Fall Arts Preview - Now Online
The Jewish Week
Fall Arts Guide
Summer may be coming to a close but a sizzling season of exceptional art is about to ensue. Read our reviews on theatre productions about to hit the stage, must-see art exhibitions, browse books for your reading list and more!
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Fall Arts Preview 2015
A Sizzling Season: A Yiddish “Death of a Salesman.” John Zorn's ‘Masada’ premiere. A Moshe Safdie retrospective.
Inside This Special Section
The Lomans In Yiddish: ‘Gib Achtung’
The Prosecution Bears Witness
Still Scaling Masada’s Heights
Book
Site Specific
Film List
Music List
Theater List
Visual Art List
The Lomans In Yiddish: ‘Gib Achtung’ ›
Ted Merwin
Special To The Jewish Week
Avi Hoffman as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman.” Arielle Hoffman
A new Yiddish-language production of the play, "Toyt fun a Seylsman," will be staged for seven weeks this fall. Whether in English or Yiddish, the Jewishness of "Salesman" is finally getting its due, Ted Merwin writes.
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While he grew up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, Arthur Miller rarely wrote about explicitly Jewish characters. Indeed, it took Miller half a century after the 1949 premiere of “Death of a Salesman” to admit that the Lomans were Jewish, despite being, as he put it, “light years” removed from their roots. But a new Yiddish-language production of the play, “Toyt fun a Seylsman,” which will be staged for seven weeks this fall by the New Yiddish Rep, suggests that Miller’s masterpiece is, in fact, a play about Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants. The new production coincides with the centennial of Miller’s birth on Oct.17.Directed by Moshe Yassur, who helmed New Yiddish Rep’s acclaimed 2013 Yiddish version of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” both in New York and in Northern Ireland, “Toyt fun a Seylsman” stars Avi Hoffman (“Too Jewish” and “Too Jewish Too”) as Willy, with Suzanne Toren as Linda, Daniel Kahn as Biff, Lev Herskovitz as Happy, and Shane Baker as Charley.
The translation is by the great Yiddish actor Joseph Buloff, who performed an unauthorized adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play in Yiddish in Buenos Aires in 1951. Although Miller kept tight control of the rights to his play for decades (not allowing any revivals within a hundred miles of New York), he retroactively authorized the Buenos Aires production and even allowed it to come to the Parkway Theatre in Brooklyn. Reviewing the Brooklyn production for Commentary, critic George Ross pointed out that Willy “speaks and behaves in Jewish idiom much more comfortably and eloquently than in American,” and that the play as a whole evokes a “deeper pathos than the spurious ‘tragedy’ of the English.”
Hoffman, who made his debut on the Yiddish stage at age ten in a 1968 production of Osip Dymov’s “Bronx Express,” about an immigrant Jewish button maker seduced by subway advertisements, views “Toyt” as also about a man’s “assimilating to become a capitalist,” which leads to his connection to his heritage becoming “tenuous at best.” Indeed, Hoffman noted, Willy is “having conversations with dead people; his past is catching up with him.” The actor called himself “honored, blessed and humbled” to be playing the role, noting that two other actors who share his surname coincidentally starred in Broadway revivals of the play — Dustin Hoffman and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Yassur told The Jewish Week that he plans to have the actors remain on one level (as opposed to the original bi-level staging by Jo Mielziner) and to move in and out of the spotlight. The use of light and shadow will emphasize what Yassur called the “darkness in Willy’s soul, which he has bequeathed to Biff, and from which everyone in the play suffers.” What makes Willy’s plight so moving, he said, is that the salesman is “ultimately expendable — he gets chewed up and thrown away.”
Debra Caplan, a theater professor at Baruch College who has done extensive research on the Yiddish productions of “Salesman,” is serving as dramaturge. She noted that Linda’s famous eulogy, “Attention must be paid,” uses Yiddish (and German) syntax, in which the verb is typically the second element in the sentence. (In Yiddish, Buloff rendered it as “gib achtung.”) Such word usage is a dead giveaway, she said, that Miller based the characters on members of his own Yiddish-speaking extended family. “Yiddish was still a presence of New York Jewish life in the 1950s,” Caplan said. “People had grown up hearing it. Now it’s much more distant for most people.”
In fact, according to Caplan, the Yiddish version of the play restores the primacy of Yiddish theater to the history of the American stage. “If Yiddish is the backdrop for this quintessential American play,” she said, “then Yiddish is more central to the American theater overall than many people realize.” The play will be presented with English supertitles.
Whether in English or Yiddish, the Jewishness of “Salesman” is thus finally getting its due. As David Mamet wrote in a review in The Guardian of the revival of “Salesman” in London in 2005, the play’s “author, setting and subject: the business, and the agony of assimilation, are all Jewish.” Mamet described “Salesman” as “an example of that poetic realism that was the voice of the second-generation Jewish writers … a struggle between hope, confusion, aspiration, and circumstance.”
“Toyt fun a Seylsman” runs from Oct. 8 – Nov. 22 at the Castillo Theatre, 543 W. 42nd St. Weeknights at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For tickets, $50, visit newyiddishrep.org.
Alexander Fehling as young prosecutor Johann Radmann. Heike Ullrich/Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
George Robinson reviews "Labyrinth of Lies," a new German drama that retells the Frankfurt Auschwitz trial of the early 1960s
George Robinson
Special To The Jewish Week
When a filmmaker works with historical material there is always the temptation to allow an audience to feel smugly superior to the characters on the screen. Yes, we know that Dec. 7, 1941 is a lousy day to plan a wedding in Waikiki, that Napoleon shouldn’t be making long-term plans for the French government on the morning of Waterloo. It’s a bit like the rather snarky frisson you get in a teen-slasher horror film when some kid insists on looking in the basement.
When a film’s creators eschew that smirking little pleasure and attempt to do something subtler and more complex, something that heightens an audience’s ambivalence, and deepens the ethical ambiguities surrounding historical choices, that is quite a different story.
At its best moments, that is what the new German drama “Labyrinth of Lies” manages in its retelling of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trial of the early 1960s.
About a third of the way into “Labyrinth,” a young state prosecutor, Johann Radmann (Alexander Fehling, who is reminiscent of the young William Hurt, albeit with less of Hurt’s self-consciousness) is sitting alone in his darkened office reading for the first time of the crimes committed in Auschwitz. The scene takes place in 1958 or ’59. We know what he will find. We’ve read the books, seen the film footage, heard the testimony. Auschwitz has regrettably few secrets for us, which makes his reluctant compulsion to learn more profoundly moving.
Writer-director Giulio Ricciarelli makes it clear that in the post-war “economic miracle” of Adenauer’s Germany, these realities are actually a mystery to almost all Germans, that in little over a decade, West Germany has managed to develop a complete case of historical amnesia, compounded by the pervasive presence throughout the government and social institutions of ex-Nazis. What makes the moment so effective is that Radmann doesn’t know what we know, and that knowledge is so cataclysmic that when he acquires it his world will be rocked off its foundations. He will, as we also know, return the favor.
At such a juncture, Ricciarelli (along with co-writer Elisabeth Bartel) earns the right to withhold from us the unpleasant but familiar shocks on which such films are usually focused. When an Auschwitz survivor pulls up his eyepatch, Ricciarelli shoots him from the back letting the reaction of the attorneys and our well-schooled imaginations supply the worst. We never see the by now over-used footage of stacks of corpses, and the film’s only conventional horror-movie-type moments occur in a dream that plagues Radmann.
In a sense, what Ricciarelli, a veteran actor and producer making his feature film debut, has done is to make us focus on Radmann’s reaction to those atrocities to which we have become inured. It’s a thoughtful and effective narrative strategy and one that makes the protagonist’s moral evolution, from naïf to crusader to sadder-but-wiser (but still committed) realist, satisfying.
