Lisa Silverman wrote a fabulous piece in the Jewish Journal with 5 more reviews of Jewish books that have recently come out. The books she reviewed were Jeremy’s Dreidel, Maccabee Meals, Room for Baby, How Do Dinasaurs Say Happy Chanukah, and Barry Deutch’s follow-up to Hereville. Room for Baby and How Do Dinasaurs Say Happy Chanukah were recent PJ Library selections, and my kids enjoyed both (especially the latter. They also liked another PJ Library selection, A Horse for Hanukkah), but I’m really, really excited about How Mirka Met a Meteorite! I’ve already added it to my Goodreads To-Read list and if anyone wants to get me a Chanukah present…
Month: November 2012
How to be gnarly even if you’re frum–Chareidi Jew jamming on a skateboard
I just saw the cover of this week’s Ami Magazine (November 29, 2012), and it just made me feel good all over (and I’m pretty sick today, so that’s an accomplishment). On it, Rabbi Yom Tov Glaser is on his skateboard and playing guitar. He looks so frum and like he’s having so much fun. He’s an amazing speaker, by the way, and I think he’s in the States right now promoting his Possible You seminar.
Over the last couple weeks, we’ve been hearing about images that break your heart or just make you angry. But this photo warms my heart.
Anybody out there care to share the details of a photo that warms their heart? Please do so in the comments.
I read short story like this last week. Only because it was a short story, I only made it to the bottom of the second page. Which reminds me…I’d better revise the first chapter of that book I’m writing. Again. KWGGUGFJQ8EY
Looking for a gift? 5 New books to consider this Chanukah season, including Red is My Rimon, Chanukah Guess Who?, The Torah Book of Opposites, The Wooden Sword, and The Tempest in the Tea Room
Chanukah is coming! Did you remember to get this cutie a gift?
In the upcoming Chanukah edition of CitySpirit Magazine (available here in L.A. within the next week or so), you’ll find reviews of four books either authored or illustrated by local L.A. talent. Any of them would make perfect gifts for Chanukah for kids. The books I reviewed for CitySpirit (with links to their pages on Amazon) are:
If you’re looking for a Chanukah gift for a teen or an adult reader, why don’t you check out Libi Astaire’s newest The Tempest in the Tea Room. Continue reading
When is an author a Jewish author? Defining Jewish writing, Part 3
Last week was marked by big news in the book world. Famed-American Jewish author (Jewish meaning author’s ethnicity only, in this case–see previous posts on the subject) Philip Roth has declared that he’s retiring from writing. On the other hand, equally aged and famous American-Jewish author Herman Wouk has just put out another novel. Interestingly, these events didn’t just make headlines in Jewish publishing, but publishing as a whole.
The stereotypical Jew is considered “bookish,” pale due to the amount of time he spends indoors. We are called “the People of the Book.” How is it that Jews became inextricably interwoven with books? Continue reading
A picture is worth a thousand words: what photojournalists don’t want you to know about their images
Two recent articles are worth a peek for what the reveal both about contemporary politics and about the nature of photography itself.
The pieces–one in the Washington Post, the other on Breitbart.com–describe misleading pictures published during the recent Gaza conflict. Most notably, photos of dead and maimed children were used by pro-Palestinian journalists in order to accuse the Israelis of being brutal assassins of the young. Whether you feel Israel’s actions were justified or not, Palestinian children were hurt and killed during battle (and so were Israeli children). However, further investigation revealed that one of the photos–said to portray a Palestinian child gravely wounded by Israelis–was in fact a child attacked by Syrian forces in the conflict in that country. And another child, supposedly killed by Israelis, was most likely killed by a Palestinian rocket that misfired. These are only two among many “photo-ops” that were intentionally mislabeled for political purposes.
If I spill some ink from this bottle, what will you see?
Of course, as the Washington Post article points out, the misrepresentation isn’t always by the pro-Palestinian side (although usually Israeli press just doesn’t publish images of Palestinians who are hurt or injured). And I don’t really want to get into the political aspects of this case. What I would like to do is point out how this issue goes far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Continue reading
Rebecca Klempner 