South Florida Culture

The Year That Was

Dani Shetrit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:45:00 +0000

A look back at 2011, from Anthony Weiner to Gilad Shalit to Occupy Judaism.

JTA and Jewish Week Staff

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The following is a review of the news highlights of 2011.

January

Jews worldwide mourn the passing of Debbie Friedman, a popular singer and songwriter who is widely credited with reinvigorating synagogue music and best known for her composition “Mi Shebeirach,” a prayer for healing that is sung in many North American congregations.

A State Of High Anxiety

Dani Shetrit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:35:53 +0000

A host of problems — Iran, foremost among them, but domestic threats too — promises to have Israelis on edge in 2012.

Michele Chabin

Israel Correspondent

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Jerusalem — The Iranian threat. Political unrest in Syria and Egypt. Relations with the Palestinians. Israel-diaspora issues. And, internally, angst over the ever-growing gap between the country’s haves and have-nots, and anger over religious extremism.

Add to this the American presidential elections and possible elections in Israel and the Palestinian-ruled areas, and 2012 promises to be a quite a year for Israel.

When It Comes To Technology, Hold On To Your App

Dani Shetrit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:30:37 +0000

The top Jewish applications of 2011 and a look to the future.

Rabbi Jason Miller

Special To The Jewish Week

Thursday, February 23, 2012

As I walked around the recent International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one thing was impossible to miss. Mobile applications are being integrated everywhere and into everything. Smartphones are no longer the only devices on which users are downloading their favorite apps.

The Art Of 2012

Dani Shetrit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:18:50 +0000

Our culture critic looks into his crystal ball for some likely trends.

Eric Herschthal

Staff Writer

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The year 2011 seems safely behind us, but cultural events never quite adhere to strict calendar years. For that reason, many of the things we’d like to remember as triumphs in Jewish culture from last year — the return of a near-universally praised Woody Allen film, say, or a major new history of Jerusalem — will garner plenty of attention in 2012. Allen’s 2011 film “Midnight in Paris” will be a hot topic at the Oscar’s in late-February, having been nominated for four awards, including best director and best film.

The Year Of Principled Pragmatism

Dani Shetrit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:01:23 +0000

Rejecting purist ideology, a thinker argues, is best for America and American Jews in 2012.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield

Special To The Jewish Week

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Tell me what’s going on in the world, and I’ll tell you what’s going on with “the Jews.” There really are no “Jewish trends,” at least not in contemporary America. There are human trends that manifest themselves within what is often called “Jewish life.”

A Year In Review 2012

Dani Shetrit — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:35:18 +0000

2011/ 2012 Looking Ahead... Looking Back

Thursday, February 23, 2012

And The Tourists Came … In Droves

Dani Shetrit — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:51:54 +0000

2010 was a record year for foreign tourism to Israel.

Michele Chabin

Israel Correspondent

Friday, January 14, 2011

Jerusalem — Like many other Israelis who experienced the 1990-‘91 Gulf War and the first and second Palestinian uprisings — all of which devastated tourism to Israel, and especially Jerusalem — I’m always a bit amazed when I see busload upon busload of tourists praying at the Kotel or walking the Via Dolorosa.

With a record 3.45 million visitors, 2010 was the best year ever for Israeli tourism, but it’s taken me, and other Israelis, a while to get used to the fact that outsiders finally consider our country a desirable destination.

The Year That Was

Dani Shetrit — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:48:56 +0000

From Israel to Iowa, Hollywood to Ground Zero, a recap of the top Jewish stories of 2010.

JTA, Jewish Week Staff

Staff Writer

Friday, January 14, 2011

JANUARY

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces the construction of a border fence with Egypt to help prevent illegal immigration, saying that illegal immigration is a huge threat to Israel’s economic and social livelihood. 

President Barack Obama delivers his first State of the Union address. Many Jewish groups are upset over his lack of specifics on health care and the threat of Iran.

The Year in Jewish Culture

Dani Shetrit — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:42:07 +0000

The top 10 moments (in no particular order) of 2010 in arts and letters.

Eric Herschthal

Staff Writer

Friday, January 14, 2011

PETER BEINART FIGHTS FOR LIBERAL ZIONISM

As the former editor of The New Republic, a liberal magazine, but one with a strong pro-Israel bent, Peter Beinart shocked Jews of all stripes when he published a scathing critique of the organized Jewish community in May in The New York Review of Books. Beinart, 39, argued that groups from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, to the Anti-Defamation League have failed to make Zionism an attractive ideal for young American Jews, who are mostly liberal.

From The Sidelines To The Front Lines

Dani Shetrit — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:26:14 +0000

The year in Israel-diaspora relations.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Special To The Jewish Week

Friday, January 14, 2011

2010 marked a turning point in the relationship between diaspora Jewry and Israel. Although philanthropy and tourism remain essential components of that relationship, diaspora Jews signaled that unquestioning support could no longer be taken for granted and demanded, as never before, a voice in shaping the values of the Jewish state.

The Year Of Fear

Dani Shetrit — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:23:38 +0000

What Park51 and the Clinton-Mezvinsky wedding say about the Jewish community.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield

Special To The Jewish Week

Friday, January 14, 2011

While I would not necessarily have labeled it as such, when the religion writers of America declared that Park51, the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” was the biggest religion story of the year, it’s hard to ignore — especially given that we are in New York and the fact that this story certainly got the attention of lots of Jews from across the ideological and theological spectrum. And yet, the building itself is not a big deal.

A Year In Review 2010

Dani Shetrit — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:20:00 +0000

Past as prologue: the top issues of 2010 set the stage for 2011.

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Year That Nonprofits Want To Forget

Dara Levin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:40:15 +0000

Jacob Berkman

JTA

Friday, December 25, 2009

Some years are more memorable than others. I can still recall the end of 1987, the year I moved to Israel and, six weeks later, the start of the first Palestinian intifada. I was living in Abu Tor, a Jerusalem neighborhood split right down the middle, with Jews on one side and Arabs on the other. I could smell the burning tires and tear gas from my apartment.

War, New Leaders And … Mortgages

Dara Levin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:30:55 +0000

Michele Chabin

Israel Correspondent

Friday, December 25, 2009

Year Of Hurt Forcing Tough New Choices

Dara Levin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:26:08 +0000

Gary Rosenblatt

Editor and Publisher

Friday, December 25, 2009

At the end of 1992, referring to a 12-month period of embarrassing family woes including three of her four children’s marital break-ups, Queen Elizabeth famously declared the year an “annus horribilus.”

Any Jewish leader reviewing the events of the past 12 months might well refer to 5769 in the more familiar vernacular as an “annus bloodytsuris.”