Unfortunately, “Labyrinth of Lies” is plagued by other lesser demons that crop up frequently in such historical films. The second half of the movie is paced too slowly and with little variation in tempo. Many members of the supporting cast are playing attitudes more than characters, with the outstanding exception of Gert Voss, whose tough-but-fatherly chief prosecutor, a Jew, gives the film a moral anchor. The complications in Radmann’s private life are a bit too clichéd to really convey the excruciating impact of working with such unrelentingly gruesome realities.
Yet there are those startling moments in the film, particularly in the first hour, when we are brought face to face with the most troubling mysteries of human behavior. The answers the film offers in its second half don’t really explain anything but, then, what has?
“Labyrinth of Lies,” directed by Giulio Ricciarelli, opens Sept. 30 at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Angelika Film Center.
Still Scaling Masada's Heights [Music]
Special To The Jewish Week
Zorn of plenty: The saxophonist’s “The Book Beriah” makes use of several Jewish scales. Heung Heung Chin
John Zorn is acclaimed for having brought together the worlds of free jazz and radical Jewish music. We spoke to the prolific composer about his new project, 'Masada Book III: The Book Beriah' that's set to be unveiled next week.
Read More Luck, as baseball’s Branch Rickey sagely observed, is the residue of design. That is doubly true in an improvisation-based art like jazz.
Just ask John Zorn.
When Zorn’s latest project, “Masada Book III: The Book Beriah” is unveiled on Sept. 10, it will represent choices the saxophonist and composer has made over 20 years ago, and be the culmination of a project that has been percolating soulfully ever since.
“From 1973 to 1993 my compositional world was predominantly complex and structural: Game pieces for improvisers, cinematic file card studio pieces, Cartoon influenced classical music, S/M Hardcore Punk Miniatures for the band Naked City,” Zorn wrote in an e-mail interview last week. “The traditional concept of melody was not a large part of my creative language. So as a challenge to my compositional skills, in early 1993 I began to write a book of tunes, loosely inspired by the catalogs of great songwriters like Burt Bacharach, Thelonious Monk, Kurt Weill and Ornette Coleman. Simple tunes that could both provide inspiration and act as a formal model for improvisers familiar with negotiating chord changes ... and beyond.”
That shift in focus concurred with a personal shift as well, as Zorn, who is acclaimed for having brought together the worlds of free jazz and radical Jewish music, began to explore his Jewish identity intensely.
He wrote, “Tying this challenge together with my personal Jewish odyssey and my skills as a saxophonist gave birth to the world of Masada. A world that began as my manipulation of two simple Jewish scales, and became an original language combining all my varied musical obsessions.”
The Masada project, which is a musical take on the four spiritual “worlds” contained in the Kabbalah, the body of Jewish mysticism, was not pre-planned, Zorn noted. “It kind of happened in an organic way.”
In a sense, it was an endurance test for the already prolific composer.
“In 1993 I started ... with the idea to write 100 tunes in a year,” he continued. “I wrote 100 in ’93, 50 or so in ’94, 30 in ’95 and about 25 in ’96, for a total of 205 tunes.”
That output, which would be a lifetime project for most musicians, gave Zorn enough material for a decade.
Then, he explained, “Inspiration hit again and I wrote Book II. This time the challenge was 100 tunes in a month! I ended up 316 ... in three months.”
With the Masada book now totaling 521 tunes, Zorn saw a truly magical Jewish number approaching, “so a couple of years later I wrote 92 more tunes for Book III to make the total 613.” That figure corresponds with the number of commandments, or mitzvot, in the Torah.
If Book III is the culmination, it is not the end. “There is a 614th commandment,” he wrote, “There may be one more long piece to make up the fourth world, Atzilut/Emanation, and that would complete the series.”
Process aside, what about the music itself? How do the three Masada books differ? Their author is candid.
“The writing obviously progresses,” Zorn wrote. “Many say that Book II is more lyrical than Book I. [Book] I was carved out of rock — it was hard creating a new language and it took a lot of time. ... In II I spoke the language fluently and was able to write quickly. ... In III the musical language became even more developed and as a result the pieces are more involved.”
Uri Caine, who has been involved with the other Masada projects, will be playing keyboards next week with Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg, He offers a slightly different perspective on the three Masada books.
“In the Masada project [John is] using a lot of Jewish scales, and that gives the music a certain specific sound,” Caine said in a telephone interview last week. “In his other projects it’s been a variety of means and methods, from written-out compositions to [improvised] game pieces. Masada came out of a certain sound, and then certain scales. As a player that means you hook into that.”
Every bit as important, Caine added, is the degree of freedom that Zorn offers with his compositions.
“He’d say, ‘Go for this, try that,’ and as I’ve played [the material] live it loosens up and becomes something else. The key is everybody gets a chance to do their thing. There’s a good combination of freedom with a structure.”
And that takes more than luck.
The world premiere of John Zorn’s “Masada Book III: The Book Beriah” will take place on Thursday, Sept. 10. The four bands performing Zorn’s new compositions include Zion80 (joined by Zorn and Cyro Baptista), Baptista’s Banquet of the Spirits, the Nigunim Trio of Frank London, Uri Caine and Lorin Sklamberg, and the psychedelic experimentalist band Cleric. Event starts at 8 p.m., Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn; 917-267-0363, roulette.org).
Luck, as baseball’s Branch Rickey sagely observed, is the residue of design. That is doubly true in an improvisation-based art like jazz.Just ask John Zorn.
When Zorn’s latest project, “Masada Book III: The Book Beriah” is unveiled on Sept. 10, it will represent choices the saxophonist and composer has made over 20 years ago, and be the culmination of a project that has been percolating soulfully ever since.
“From 1973 to 1993 my compositional world was predominantly complex and structural: Game pieces for improvisers, cinematic file card studio pieces, Cartoon influenced classical music, S/M Hardcore Punk Miniatures for the band Naked City,” Zorn wrote in an e-mail interview last week. “The traditional concept of melody was not a large part of my creative language. So as a challenge to my compositional skills, in early 1993 I began to write a book of tunes, loosely inspired by the catalogs of great songwriters like Burt Bacharach, Thelonious Monk, Kurt Weill and Ornette Coleman. Simple tunes that could both provide inspiration and act as a formal model for improvisers familiar with negotiating chord changes ... and beyond.”
That shift in focus concurred with a personal shift as well, as Zorn, who is acclaimed for having brought together the worlds of free jazz and radical Jewish music, began to explore his Jewish identity intensely.
He wrote, “Tying this challenge together with my personal Jewish odyssey and my skills as a saxophonist gave birth to the world of Masada. A world that began as my manipulation of two simple Jewish scales, and became an original language combining all my varied musical obsessions.”
The Masada project, which is a musical take on the four spiritual “worlds” contained in the Kabbalah, the body of Jewish mysticism, was not pre-planned, Zorn noted. “It kind of happened in an organic way.”
In a sense, it was an endurance test for the already prolific composer.
“In 1993 I started ... with the idea to write 100 tunes in a year,” he continued. “I wrote 100 in ’93, 50 or so in ’94, 30 in ’95 and about 25 in ’96, for a total of 205 tunes.”
That output, which would be a lifetime project for most musicians, gave Zorn enough material for a decade.
Then, he explained, “Inspiration hit again and I wrote Book II. This time the challenge was 100 tunes in a month! I ended up 316 ... in three months.”
With the Masada book now totaling 521 tunes, Zorn saw a truly magical Jewish number approaching, “so a couple of years later I wrote 92 more tunes for Book III to make the total 613.” That figure corresponds with the number of commandments, or mitzvot, in the Torah.
If Book III is the culmination, it is not the end. “There is a 614th commandment,” he wrote, “There may be one more long piece to make up the fourth world, Atzilut/Emanation, and that would complete the series.”
Process aside, what about the music itself? How do the three Masada books differ? Their author is candid.
“The writing obviously progresses,” Zorn wrote. “Many say that Book II is more lyrical than Book I. [Book] I was carved out of rock — it was hard creating a new language and it took a lot of time. ... In II I spoke the language fluently and was able to write quickly. ... In III the musical language became even more developed and as a result the pieces are more involved.”
