Masha Leon
By Masha Leon
-
News A ‘Sex and the City’ Kind of Purimspiel
“Spring is in the air to celebrate Purim, and biblical films seem to be all the rage,” proclaimed an upbeat Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the Jewish Museum’s “Centennial Purim Ball” at the Waldorf-Astoria on March 3. Event co-chairs Phyllis and William Mack and Amy and Howard Rubenstein welcomed the 750 black-tie and masked guests who…
-
News Like ‘Braveheart’ Comes to the Crucifixion, Critic Says
The day after Mel Gibson raked in $25 million with the launch of his blood-and-gore Crucifixion film, an overflow crowd of 400 flocked to the Center for Jewish History on February 26 for a forum on “Religion, Responsibilities and Relations: Responses to Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion.’” Sponsored by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and…
-
News Seeds of Israel Take Root Afar
“I was a left-wing extremist… a young student… screaming in Rome against Israel and Zionism,” said Francesca Cernia Slovin, the Italian author of “In Principio: Dove Affondano le Radici di Israele” (“In the Beginning: Where the Seeds of Israel Take Root”), which was showcased at a February 12 event at the Center for Jewish History….
-
News Y Is Icing on N.Y.’s Cake, Schumer Says
“I’m at my local Y not because I have to get my three kids into pre-school,” joshed Mayor Michael Bloomberg, welcoming the 400 guests attending the 92nd Street Y’s February 9 “Global Citizenship” award dinner at the Marriot Marquis. “The Y,” he told the crowd, which helped raise $1.4 million, “is becoming a treasure of…
-
News Rabbi Buchwald Speaks of Highs and Lows of Jewish Outreach
“Almost 60% of American Jews have nothing at all to do with Judaism,” Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, impassioned founder and director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, said at its February 3 dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. Changing tacks, he said: “For the past 16 years NJOP has reached 730,000 North American Jewish souls… taught them Hebrew…
-
News A Jordanian Prince Dazzles Benefit-goers
The Abraham Fund Initiatives’ January 29 “Coexistence Benefit” opened with invocations in Arabic, Hebrew and English by Muhammed Fahili, director of the Jewish-Arab Community Association in Akko, Israel, a city he described as “one-third Arab, one-third Jewish and one-third immigrant.” A Buddhist blessing, a meditation about “food on one’s plate,” was read by the Very…
-
News ‘Silence Is Not Golden,’ Jarvis Says at King Tribute
An inspiring tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. by the Consulate General of Israel, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and the Jewish National Fund was hosted by Israel’s consul general, Alon Pinkas, at his residence. The January 22 event honored Rep. Gregory Meeks, former St. Johns basketball coach Mike Jarvis and Baraka…
-
News A Museum in Memory of Ari Halberstam
The Jewish Children’s Museum dinner (emceed by NBC news anchor Jane Hanson) “belonged” to Devorah Halberstam. Her indefatigable determination helped realize this $50 million ultra-modern facility dedicated to her son, Ari, murdered 10 years ago by a Lebanese gunman while on a van full of chasidic students crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Designed by the evening’s…
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
- 2
Culture You can buy Sukkot gift boxes that say ‘tuchus’ on Amazon
- 3
Fast Forward Sitcom star encourages non-Jews like her to hang mezuzahs on their homes
- 4
Opinion A maelstrom around Rashida Tlaib shows how broken discourse about the war has become
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion With killing of Hezbollah’s chief, Israel occupies the inarguable moral high ground
-
Looking Forward An Israeli hip-hop artist remembers a day of hope in Gaza
-
Sports The Jewish Sport Report: How the Chicago White Sox made a bad year even worse for Jewish fans
-
Oct. 7: One Year Later A different closet: Queer Zionists navigate the post-Oct. 7 dating scene
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism