runs until May 10. A preview: Veronique Lagoarde-Segot’s Shoah: The Forgotten Souls of History, is a hard-hitting and important documentary about the role of cinematography in Soviet propaganda during World War II. Regarding cinema as a […]
The 10-day Toronto Jewish Film Festival starts on April 30, featuring a wide selection of movies from North America, Israel and the rest of the world. A preview: “They were the Israeli Hollywood,” says the film director Boaz Davidson. First cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were the founders and prime movers of the […]
The Toronto Jewish Film Festival, one of Toronto’s biggest cultural events, starts its 10-day run on April 30 with an eclectic selection of movies from around the world, including Israel. A preview: Are Jewish-style delicatessens a dying breed? It would seem so, judging by the hard, cold statistics served up in Deli Man, Erik Greenberg Anjou’s affectionate […]
Whatever you may think of her, Marine Le Pen certainly has the courage of her convictions. Last week, the leader of France’s far right National Front party officially distanced herself from her father, Jean Marie Le Pen, its founder and honorary chairman, in an astonishing parting of the ways. Ms. Le Pen, who has been […]
The annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival , far and away the premiere cultural event in Toronto’s Jewish community, runs from April 30 to May 10. This year’s edition offers a great selection of 110 feature films, documentaries and shorts from 18 countries. A preview: Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, understood the allure of film, […]
While waiting for a bus in Manhattan on August 29, 1959, Raphael Lemkin collapsed, dying a few hours later. He was 59. Only seven people attended his funeral, according to New York Times columnist A. M. Rosenthal. Lemkin, a Polish Jew, was on his way to meet his literary agent. They were to discuss his […]
The “organic” revolution is big business these days. By one estimate, organic products — from food to fast-fashion — gross $64 billion around the world annually. Some consumers swear by organics. Still others are skeptical. Where does the truth lie? Richie Mehta’s five-part series on Vision TV, Organic Panic, which starts on Monday, April […]