Uri Caine, who has been involved with the other Masada projects, will be playing keyboards next week with Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg, He offers a slightly different perspective on the three Masada books.
“In the Masada project [John is] using a lot of Jewish scales, and that gives the music a certain specific sound,” Caine said in a telephone interview last week. “In his other projects it’s been a variety of means and methods, from written-out compositions to [improvised] game pieces. Masada came out of a certain sound, and then certain scales. As a player that means you hook into that.”
Every bit as important, Caine added, is the degree of freedom that Zorn offers with his compositions.
“He’d say, ‘Go for this, try that,’ and as I’ve played [the material] live it loosens up and becomes something else. The key is everybody gets a chance to do their thing. There’s a good combination of freedom with a structure.”
And that takes more than luck.
The world premiere of John Zorn’s “Masada Book III: The Book Beriah” will take place on Thursday, Sept. 10. The four bands performing Zorn’s new compositions include Zion80 (joined by Zorn and Cyro Baptista), Baptista’s Banquet of the Spirits, the Nigunim Trio of Frank London, Uri Caine and Lorin Sklamberg, and the psychedelic experimentalist band Cleric. Event starts at 8 p.m., Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn; 917-267-0363, roulette.org).
Site Speicific
"Global Citizen," Site Specific [Exhibit]
Few architects have designed as wide a variety of buildings as Haifa-born Moshe Safdie, the brains behind Ben-Gurion airport. This fall, the National Academy Museum will be exhibiting "Global Citizen," a touring survey of the influential architect's prodigious career. The Jewish Week spoke with Safdie and the exhibit curator ahead of its opening.
Read More Caroline Langado
Special To The Jewish Week
Safdie’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum looks out over the Jerusalem hills. Timothy Hursley
Few architects have designed as wide a variety of buildings as Moshe Safdie. The Haifa-born architect is the creative brains behind Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, public libraries in Vancouver and Salt Lake City, as well as a splashy casino in Singapore.
This fall, the National Academy Museum will be exhibiting “Global Citizen,” a touring survey of the influential architect’s prodigious career. For more than 50 years, Safdie has created functional, beautiful and humane spaces around the world. His practice is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Jerusalem, Toronto, Singapore and Shanghai. At 77, he is constantly traveling and his firm continues to take on new projects.
Although Safdie’s work has sometimes elicited controversy, he is widely recognized for his sensitivity to human needs. He is known for incorporating natural surroundings into his buildings. The architect does not shy away from symbolism in his work, and he is not afraid of beauty. This year he received The American Institute of Architects’ highest honor, the Gold Medal.
With each project comes a drastically new setting and with it, new architectural responses. In a phone interview with The Jewish Week, Safdie explained his method, which he feels is comprised of two components: the site and the context. At the beginning of the planning process he will “draw inspiration from the site, deciphering secrets from it.” He will ask himself what are the “unique conditions of this place that need to be addressed.” From there, he will interpret the space’s use.
The “Global Citizen” exhibit, which was curated by independent curator Donald Albrecht and has already made stops at the National Gallery of Canada, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, offers a glimpse into Safdie’s career through models, photographs, original drawings and sketchbooks. Visitors will be able to see well-known Safdie sites from their planning stages through photos of completion. Newspaper clippings documenting critical reaction and videos contextualizing the work are displayed throughout.
Born in Haifa in 1938, Safdie remains influenced by the architecture of this northern Israeli city. He has described Haifa as a “coastal, pedestrian Bauhaus hill town” with buildings that are geometric and terraced.
Safdie remains a passionate Zionist, and has completed many projects in Israel. An entire section of “Global Citizen” is dedicated to his buildings there.
One Israeli project featured in the show is the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, which was finished in 2005. The museum combines a poignant experience indoors followed by the uplifting view of Jerusalem’s forested hills. Safdie remarked that this for him has not only been a successful project, but “emotionally the most challenging.”
The commercial Mamilla Center in the Old City of Jerusalem, which he completed in 2009, was a very different undertaking. This mixed-use development includes a luxury hotel, apartments, offices, and a retail promenade.
In his plans for the new city of Modi’in in central Israel (1996), Safdie ensured that there would be parks and an efficient road system. He designed the layout of the city, its community center and retail district. The residential areas of the city were sold to developers who built using their own designs, allowing for varied housing types.
Safdie’s work extends far beyond Israel, and another section of the show focuses on his North American buildings. In Ottawa, he won a competition to build the National Gallery of Canada; in Wichita, Kansas he planned The Exploration Place Science Museum; in Los Angeles he designed the Skirball Cultural Center, and in Salt Lake City he conceived the public library which has become a popular meeting spot and wedding venue.
Recently he has begun working more in Asia. He built the Khalsa Heritage Center, a Sikh museum, in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India in 1999, and was hired to design the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore (2010) after meeting Sheldon Adelson at the opening ceremony of Yad Vashem.
“Global Citizen” also concentrates on Safdie’s Habitat works. Habitat67, a residential complex in Montreal, was the project that launched his career while he was in his 20s. The exhibit will feature plans for both unrealized Habitat schemes (including one for New York) as well as photographs of what has been built.
Albrecht finds that Safdie’s biggest strength is his ability to “express the aspirations of the people” for whom he’s working.
“Architecture is a social art,” noted Albrecht in a phone interview. “It’s not about making sculptures. It’s about fulfilling peoples’ goals in the designs.”
Though Safdie has many important projects behind him, he does not have the celebrity status of some of his “starchitect” peers such as Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel and Robert Stern. Albrecht speculates that this might be because of Safdie’s use of metaphor in his work, which the mainstream press may not appreciate. Another possibility, according to Albrecht, may be that Safdie does not have a signature style that he imposes on all of his buildings. It could also simply be the very thing being celebrated in this exhibit: his global sensibility. Neither Safdie nor his buildings are concentrated in one place; his work can be seen all over the world.
Incidentally, Safdie mentioned that he is working on a residential project in New York City on land purchased from and adjacent to the Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue and 29th Street. The as-yet unnamed building is currently in the planning stage and is scheduled to be publicly unveiled this month.
“Global Citizen” opens Sept. 10, and runs through Jan. 10, 2016, at the National Academy Museum (1083 Fifth Ave., 212-369-4880, nationalacademy.org).More in the Fall Arts Guide
The Bookshelf
Our book critic, Sandee Brawarsky, brings you a list of 9 fiction and 18 non-fiction hitting the shelves this season. "The Sea Beach Line", by Ben Nadler, "The Muralist" by B.A. Shapiro, and David Gregory's new book, "How's Your Faith: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey" are some of the titles to add to your book club list this fall. more...Book
Sandee Brawarsky
Jewish Week Book Critic
A sampling of titles in the fall publishing season. At bottom right is former NBC-TV reporter David Gregory.
Fiction
‘The Ambassador” by Yehuda Avner and Matt Rees (Toby Press) is a fictional revision of historical events, based on the premise that the State of Israel came into being before the Holocaust. In 1937, the new nation’s first ambassador to Berlin works tirelessly to save Jews. (September)
Inspired by the true story of Suleiman, an Ottoman sultan who rescued thousands of Jews from the Inquisition, “The Debt of Tamar” by Nicole Dweck (St. Martin’s) is an imaginative family saga set over centuries, intertwining two families, one Jewish, one Muslim. (September)
A landmark three-volume set, “The Complete Works of Primo Levi” (Norton) includes all of the books by the esteemed Italian writer who survived the Holocaust — memoirs, poetry and fiction — in new translation, with an introduction by Toni Morrison. (September)
In this coming-of-age story, “The Sea Beach Line” by Ben Nadler (Fig Tree Books), a young man searches for his estranged father after his mysterious disappearance. Along the way, the son gets tangled in his father’s dealings and also with Talmudic and chasidic tales. (October)
“Jewish Noir” edited by Kenneth Wishnia (PM Press) is an anthology of new crime and other dark stories by leading writers, including S.J. Rozan, Marge Piercy and others, along with two vintage reprints. (October)
An inventive debut novel, “The Mystics of Mile End” by Sigal Samuel (Morrow) is set in the Montreal Jewish neighborhood of Mile End, with questions of faith, religion and identity swirling about, as each member of a family dabbles in the Kabbalah.
