It may be the ultimate testament to Arik Einstein, the Israeli pop singer who died November 26 at age 74, that there won’t be an ultimate testament. He was too deeply enmeshed in the fabric of too many Israelis’ ordinary lives for any one tribute to capture him. He was Israel’s most beloved entertainer and…
IMPERFECT HARMONY: FINDING HAPPINESS IN SINGING WITH OTHERS By Stacy Horn Algonquin, 256 pages, $15.95 During my high school and college years, I used to joke that if there was a church on an Ottawa, Ontario, street corner, I probably sang in it. The joke came back to me while I was reading Stacy Horn’s…
I think it’s fair to say that you can officially be labeled a child star brat once you casually drop your pants in a restaurant kitchen and urinate into a mop bucket on your way out of a club. Who would do such a thing, you might ask? The answer, unsurprisingly, is Justin Bieber. According…
Veteran singer and United Nations Messenger of Peace Stevie Wonder has canceled a planned performance for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces after several organizations asked him not to perform. The soul singer, 62, was scheduled to sing at a Dec. 6 fundraising gala in Los Angeles hosted by the Friends of the Israel…
As the Israeli national-religious population continues to lurch rightward, the belief that for an Orthodox man, the sound of a woman’s singing voice is inappropriately erotic and therefore violates Jewish law has gone increasingly mainstream. This lies behind the ongoing dispute over whether IDF soldiers have the right to walk out when women sing…
It’s about two hours before their show at the JCC in Manhattan, and I’m having dinner with Psoy Korolenko and Daniel Kahn, the duo known as the Unternationale. As a solo performer, Korolenko has been winning fans in the United States, mostly at clubs and gatherings catering to young Russian émigrés and at university campuses….
Several Israeli government ministers on Sunday sharply responded to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her critical comments on the status of women in Israel and Knesset bills that would restrict left-wing organizations. Speaking to a closed forum in Washington on Saturday, Clinton criticized recent legislative attempts in Israel to restrict left-wing organizations and expressed…
There are many Israelis, especially those on the left side of the political spectrum, who would describe Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as having a tin ear when it comes to recognizing socio-political realities. Lieberman’s opponents will feel especially validated now that it turns out that he is actually — and totally — tone deaf. If…
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