Off the Shelf
Jewish characters navigate a complex world
From Abraham onward, the vision of leaving home for something better is a familiar trope in Jewish history and literature. Two superbly written new novels…
Theater
Actor Jeremy Kahn ‘illuminates’ Safran Foer role
Jeremy Kahn has been cast in a bunch of Jewish roles — including as the character of the writer Jonathan Safran Foer in a Berkeley theater company’s…
Celebrity Jews
Documentary visit to Trump country; Amy Schumer is pregnant; etc.
88 and still in the game Opening Nov. 9 in Bay Area theaters is “Monrovia, Indiana,” a 143-minute documentary by Frederick Wiseman, 88. Wiseman, an…
Art
Oaklander’s Anne Frank collage hangs in Pittsburgh Holocaust center
Bay Area artist Mitzi Trachtenberg was born in 1929, the same year as Anne Frank, in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Squirrel Hill where 11 Jews were…
Art
The Jewish and Israeli story through Islamic art on exhibit in S.F.
Alexander the Great, who created one of the largest empires in the ancient world, has been a popular subject of books, novels, poems and plays. But the…
TV
Q&A: Michael Chabon on writing for 'Star Trek'
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon is known for his novels with heavy Jewish themes. But his work has also dealt in science fiction and pop…
Culture
New short film focuses on genocide, and how to stop it
Gayle Donsky’s long tenure as someone attempting to educate the world about genocide had a simple beginning, at a Jewish Community Relations Council…
History
Ed Zerin, the 98-year-old who wrote the book on “Jewish San Francisco”
Ten books, three languages, two bar mitzvahs — Rabbi Edward Zerin has seen a lot in his 98 years. Now people are gathering to celebrate his erudite life…
Music
Oboist plays ‘sounds that lift our spirits’
Brenda Schuman-Post, a veteran oboist, was setting up for a free concert that she and her band were to perform at a shelter for some of San Francisco’s…