“The Muralist” by B.A. Shapiro (Algonquin) is a story of art, history, politics and mystery, involving the disappearance of an American painter — friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and noted artists — in New York in 1940; her great niece searches for answers 70 years later.
Peter Golden’s “Wherever There is Light” (Atria) tells a story of 20th century America, through the long and complicated romance of a German-Jewish immigrant (who makes a fortune in bootlegging and real estate) and a photojournalist who’s the granddaughter of a slave (November).
A new edition of Edward Lewis Wallant’s 1961 classic “The Pawnbroker” (Fig Tree Books) includes an introduction by award-winning novelist Dara Horn.
Non Fiction
In “Nine Essential Things I’ve Learned About Life” (Knopf), Rabbi Harold Kushner distills a lifetime of wrestling with issues of prayer, faith, forgiveness, doubt, community and other issues, presenting his life-affirming understanding of Judaism.
A timely study of Israel’s water mastery, “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World” by Seth M. Siegel (St. Martin’s) suggest a way out of the looming global water crisis by following Israel’s innovations. (September)
The title of David Gregory’s new book, “How’s Your Faith: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey” (Simon & Schuster) is drawn from a question President George W. Bush asked the author when he was covering the White House for NBC-TV. Gregory, who was raised in an interfaith family, was inspired to examine his own faith when he married a Protestant woman. (September)
“Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning” by Timothy Snyder (Tim Duggan/Crown) is both a provocative historical analysis — based on newly available archival sources and the voices of survivors — and an admonition for our times.
Another chapter in the unfolding story of Holocaust art and its provenance, “Hitler’s Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis and the Looting of Europe’s Treasures” by Susan Ronald (St. Martin’s) provides the background of a story that came to light when more than a thousand works of art, valued at more than $1.35 billion, were found in a tiny Munich apartment. (September)
“Rywka’s Diary: The Writing of a Jewish Girl from the Lodz Ghetto” (Harper) is a teenager’s notebook found at Auschwitz by a Red Army doctor in 1945. It is now published in English for the first time, with essays and commentary. The diary ends in the middle of a sentence. (October)
A collection of true stories by an award-winning novelist, “My Father’s Guitar and Other Imaginary Things” by Joseph Skibell (Algonquin) touches on the small moments in life — the daily annoyances, slip-ups, intimacies and mysteries. (October)
Told with insight, delicious details and wisecracking waiters, Ted Merwin’s “Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli” (NYU) is a culinary and cultural study. Merwin, who covers theater for The Jewish Week, skillfully captures the theatrical nature of this American institution and its historical significance. (October)
“Between Gods” (Harper) is best-selling novelist Alison Pick’s memoir of reclaiming her history and identity as a Jew. She undergoes conversion in mid-life, after learning of her family’s secret, that her paternal grandparents were Czech Jews who fled to escape the Nazis.
“Here and There: Leaving Hasidism, Keeping My Family” by Chaya Deitsch (Schocken) stands out from other books in this new genre of memoir, in that the author remains connected to her Lubavitch family even after she decides that she can no longer follow their path. (October)
“When religion turns men into murderers, God weeps,” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks cites from the book of Genesis, as he opens his latest work, “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence” (Schocken). He goes on to show that religiously inspired violence is based on misreadings of the text. (October)
In “Killing of a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel,” (Norton), Dan Ephron provides a detailed account of the two years leading up to it, closely studying the lives of Rabin and his assassin. Ephron hints at the question that none can answer, of what might have been. (October)
“The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America” by Stephen M. Silverman and Raphael D. Silver (Knopf) is an illustrated history of “America’s original frontier,” including the region’s role in the Civil War, its appeal to novelist Washington Irving and the Hudson River School painters, and the evolution of the Borscht Belt. (October)
“Emblems of the Passing World: Poems After Photographs by August Sander” by Adam Kirsch (Other Press) is a gem, presenting new poems by the noted writer and critic. The poems were inspired by (and appear next to) Sander’s well-known portraits of ordinary people in Weimar Germany.
Beginning with the birth of the State of Israel, Dennis Ross’s new book, “Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama” (Farrar Straus Giroux) is full of historical detail and an insider’s analysis. Ross has been at the center of Middle East policy in four administrations, and has worked closely with every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Shamir in 1980s. (October)
“The 613” (Blue Rider Press) presents a series of paintings by celebrated painter Archie Rand. They transform the 613 commandments into striking and original images. (November)
A literary memoir that covers territory rarely explored, Elliot Jager’s “The Pater: My Father, My Judaism, My Childlessness” (Toby Press) probes the meaning of life for a Jewish man without children. The author looks back at his own father — a Holocaust survivor who deserted Jager and his mother — and then reconnects with him many years later, and also at his relationship with God. He weaves interviews with other childless Jewish men, whether single or married, gay or straight, into the narrative. (November)
Erica Brown presents an informed blend of spiritual guidance and practical know-how leavened with stories in “Take Your Soul to Work: 365 Meditations on Every Day Leadership” (Simon & Schuster). (December) Film Listings
Part two of "The Prime Ministers", "In Jackson Heights," "Son of Saul," and more films-and film festivals-to catch this season. more...
Film List
Sept. 25: “The Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photography, Early Soviet Film,” an incredibly extensive showcase of great modernist photography and film from Russia running from the October Revolution through the onset of WWII. Among the major Jewish filmmakers represented in the series are the obvious giants, Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, but the program also promises lesser-known directors like Boris Barnet, Grigory Kozintsev and Yakov Protazanov.
Running through Feb. 7 at The Jewish Museum (Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, 212-423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org).
Sept. 25: The 53rd Annual New York Film Festival, which runs through Oct. 11, will feature work by several Jewish filmmakers including a first-ever collaboration between Steven Spielberg and the Coen Brothers, “Bridge of Spies.” Also on tap and eagerly awaited are new works from Chantal Akerman, Todd Haynes, Frederick Wiseman and Rebecca Miller, as well as a 15th anniversary screening of the Coens’ “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and the American premiere of the controversial Hungarian film, “Son of Saul.” Perhaps the most exciting of all, the Festival will show Marcel Ophüls’ woefully underappreciated “The Memory of Justice,” one of the most profound examinations of the Nuremberg Trial principles in action.
Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theater, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and other venues in Lincoln Center and vicinity, filmlinc.com.
Oct. 7: “The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacekeepers,” directed by Richard Trank, the second half of the diptych that began with “The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers.” Again the main focus will be on the delightful Yehuda Avner, who died last year. Avner was present for some of the most important moments in Israeli history COMMA from the Six-Day War up to his retirement in 1995. He served as personal secretary and speechwriter to Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, and as Israeli ambassador to Australia and the United Kingdom. And he is a sparkling storyteller.
Theater TBA.
Oct. 25: “The Unseen Holocaust: Recent Polish Films.” Since the fall of Communism, Polish artists have explored the realities of the Shoah with a candor that was largely impossible before 1989. Filmmakers have been particularly active in this area, and this series, which runs through Nov. 1, offers an impressive array of recent work. Films will be introduced by professor Stuart Liebman, who curated the series.
Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Plaza; 646- 437-4202, mjhnyc.org).
Nov. 4: “In Jackson Heights,” the latest epic of the everyday by Frederick Wiseman, examines the lively Queens neighborhood in which some 167 languages are spoken, with residents originally from virtually the entire globe.
Runs through Nov. 17 at Film Forum (209 W. Houston St., filmforum.org).
Nov. 5: The Other Israel Film Festival, now in its ninth year. At a time when Israel’s cultural minister is threatening strict political censorship of state-funded films, this event, which runs through Nov. 12, takes on greater significance than ever before.
JCC in Manhattan (76th Street and Amsterdam Ave., otherisrael.org).
