A new exhibit at the Jewish Heritage Museum at the Reutlinger Community in Danville features reproductions of famed Polish artist Moshe Rynecki’s paintings of prewar Jewish life in Warsaw. Oakland resident Elizabeth Rynecki, the artist’s great-granddaughter, discovered the journals of Moshe’s son George after his death, which inspired her to write a book called “Chasing…
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Culture
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Violins of Hope concert set at Emanu-El for Holocaust Remembrance Day
A special event at Congregation Emanu-El for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of…
Books
Jewish Book Council awards recognize Cal prof Robert Alter
The Jewish Book Council announced the winners of the 2019 National Jewish Book Awards on Wednesday. U.C. Berkeley professor Robert Alter received a…
Parenting
My 7-year-old is a creative type. So I let him create.
One of the highlights of my 7-year-old son’s winter break was getting to visit his summer camp counselor. Cynthia, who directed the arts day camp that…
Film
‘Uncut Gems’ puts Jewish stereotypes front and center. So where's the backlash?
Almost every movie, TV show and other work of art gets put under Twitter’s sensitive microscope these days. Depictions of Jews in contemporary culture are…
Music
For local daughter of survivor, playing Holocaust violins is personal
Fiddler Cookie Segelstein can’t remember a time when the Holocaust was not a topic of conversation with her European-born survivor parents. “I grew…
Film
Oscars 2020: Sandler snubbed; Johansson gets two nominations
The 2020 Oscar nominations are out, and unsurprisingly, they’re already causing a firestorm on social media. The list, announced early Monday morning,…
Music
Have a violin from Europe with a Holocaust story? ‘Violins of Hope’ wants to hear it.
Bay Area organizers of the local presentation of Violins of Hope, a traveling program that links the music and history of the Holocaust, want to hear from…
Film
East Bay filmmaker wins $10k award to complete doc on Polish village
Since 2014, Bay Area-based filmmaker Yoav Potash has been digging around in the wartime memories of people in the small Polish town of Gniewoszów. His…