Short Takes

A quintessentially un-leading man like Elliott Gould landing on the cover of Time magazine?

Blame it on the ’60s.

That, in a roundabout way, is J. Hoberman’s explanation for a sudden mini-explosion of Jewish-themed, -flavored and -starred films that occurred in that decade of unbridled and unlikely creativity in Hollywood. That mini-explosion is the subject of his series, “Hollywood’s ‘Jew Wave,’” that will be playing Nov. 3-13. (Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St. www.filmlinc.com.)

If the slate of candidates is any indication, the European Jewish Parliament faces an uphill battle to be taken seriously.

Among the candidates for election announced by the new body: soccer star David Beckham, filmmaker Roman Polanski, comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, and other famous and less-famous European Jews who likely never expressed an interest in running — if they even knew anything of the planned parliament at all.

A decade after landmark federal legislation limited municipalities’ power to prevent religious institutions from building or expanding in their areas, zoning controversies continue to surface in the Jewish community.

Mamaroneck’s unsuccessful attempt to keep the Westchester Day School from adding an extension to its building. An ongoing dispute in Hartford, Conn., over a Chabad House near the University of Hartford. Various challenges to synagogues and yeshivot in Rockland County’s haredi village of Monsey.

The son of immigrants from what is now Ukraine, and an ordainee of Yeshiva University, Louis Werfel earned the title of “The Flying Rabbi” for his peripatetic chaplaincy service to Jewish soldiers in northern Africa during World War II.

Killed in a plane crash returning from conducting Chanukah services for American members of the military in Casablanca in December 1943, he was eventually interred in the cemetery of Israel’s kibbutz Tirat Tzvi, whose school and synagogue were named for him.

His memory will be perpetuated this month in this county, too.

Alexander Soros — what a catch! And not just for the obvious reason. Sure, papa George is worth $22 billion, and as your bubbe says, it’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one.

But any grandmotherly nudge would be superfluous for young, liberal Jews who have embraced Democratic Party membership and the concept of tikkun olam as pillars of religious identity. For them, and they are many, Soros’ politics will be as appealing as his paternity.

For decades, the stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill has been known for its many Islamic bookstores, mosques and halal restaurants.

For the last year, it’s also offered a kosher option.

Ready. Set. Write a play! Oh, and give it a Jewish theme!

That’s pretty much the premise of the Jewish Plays Project, a new organization that is sponsoring a contest to encourage the creation of dramatic works with contemporary Jewish themes.

‘I have a good Jewish mother story for you,” said Elijah Moshinsky, the director of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of “Nabucco,” which opened last week. “It was about eight years ago, just before my mother died, and she pulled me toward her bed and said in my ear: ‘Why don’t you get a real job?’”

Ruth Gruber is still optimistic about Mideast peace.

On Sunday afternoon, two days after her 100th birthday, the legendary journalist, photojournalist, author and humanitarian told several hundreds family members, friends and admirers who came to celebrate with her at the Museum of Jewish Heritage that “we must all work with passion in our hearts and minds for that prayer” to be answered.

Rabbi Greg Wall is bouncing around the bima of the Sixth Street Community Synagogue like a very tall, bearded jack-in-the-box. It isn’t that the rabbi has caught some spiritual tsunami while delivering a homily on the weekly Torah portion. He’s playing a fiery version of the traditional Avinu Malkeinu on tenor sax, and when he hits the B theme he reaches down to the bottom of the tenor’s range for an almost feral sound: direct, immediate, impassioned.