Nov. 6: “What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy,” a documentary by David Evans. When this film played the Tribeca Film Festival this spring, I was impressed by the quiet intelligence of its writer and protagonist, human-rights lawyer Philippe Sands and the stubborn earnestness of Niklas Frank, son of the notorious Nazi war criminal Hans Frank. The pair spends much of the film hammering at the denials of guilt offered by Horst van Wächter, whose father was Hans’s second-in-command, Otto von Wächter. A thoughtful, low-key film.
Theater TBA.
Nov. 12: DOC-NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the country, returns for a busy week of non-fiction movies. In the past, offerings have included such Jewish-themed offerings as “Above and Beyond,” “Little White Lie,” “Unorthodox” and “My Father Evegeni.”
The IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas will host. (For more information, docnyc.net)
Nov. 20: “Very Semi-Serious,” by Leah Wolchak. The New Yorker is the last bastion of single-panel cartoons, a unique and beloved art form, and Wolchak got pretty complete access to cartoon editor Bob Mankoff and his merry band of humorists for this documentary.
Theater TBA, but it will air on HBO starting on Dec. 7.
Dec. 18: “Son of Saul,” debut feature by Laszlo Nemes, a protégé of Bela Tarr. A source of considerable debate at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this harrowing and claustrophobic film depicts a day in the life of the Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz. Formally rigorous and dramatically devastating, the film essentially shows us his world in close-up with all the horror that implies.
Expect an extended run, at Film Forum (209 W. Houston St., filmforum.org).Music Listings
Yiddish music at the Yiddish New York! festival, live shows and recitals, and new records to add to your playlist. more...Music List
Sept. 14, Sept. 22: Jeremiah Lockwood and Rabbi Dan Ain offer High Holiday services in unconventional settings. With Lockwood providing the music they should be very, very interesting. The Rosh HaShanah morning service takes place at 10 a.m., Sept. 14 at Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn; 718-963-3369, brooklynbowl.com). Kol Nidre begins at 6:45 p.m., Sept. 22 at Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn; 917-267-0363, roulette.org).
Sept. 27: Israeli guitar virtuoso Nadav Lev launches his new CD “New Strings Attached” which highlights new music by several fellow Israelis as well as something of his own, with a 5 p.m. performance at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St.; 212-505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com).
Oct. 14-17: “All Vows” performed by cellist Maya Beiser with films by Bill Morrison. A New York premiere that combines the formidable talents of Beiser, who defies categorization, the brilliant found-footage artist Morrison, and new takes on “Kol Nidre” from Michael Gordon and Mohammed Fairouz, plus music from other avant-garde luminaries. Part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, BAM Fisher (321 Ashland Pl., Brooklyn; bam.org).
Oct. 20: Pianist Kirill Gerstein performs Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Piano Concerto in F” in their original jazz band arrangements, with Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks and Maurice Peress. 7:30 p.m., 92nd St. Y (Lexington Ave. and 92nd Street; 92y.org).
Oct. 20-25: Fred Hersch, one of the most creative and mercurial pianists in jazz today, turns 60 this fall and he’s celebrating that and a new solo CD with a week at the Village Vanguard (178 Seventh Ave South; 212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com).
Oct. 28: Another wonderfully unclassifiable cellist, Erik Friedlander, turns up in NYC. Friedlander’s new CD “Oscalypso,” to be released on Oct. 9, is a tribute to the great jazz bassist Oscar Pettiford, and Friedlander will be celebrating the recording with an 8:30 p.m. concert at Rockwood Hall Stage 3 (196 Allen St.; 212-477-4155, rockwoodmusichall.com).
Nov. 11: Lenka Lichtenberg is one of my favorite Canadian visitors, a polyglot singer whose facility with languages is equaled by her musical smarts. She doesn’t get to NYC too often, so when she performs the result is must-hear music. Drom (85 Ave. A; 646-791-4244, dromnyc.co,).
Nov. 19: Anthony de Mare presents the third and final recital in his Liaisons project, “Liaisons III: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano.” World premieres include new works by Wynton Marsalis and Duncan Sheik. 8 p.m., Symphony Space (Broadway and 95th Street; 212-864-5400, symphonyspace.org).
Nov. 22: “The Cantor’s Couch,” a one-man show in which Cantor Jack Mendelson mixes music and storytelling in recounting his family’s antics, his adolescence and his lifelong commitment to saving traditional hazonos. Music by Jonathan Comisar. Hollis Hills Jewish Center (210-10 Union Turnpike, Queens Village; 718-776-3500, hollishillsjc.org).
Dec. 24-29: Yiddish New York! A celebration of the breadth and range of Yiddish culture around the city, with music, theater, food, walking tours and much more. The schedule is still being formulated but you can keep up at yiddishnewyork.com.Theatre List
"Where Was I?" Stage and screen actress Karen Ludwig reviews her storied career in show business in a one-woman show, "Mend the Envelope." A one-act play by Jason Lasky about an interfaith couple coping with tragedy and more...Theater List
Danny Burstein plays Tevye and Jessica Hecht is Golde in the new, Bartlett Sher-directed production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
“Where Was I?” Stage and screen actress Karen Ludwig reviews her career in show business, which has included playing Meryl Streep’s lover in “Manhattan” and Ethel Rosenberg in “Citizen Cohn.” Directed by Dorothy Lyman, the one-woman show begins previews on Sept. 1 for a Sept. 3 opening. Theatre 54, 244 W. 54th St. $18, spincyclenyc.com, (212) 352-3101.
“In Bed With Roy Cohn.” Playwright Joan Beber, who penned “Ethel Sings,” imagines the once powerful Jewish lawyer being visited on his deathbed by Ronald Reagan, Barbara Walters, and even his own youthful self. Runs Sept. 2-Oct. 3 at the Lion Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. $55-$65, telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.
“Mend the Envelope.” A one-act play by Jason Lasky about an interfaith couple coping with tragedy. Sept. 21-26 at Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 W. 26th St. $20, brownpapertickets.com.
“Letters to Sala.” Based on “Sala’s Gift,” Ann Kirschner’s account of her mother’s surviving seven Nazi labor camps in a five-year period, the play by Arlene Hutton incorporates material from the 350 letters about the life of the camps that Sala Garncarz miraculously managed to preserve. Oct. 3-18 at TBG Theatre, 312 W. 36th St. $18, letterstosalany.com, SmartTix, (212) 868-4444.
“Hard Love.” Israeli playwright Motti Lerner’s 2003 play is set in the haredi Jerusalem neighborhood of Me’ah She’arim; the TACT/The Actors Company Theatre production centers on the romance that develops between the teenage children of a divorced couple’s second marriages. Sept. 29-Oct. 31 at the Beckett Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. $63.25, telecharge.com,(212) 239-6200.
“Rothschild and Sons.” York Theatre Company presents a new one-act version of “The Rothschilds,” the 1970 musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick about the wealthy German-Jewish family. Starring Robert Cuccioli, the show previews Oct. 6 for an Oct. 18 opening at St. Peter’s Church, East 54th Street just east of Lexington Avenue. $67.50, yorktheatre.org, (212) 935-5820.
“Unseamly.” Oren Safdie’s new play is about a Latina woman who seeks to sue her former boss, a Jewish man who runs a clothing company known for its sexually explicit billboards. The play is based on the charges brought against Dov Charney, the playwright’s first cousin, who is the CEO of American Apparel. Oct. 8-Nov. 1 at Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th St. $55,urbanstages.org, (212) 868-4444.
“Fiddler on the Roof.” The iconic musical returns to Broadway with Danny Burstein (“South Pacific,” “Follies”) as Tevye. Bartlett Sher directs the production, which will feature choreography by the Israeli artist Hofesh Shechter, based on Jerome Robbins’ original staging. Previews begin Nov. 12 for a Dec. 17 opening at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway (52nd-53rd). $35-$167, telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.
