In truth, some Jews run counter to the mythology. Nevertheless, there are some cultural norms that exist among Jews.
Tag: Holocaust
MMRHS has been leader in anti-prejudice education
In 1972, the social studies department at Monument Mountain Regional High School created the very first Holocaust curriculum in the country for high school students.
REVIEW: Barrington Stage’s ‘If I Forget’ sophisticated but only half way there
With a plot this rich, expectations for what happens run high, but Act 2, set six months later, sadly disappoints.
THEATRE REVIEW: Barrington Stage’s superb ‘If I Forget’ is a theatrical gem
When history and religious background lead the intellectual way to drama and all the factors work perfectly—as they do in this fine play—all we have to do is sit back and let the characters take us where they must.
Courtney Maum’s new historical novel tackles art, coming-of-age themes
“It was really easy for me to imagine what it would be like for a young woman who wants to be an artist, who is watching her mother cavort with the world’s most famous artists, often talk all day about their art and then ignore her own creative production. So in that way, I identified very much with what that emotional neglect would feel like.” –Courtney Maum
FILM REVIEW: ‘Ask Dr. Ruth’ profiles the astonishing life of famous sexpert
This 4-foot-7-inch dynamo with a thick German accent connected with her audience because of her candor and her good intuitive advice.
ORANGE ALERT: The (almost) daily outrage
Princeton Prof. William Happer compares carbon dioxide to Jews living during the Holocaust.
PART III: The complicated, controversial politics of W.E.B. Du Bois and his passion for social justice
Certainly Great Barrington can simultaneously recognize his flaws and faults while also finding ways to remember publicly, in a permanent way, his profound contributions to the struggle to push the United States to live up to its founding ideals, particularly regarding the plight of African-Americans.
Great Barrington shows its support for immigrants
In her letter to the editor, Joanne Rogovin writes: “An estimated 500 men, women and children filled the hill next to the GB shrubbery, protesting the separation and detention of children and families at the Mexican border.”
ORANGE ALERT: The (almost) daily outrage
“Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter.”
— Evangelist John Hagee, a guest of honor at the dedication of the American embassy in Jerusalem
Lessons from St. Petersburg about the Berkshire Museum
In her letter to the editor, Leslie Ferris writes: “What has happened to our community? Why would the board of trustees of the Berkshire Museum agree and why would our laws allow them to sell the artistic heritage of the Berkshires?”
BOOK REVIEW: ‘To Catch a Nazi’ by Kenneth Markel
David Menard’s mission is vengeful and deeply personal and he is finally given every chance to carry it out. The story involves the Israeli Mossad, the CIA and the help of many kindred spirits.
REVIEW: 55th New York Film Festival, Part II
“Lady Bird” is the debut feature film by actress Greta Gerwig, known especially as the lead in Noah Baumbach’s recent films. It’s a girl’s coming-of-age movie, a genre as rare as hens’ teeth. Baumbach’s latest film, ‘The Meyerowitz Stories,’ was also featured in the festival.
A Passover message: Resist the new inhumanity
Why is this night different from all other nights? This night is different because it lights my way, in sharp relief, to an understanding that the plague of inhumanity to others only breeds an inhumanity in our souls.
‘Holocaust Centers,’ according to White House press secretary
“He [Hitler] was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing…he [Hitler] brought them into the Holocaust centers.”
— Sean Spicer, White House press secretary
The democracy of dreams
No matter one’s capacity for imagination in waking life, in dreams, there is a democracy of imagination– some more, some less, but all of us busy through the night and sleep making up dreams.
‘Evil: A matter of intent,’ an exhibit at Hebrew Union College. Interview with curator, Laura Kruger
“I personally feel that the Holocaust must be told as history and not as interpretation. It was very real. The scars are very real. And it’s too close.”
— Laura Kruger, curator of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion Museum
Harry Franklin, 95, of Lenox, refugee from anti-Semitism
As part of his English studies in Vienna Harry’s English teacher gave him an American pen pal, Lillian Wolfram, a non-Jew, whose family in Glenside, Pennsylvania, offered to sponsor him if he could escape to America.
Poem: Yizkor
Yizkor, in Hebrew, means “Remember.” It is a memorial prayer recited four times a year. One such occasion is Yom Kippur.
Book Review: ‘Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate’: Does being Jewish matter?
Pogrebin raises the most central questions about coming-of-age. Who am I? What do I owe my parents? What do I owe myself? Must I live the life others could not?
Berkshire International Film Festival: Final Day
This is what I love about film festivals — actually learning about the making of the film and backgrounds of the filmmakers.
‘The Last Hotel: A Novel in Suites’: Suite 21
Dr. T wins the sleaze award. The shrink, announces he is moving out of the hotel. The building manager responds: “I’d never come to a stranger, sit in an office, talk about my problems. I was in Auschwitz. This is my number.” He raised his sleeve and showed his tattoo.
Poem: For Yom HaShoah
Two by two, we boarded the boat
Noah’s grateful beasts
To salvage what was left.
Bits & Bytes: Birding at Olana; Homespun Theatre at Lauren Clark Gallery; Holocaust Remembrance Day; Ventfort Hall – Treasures of Bellefontaine
As a member of a generation filmmaker Sara Greenberg terms “the last living link to the survivors,” she feels strongly about her responsibility to relate her grandparents’ Holocaust experiences to the world and to future generations. Her film, “B-2247: A Granddaughter’s Understanding,” will be shown Sunday, April 12, at the Lenox Town Hall Auditorium.
‘The Last Hotel: A Novel in Suites’: Penthouse
Installment 10, the Penthouse: Leah scrutinized her face in the mirror. She didn’t look like either of her parents. Maybe she was born to one of those relatives who got gassed by Hitler. A refugee changeling. It probably wasn’t true, but she never felt part of her own family.