If you’re Jewish and see the phrase “Friday Night Dinner,” you’re likely to equate it with Shabbat. But if you’re British, you probably think of the BBC sitcom that’s light on the Judaica and heavy on the laughs. I recently recommended “Friday Night Dinner” to a friend who has three tween-to-teenage sons, and almost all…
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Culture
Film
Friendly reminder: ‘The Prince of Egypt’ is amazing. And it’s on Hulu.
My reconnection with “The Prince of Egypt” this week, after what I’m going to estimate as approximately 15 years, was not under ideal circumstances. I was…
Music
Yiddish Combo will stream one-song mini-concerts every night during Passover
Two days before the San Francisco Yiddish Combo was asked to perform for a party being held on the online video-conferencing platform Zoom, “We didn’t…
Celebrity Jews
Jewish stars make coronavirus videos at home … for better and for worse
Cohen in quarantine Talk show host Andy Cohen, who has tested positive for coronavirus, said he has had his ups and downs. “Yesterday was horrible,” he…
Music
Bring the music to you with these 8 Jewish concerts on YouTube
“Sweet are the songs of Israel” we read in the Book of 2 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. Granted, Samuel’s knowledge of Jewish music ended in about 1000 BCE,…
Film
Have your own private Jewish film festival
For baseball lovers, nothing could be sadder than their team being driven off the field at the very start of the season. By a lousy virus, no less. But on…
Art & About
Culture during a pandemic: What is 'local'?
Once upon a time, there were breaks built into the week called Friday and Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon, and even evenings during the workweek when…
TV
‘The Plot Against America’ is a jagged pill in overwhelming times
It’s the eve of an election cycle. The nation is split. While Jews live a fairly comfortable existence, there’s an active undercurrent of simmering…
Bay Area
Berkeley writer’s coronavirus relief effort helps restaurants and hospital workers
Berkeley writer Ayelet Waldman has found a novel way to help East Bay restaurants and hospital workers at the same time: buying food from one to give to…