“The King of Chelm.” A family musical, suitable for ages 5 to 12, presented by the FolksbieneRU, about a boy who dreams of being a superhero, only to find himself in a magical world where his wish comes true. The play is based on the poetry of the Soviet writer Shike (“Ovsei”) Driz; it runs from Nov. 14-29 at the Kraine Theatre, 85 E. Fourth St. $18,horsetrade.info, (212) 460-0982.
“Di Goldene Kale” (The Golden Bride). The Folksbiene revives Joseph Rumshinsky and Louis Gilrod’s glittering 1923 operetta about a beautiful girl who inherits a tremendous fortune, which she offers to the man who can reunite her with her long-lost mother. Runs Dec. 2-27 at The Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl. $40, nytf.org, (866) 811-4111.
“Stars of David.” The revue of humorous songs about Jewish celebrities, based on the book by Abigail Pogrebin, will be restaged for one night only, Dec. 5 at the 92nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street. $36-46, 92y.org, (212) 415-5500.Visual Art Listings
"Unorthodox," at The Jewish Museum will feature over 200 works by contemporary artists from a variety of backgrounds that emphasize art's role in breaking rules and traditions, Roy Lichtenstein's art, selections from the Saltzman Family Collection and more are on display this season. more...Visual Art List
Two opportunities to see the art of Roy Lichtenstein:
Roy Lichtenstein: Between Sea and Sky
Though Oct. 12,Guild Hall, 158 Main St., East Hampton, L.I., More than 30 land and seascapes from the 1960s-1990s, created using paint, plastic, enamel, drawings, collage, print.
And Roy Lichtenstein: Greene Street Mural
Sept. 10 – Oct. 17, Gagosian New York, 555 W. 24th St.. A full-scale replica of a wall painting originally created by Lichtenstein in 1983.
Selections from the Saltzman Family Collection
Through Nov. 8, Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Dr, Roslyn, L.I. . The exhibition includes art by modernists such as Chagall, Brancusi, Degas and Picasso from the collection of Arnold Saltzman, the late diplomat, businessman, and Founding President of the museum.
Altered Appearances
Through Jan. 4, 2016, Fisher Landau Center for Art, 38-27 30th St., Long Island City, Queens, flcart.org. Michal Rovner’s photography is included in this show of art created with digital manipulation; subjects are not always what they appear to be.
Threatened Beauty
Sept. 6 – Jan. 10, 2016, Yeshiva University Museum, 15 W. 16th St., cjh.org. Orthodox, feminist artist Andi Arnovitz, who is based in Jerusalem, reflects on tensions with Iran in a suite of 35 colorful collage and watercolor works in an exhibit adapted from Jerusalem’s L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art.
LABSCAPES: Views Through The Microscope
Sept. 8 – Dec. 16, JCC in Manhattan ,334 Amsterdam Ave., jccmanhattan.org. Images taken by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology using a range of microscopes used in the fields of exact sciences (chemistry and physics), life sciences, engineering and medicine.
Gego: Autobiography of a Line
Sept. 10 – Oct. 24, Dominique Lévy, 909 Madison Ave., dominique-levy.com. The first major U.S. exhibition devoted to the German-Jewish emigré artist Gertrude Goldschmidt, known as Gego, who settled in Venezuela and went on to become an abstractionist.
Wrong Tools
Sept. 17 – Oct. 24, Andrea Meislin Gallery , 534 W. 24th St., andreameislin.com. Ofri Cnaani will provide gallery visitors a visual “reading” and image map in this performative work employing a copy machine and a surveillance camera.
Beloved Dog
Oct. 29 – Dec. 12, Julie Saul Gallery, 535 W. 22nd St., saulgallery.com. A small exhibit of gouache paintings from beloved illustrator Maira Kalman’s new book.
Unorthodox
Nov. 6 - March 27, 2016, The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave., thejewishmuseum.org. A large-scale show of over 200 works by contemporary artists from a variety of backgrounds that emphasize art’s role in breaking rules and traditions.
Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015
Nov. 7 – March 20, 2016, Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., moma.org. Ilit Azouzaly’s work is being featured in this exhibit of new, international photography.
Deborah Kass: No Kidding
Dec. 8 – Jan. 23, 2016, Paul Kasmin Gallery, 515 W. 27th St., paulkasmingallery.com. Ten new large-scale paintings that incorporate neon and plays on words — a continuation of her series “Feel Good Paintings, For Feel Bad Times.”
Important Judaica and Israeli & International Art
Exhibit opens Dec. 12, auctions on Dec. 17, Sotheby’s, 1334 York Ave.. Sotheby’s annual exhibits and auctions of Hebrew books and manuscripts, important paintings, and ritual silver and metalwork, as well as a range of Israeli artwork. This year’s Judaica sale will feature the earliest American ketubah from 1751.
Israel in Camera: 65 years of Israeli history
from the Haaretz photo archive
Dec. 12 – 23, Ronald Feldman Gallery, 31 Mercer St. A survey of the important events captured by the Haaretz photojournalism department.Read more at JewishWeek.Com____________________________
The Jewish Week
"Global Citizen," Site Specific [Exhibit]
Few architects have designed as wide a variety of buildings as Haifa-born Moshe Safdie, the brains behind Ben-Gurion airport. This fall, the National Academy Museum will be exhibiting "Global Citizen," a touring survey of the influential architect's prodigious career. The Jewish Week spoke with Safdie and the exhibit curator ahead of its opening.
Read More
Caroline LangadoSpecial To The Jewish Week
Safdie’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum looks out over the Jerusalem hills. Timothy Hursley
Few architects have designed as wide a variety of buildings as Moshe Safdie. The Haifa-born architect is the creative brains behind Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, public libraries in Vancouver and Salt Lake City, as well as a splashy casino in Singapore.
This fall, the National Academy Museum will be exhibiting “Global Citizen,” a touring survey of the influential architect’s prodigious career. For more than 50 years, Safdie has created functional, beautiful and humane spaces around the world. His practice is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Jerusalem, Toronto, Singapore and Shanghai. At 77, he is constantly traveling and his firm continues to take on new projects.
Although Safdie’s work has sometimes elicited controversy, he is widely recognized for his sensitivity to human needs. He is known for incorporating natural surroundings into his buildings. The architect does not shy away from symbolism in his work, and he is not afraid of beauty. This year he received The American Institute of Architects’ highest honor, the Gold Medal.
With each project comes a drastically new setting and with it, new architectural responses. In a phone interview with The Jewish Week, Safdie explained his method, which he feels is comprised of two components: the site and the context. At the beginning of the planning process he will “draw inspiration from the site, deciphering secrets from it.” He will ask himself what are the “unique conditions of this place that need to be addressed.” From there, he will interpret the space’s use.
The “Global Citizen” exhibit, which was curated by independent curator Donald Albrecht and has already made stops at the National Gallery of Canada, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, offers a glimpse into Safdie’s career through models, photographs, original drawings and sketchbooks. Visitors will be able to see well-known Safdie sites from their planning stages through photos of completion. Newspaper clippings documenting critical reaction and videos contextualizing the work are displayed throughout.
Born in Haifa in 1938, Safdie remains influenced by the architecture of this northern Israeli city. He has described Haifa as a “coastal, pedestrian Bauhaus hill town” with buildings that are geometric and terraced.
Safdie remains a passionate Zionist, and has completed many projects in Israel. An entire section of “Global Citizen” is dedicated to his buildings there.
One Israeli project featured in the show is the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, which was finished in 2005. The museum combines a poignant experience indoors followed by the uplifting view of Jerusalem’s forested hills. Safdie remarked that this for him has not only been a successful project, but “emotionally the most challenging.”
The commercial Mamilla Center in the Old City of Jerusalem, which he completed in 2009, was a very different undertaking. This mixed-use development includes a luxury hotel, apartments, offices, and a retail promenade.
In his plans for the new city of Modi’in in central Israel (1996), Safdie ensured that there would be parks and an efficient road system. He designed the layout of the city, its community center and retail district. The residential areas of the city were sold to developers who built using their own designs, allowing for varied housing types.
