High Holidays
Cakes, elephants and magic carpets for kids this new year
A Rosh Hashanah apple cake bake-off fit for reality television and another installment in the Scarlet and Sam series from award-winning author Eric A.…
Seniors
How to face the end of life? Start now, authors urge
You’d think “the end is nigh” the way Shoshana Berger, co-author of a new book about our last days, is in demand these days. On media platforms, in…
Off the Shelf
No time for summer reading? Short stories are your friend.
The books section is supported by a generous donation from Anne Germanacos. With autumn approaching, some of us find the idea of “summer reading” more…
Comics
Marvel rejected this essay because it compared Trump to Nazi supervillain
“Maus” creator Art Spiegelman said Marvel Comics rejected his essay for a comic book collection because it compared Donald Trump to a Marvel villain. In…
Poetry
One of Richmond’s favorite poets keeps hope alive in face of conflict
Poet Robert Lipton has witnessed violence in the Middle East — and in his East Bay hometown of Richmond. They are not the same, but both drive him to…
Israel
Left-wing author eulogizes settler teen murdered hugging his book
Those close to Dvir Sorek, the 19-year-old yeshiva student who was murdered Thursday in a West Bank terrorist attack, described him as a unique young man.…
Books
Berkeley writer Marcia Falk releases newest collection of liturgical poems
The books section is supported by a generous donation from Anne Germanacos. Tired of praying to kings and patriarchy, Marcia Falk has created a new book…
Celebrity Jews
Tarantino’s latest; Polanski’s take on Dreyfus Affair; Captain Kirk’s Jewish values
At the movies “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which opens Friday, July 26, is a big-budget comedy-drama written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. I will…
Off the Shelf
New short story collections are dispatches from outposts of Jewish life
The books section is supported by a generous donation from Anne Germanacos. Although I treasure authors whose fiction can vault us into places that strain…