By MARCUS M. GILBAN RAANANA, Israel (JTA) – Like all other mass gatherings now, Israel’s Karmiel dance festival, one of the largest of its kind in the world, was postponed. The annual fest, which takes place at the end of June, draws thousands who take part in one of the country’s oldest passions: Israeli folk dance. Those in the know […]

SCHENECTADY – The Schenectady Jewish Community Center will highlight the film “The Cakemaker” this month as part of its annual Jewish Film Festival. The film is not rated, but includes mature content, according to organizers, In this film, Thomas, a German baker played by Tim Kalkhof, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man. When Oren (Roy Miller) […]

ALBANY– A preShavuot program featuring Rabbi Moshe Bitton has been organized by the Chai Chabad Jewish Center of Colonie for Wednesday, May 27, at 5:30 p.m. The interactive Zoom concert and discussion is open to the community, according to Rabbi Mordechai Rubin, codirector of the Chabad Center. Bitton was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He has lived in Israel and served […]

ALBANY–Sherry Kearns, president of the Ne’imah Jewish Community Chorus, has announced the postponement of its 28th annual spring concert that was to be held on Sunday, May 31, at the Massry Center for the Arts, with guest artist, Cantor Shira Ginsburg of NYC.  Given the current situation with COVID-19, and, in consideration of the health and of membership, musicians and […]

AMHERST, Mass.– Though the Yiddish Book Center’s building in Amhearst is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization is offering a lineup of virtual public programs, which will be broadly accessible through Facebook and Zoom and posted on the Center’s website. Highlights of the virtual program lineup include a multimedia presentation by David Mazower on the NYC salon of […]

By BEN SALES NEW YORK CITY (JTA) – On Monday, there’s a Jewish space that hosts two Torah classes and the taping of a podcast. On Wednesday, the space offers a Jewish TV show for kids and a discussion of Jewish history. On Friday night and again on Saturday morning, it hosts several prayer services simultaneously — some experimental, some […]

ALBANY– As gathering together physically is not an option this year, the holiday of Lag B’Omer will be noted by the Colonie Chabad Jewish Center with a zoomed Lag B’Omer event. Guest cellist Sholom Eagle of Toronto, Canada will perform on the holiday, Tuesday, May 12, at 6 p.m. Eagle started playing cello at the age of five. Beginning with classical […]

By BABETTE DUNKELGRÜN (JTA) – In Season 2 of the Hulu comedy “Shrill,” based on the book by Lindy West, there’s a restaurant scene in which the central character’s mom closely monitors her daughter’s food intake. It’s clear the tendency is familiar — even in their relationship as adults, the mother discloses her almost political stance against dessert and bread […]

By EDWIN BLACK Nothing will be the same as we enter our new age—the Remote Age. We can wish a return to the jam-packed days that effervesced everywhere until earlier this year when COVID-19 suddenly burned across the globe. But the return to what we knew will not happen. Of course, some of it will come back with a yelp […]

NEW YORK CITY– YIVO has  announced an initiative to collect first-hand accounts of the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Jewish life. The collecting has commenced online at yivo.org/share-your-story. Stefanie Halpern, director of the YIVO Archives, explains, “From its earliest years, YIVO collected the experiences of the Jewish people in their own words. Today, as the COVID-19 pandemic affects the world in unprecedented ways, we are launching a new […]