Safdie’s work extends far beyond Israel, and another section of the show focuses on his North American buildings. In Ottawa, he won a competition to build the National Gallery of Canada; in Wichita, Kansas he planned The Exploration Place Science Museum; in Los Angeles he designed the Skirball Cultural Center, and in Salt Lake City he conceived the public library which has become a popular meeting spot and wedding venue.
Recently he has begun working more in Asia. He built the Khalsa Heritage Center, a Sikh museum, in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India in 1999, and was hired to design the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore (2010) after meeting Sheldon Adelson at the opening ceremony of Yad Vashem.
“Global Citizen” also concentrates on Safdie’s Habitat works. Habitat67, a residential complex in Montreal, was the project that launched his career while he was in his 20s. The exhibit will feature plans for both unrealized Habitat schemes (including one for New York) as well as photographs of what has been built.
Albrecht finds that Safdie’s biggest strength is his ability to “express the aspirations of the people” for whom he’s working.
“Architecture is a social art,” noted Albrecht in a phone interview. “It’s not about making sculptures. It’s about fulfilling peoples’ goals in the designs.”
Though Safdie has many important projects behind him, he does not have the celebrity status of some of his “starchitect” peers such as Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel and Robert Stern. Albrecht speculates that this might be because of Safdie’s use of metaphor in his work, which the mainstream press may not appreciate. Another possibility, according to Albrecht, may be that Safdie does not have a signature style that he imposes on all of his buildings. It could also simply be the very thing being celebrated in this exhibit: his global sensibility. Neither Safdie nor his buildings are concentrated in one place; his work can be seen all over the world.
Incidentally, Safdie mentioned that he is working on a residential project in New York City on land purchased from and adjacent to the Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue and 29th Street. The as-yet unnamed building is currently in the planning stage and is scheduled to be publicly unveiled this month.
“Global Citizen” opens Sept. 10, and runs through Jan. 10, 2016, at the National Academy Museum (1083 Fifth Ave., 212-369-4880, nationalacademy.org).More in the Fall Arts Guide
The Bookshelf
Our book critic, Sandee Brawarsky, brings you a list of 9 fiction and 18 non-fiction hitting the shelves this season. "The Sea Beach Line", by Ben Nadler, "The Muralist" by B.A. Shapiro, and David Gregory's new book, "How's Your Faith: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey" are some of the titles to add to your book club list this fall. more...Book
Sandee Brawarsky
Jewish Week Book Critic
A sampling of titles in the fall publishing season. At bottom right is former NBC-TV reporter David Gregory.
Fiction
‘The Ambassador” by Yehuda Avner and Matt Rees (Toby Press) is a fictional revision of historical events, based on the premise that the State of Israel came into being before the Holocaust. In 1937, the new nation’s first ambassador to Berlin works tirelessly to save Jews. (September)
Inspired by the true story of Suleiman, an Ottoman sultan who rescued thousands of Jews from the Inquisition, “The Debt of Tamar” by Nicole Dweck (St. Martin’s) is an imaginative family saga set over centuries, intertwining two families, one Jewish, one Muslim. (September)
A landmark three-volume set, “The Complete Works of Primo Levi” (Norton) includes all of the books by the esteemed Italian writer who survived the Holocaust — memoirs, poetry and fiction — in new translation, with an introduction by Toni Morrison. (September)
In this coming-of-age story, “The Sea Beach Line” by Ben Nadler (Fig Tree Books), a young man searches for his estranged father after his mysterious disappearance. Along the way, the son gets tangled in his father’s dealings and also with Talmudic and chasidic tales. (October)
“Jewish Noir” edited by Kenneth Wishnia (PM Press) is an anthology of new crime and other dark stories by leading writers, including S.J. Rozan, Marge Piercy and others, along with two vintage reprints. (October)
An inventive debut novel, “The Mystics of Mile End” by Sigal Samuel (Morrow) is set in the Montreal Jewish neighborhood of Mile End, with questions of faith, religion and identity swirling about, as each member of a family dabbles in the Kabbalah.
“The Muralist” by B.A. Shapiro (Algonquin) is a story of art, history, politics and mystery, involving the disappearance of an American painter — friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and noted artists — in New York in 1940; her great niece searches for answers 70 years later.
Peter Golden’s “Wherever There is Light” (Atria) tells a story of 20th century America, through the long and complicated romance of a German-Jewish immigrant (who makes a fortune in bootlegging and real estate) and a photojournalist who’s the granddaughter of a slave (November).
A new edition of Edward Lewis Wallant’s 1961 classic “The Pawnbroker” (Fig Tree Books) includes an introduction by award-winning novelist Dara Horn.
Non Fiction
In “Nine Essential Things I’ve Learned About Life” (Knopf), Rabbi Harold Kushner distills a lifetime of wrestling with issues of prayer, faith, forgiveness, doubt, community and other issues, presenting his life-affirming understanding of Judaism.
A timely study of Israel’s water mastery, “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World” by Seth M. Siegel (St. Martin’s) suggest a way out of the looming global water crisis by following Israel’s innovations. (September)
The title of David Gregory’s new book, “How’s Your Faith: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey” (Simon & Schuster) is drawn from a question President George W. Bush asked the author when he was covering the White House for NBC-TV. Gregory, who was raised in an interfaith family, was inspired to examine his own faith when he married a Protestant woman. (September)
“Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning” by Timothy Snyder (Tim Duggan/Crown) is both a provocative historical analysis — based on newly available archival sources and the voices of survivors — and an admonition for our times.
Another chapter in the unfolding story of Holocaust art and its provenance, “Hitler’s Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis and the Looting of Europe’s Treasures” by Susan Ronald (St. Martin’s) provides the background of a story that came to light when more than a thousand works of art, valued at more than $1.35 billion, were found in a tiny Munich apartment. (September)
“Rywka’s Diary: The Writing of a Jewish Girl from the Lodz Ghetto” (Harper) is a teenager’s notebook found at Auschwitz by a Red Army doctor in 1945. It is now published in English for the first time, with essays and commentary. The diary ends in the middle of a sentence. (October)
A collection of true stories by an award-winning novelist, “My Father’s Guitar and Other Imaginary Things” by Joseph Skibell (Algonquin) touches on the small moments in life — the daily annoyances, slip-ups, intimacies and mysteries. (October)
Told with insight, delicious details and wisecracking waiters, Ted Merwin’s “Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli” (NYU) is a culinary and cultural study. Merwin, who covers theater for The Jewish Week, skillfully captures the theatrical nature of this American institution and its historical significance. (October)
“Between Gods” (Harper) is best-selling novelist Alison Pick’s memoir of reclaiming her history and identity as a Jew. She undergoes conversion in mid-life, after learning of her family’s secret, that her paternal grandparents were Czech Jews who fled to escape the Nazis.
“Here and There: Leaving Hasidism, Keeping My Family” by Chaya Deitsch (Schocken) stands out from other books in this new genre of memoir, in that the author remains connected to her Lubavitch family even after she decides that she can no longer follow their path. (October)
“When religion turns men into murderers, God weeps,” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks cites from the book of Genesis, as he opens his latest work, “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence” (Schocken). He goes on to show that religiously inspired violence is based on misreadings of the text. (October)
In “Killing of a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel,” (Norton), Dan Ephron provides a detailed account of the two years leading up to it, closely studying the lives of Rabin and his assassin. Ephron hints at the question that none can answer, of what might have been. (October)
“The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America” by Stephen M. Silverman and Raphael D. Silver (Knopf) is an illustrated history of “America’s original frontier,” including the region’s role in the Civil War, its appeal to novelist Washington Irving and the Hudson River School painters, and the evolution of the Borscht Belt. (October)
“Emblems of the Passing World: Poems After Photographs by August Sander” by Adam Kirsch (Other Press) is a gem, presenting new poems by the noted writer and critic. The poems were inspired by (and appear next to) Sander’s well-known portraits of ordinary people in Weimar Germany.
Beginning with the birth of the State of Israel, Dennis Ross’s new book, “Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama” (Farrar Straus Giroux) is full of historical detail and an insider’s analysis. Ross has been at the center of Middle East policy in four administrations, and has worked closely with every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Shamir in 1980s. (October)
“The 613” (Blue Rider Press) presents a series of paintings by celebrated painter Archie Rand. They transform the 613 commandments into striking and original images. (November)
A literary memoir that covers territory rarely explored, Elliot Jager’s “The Pater: My Father, My Judaism, My Childlessness” (Toby Press) probes the meaning of life for a Jewish man without children. The author looks back at his own father — a Holocaust survivor who deserted Jager and his mother — and then reconnects with him many years later, and also at his relationship with God. He weaves interviews with other childless Jewish men, whether single or married, gay or straight, into the narrative. (November)
Erica Brown presents an informed blend of spiritual guidance and practical know-how leavened with stories in “Take Your Soul to Work: 365 Meditations on Every Day Leadership” (Simon & Schuster). (December) Film Listings
Part two of "The Prime Ministers", "In Jackson Heights," "Son of Saul," and more films-and film festivals-to catch this season. more...
Film List
Sept. 25: “The Power of Pictures: Early Soviet Photography, Early Soviet Film,” an incredibly extensive showcase of great modernist photography and film from Russia running from the October Revolution through the onset of WWII. Among the major Jewish filmmakers represented in the series are the obvious giants, Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, but the program also promises lesser-known directors like Boris Barnet, Grigory Kozintsev and Yakov Protazanov.
Running through Feb. 7 at The Jewish Museum (Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, 212-423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org).
Sept. 25: The 53rd Annual New York Film Festival, which runs through Oct. 11, will feature work by several Jewish filmmakers including a first-ever collaboration between Steven Spielberg and the Coen Brothers, “Bridge of Spies.” Also on tap and eagerly awaited are new works from Chantal Akerman, Todd Haynes, Frederick Wiseman and Rebecca Miller, as well as a 15th anniversary screening of the Coens’ “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and the American premiere of the controversial Hungarian film, “Son of Saul.” Perhaps the most exciting of all, the Festival will show Marcel Ophüls’ woefully underappreciated “The Memory of Justice,” one of the most profound examinations of the Nuremberg Trial principles in action.
Alice Tully Hall, Walter Reade Theater, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and other venues in Lincoln Center and vicinity, filmlinc.com.
Oct. 7: “The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacekeepers,” directed by Richard Trank, the second half of the diptych that began with “The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers.” Again the main focus will be on the delightful Yehuda Avner, who died last year. Avner was present for some of the most important moments in Israeli history COMMA from the Six-Day War up to his retirement in 1995. He served as personal secretary and speechwriter to Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, and as Israeli ambassador to Australia and the United Kingdom. And he is a sparkling storyteller.
Theater TBA.
Oct. 25: “The Unseen Holocaust: Recent Polish Films.” Since the fall of Communism, Polish artists have explored the realities of the Shoah with a candor that was largely impossible before 1989. Filmmakers have been particularly active in this area, and this series, which runs through Nov. 1, offers an impressive array of recent work. Films will be introduced by professor Stuart Liebman, who curated the series.
Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Plaza; 646- 437-4202, mjhnyc.org).
Nov. 4: “In Jackson Heights,” the latest epic of the everyday by Frederick Wiseman, examines the lively Queens neighborhood in which some 167 languages are spoken, with residents originally from virtually the entire globe.
Runs through Nov. 17 at Film Forum (209 W. Houston St., filmforum.org).
Nov. 5: The Other Israel Film Festival, now in its ninth year. At a time when Israel’s cultural minister is threatening strict political censorship of state-funded films, this event, which runs through Nov. 12, takes on greater significance than ever before.
JCC in Manhattan (76th Street and Amsterdam Ave., otherisrael.org).
Nov. 6: “What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy,” a documentary by David Evans. When this film played the Tribeca Film Festival this spring, I was impressed by the quiet intelligence of its writer and protagonist, human-rights lawyer Philippe Sands and the stubborn earnestness of Niklas Frank, son of the notorious Nazi war criminal Hans Frank. The pair spends much of the film hammering at the denials of guilt offered by Horst van Wächter, whose father was Hans’s second-in-command, Otto von Wächter. A thoughtful, low-key film.
Theater TBA.
Nov. 12: DOC-NYC, the largest documentary film festival in the country, returns for a busy week of non-fiction movies. In the past, offerings have included such Jewish-themed offerings as “Above and Beyond,” “Little White Lie,” “Unorthodox” and “My Father Evegeni.”
The IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas will host. (For more information, docnyc.net)
Nov. 20: “Very Semi-Serious,” by Leah Wolchak. The New Yorker is the last bastion of single-panel cartoons, a unique and beloved art form, and Wolchak got pretty complete access to cartoon editor Bob Mankoff and his merry band of humorists for this documentary.
Theater TBA, but it will air on HBO starting on Dec. 7.
Dec. 18: “Son of Saul,” debut feature by Laszlo Nemes, a protégé of Bela Tarr. A source of considerable debate at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this harrowing and claustrophobic film depicts a day in the life of the Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz. Formally rigorous and dramatically devastating, the film essentially shows us his world in close-up with all the horror that implies.
Expect an extended run, at Film Forum (209 W. Houston St., filmforum.org).Music Listings
Yiddish music at the Yiddish New York! festival, live shows and recitals, and new records to add to your playlist. more...Music List
Sept. 14, Sept. 22: Jeremiah Lockwood and Rabbi Dan Ain offer High Holiday services in unconventional settings. With Lockwood providing the music they should be very, very interesting. The Rosh HaShanah morning service takes place at 10 a.m., Sept. 14 at Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn; 718-963-3369, brooklynbowl.com). Kol Nidre begins at 6:45 p.m., Sept. 22 at Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn; 917-267-0363, roulette.org).
Sept. 27: Israeli guitar virtuoso Nadav Lev launches his new CD “New Strings Attached” which highlights new music by several fellow Israelis as well as something of his own, with a 5 p.m. performance at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St.; 212-505-3474, lepoissonrouge.com).
Oct. 14-17: “All Vows” performed by cellist Maya Beiser with films by Bill Morrison. A New York premiere that combines the formidable talents of Beiser, who defies categorization, the brilliant found-footage artist Morrison, and new takes on “Kol Nidre” from Michael Gordon and Mohammed Fairouz, plus music from other avant-garde luminaries. Part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, BAM Fisher (321 Ashland Pl., Brooklyn; bam.org).
Oct. 20: Pianist Kirill Gerstein performs Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Piano Concerto in F” in their original jazz band arrangements, with Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks and Maurice Peress. 7:30 p.m., 92nd St. Y (Lexington Ave. and 92nd Street; 92y.org).
Oct. 20-25: Fred Hersch, one of the most creative and mercurial pianists in jazz today, turns 60 this fall and he’s celebrating that and a new solo CD with a week at the Village Vanguard (178 Seventh Ave South; 212-255-4037, villagevanguard.com).
Oct. 28: Another wonderfully unclassifiable cellist, Erik Friedlander, turns up in NYC. Friedlander’s new CD “Oscalypso,” to be released on Oct. 9, is a tribute to the great jazz bassist Oscar Pettiford, and Friedlander will be celebrating the recording with an 8:30 p.m. concert at Rockwood Hall Stage 3 (196 Allen St.; 212-477-4155, rockwoodmusichall.com).
Nov. 11: Lenka Lichtenberg is one of my favorite Canadian visitors, a polyglot singer whose facility with languages is equaled by her musical smarts. She doesn’t get to NYC too often, so when she performs the result is must-hear music. Drom (85 Ave. A; 646-791-4244, dromnyc.co,).
Nov. 19: Anthony de Mare presents the third and final recital in his Liaisons project, “Liaisons III: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano.” World premieres include new works by Wynton Marsalis and Duncan Sheik. 8 p.m., Symphony Space (Broadway and 95th Street; 212-864-5400, symphonyspace.org).
Nov. 22: “The Cantor’s Couch,” a one-man show in which Cantor Jack Mendelson mixes music and storytelling in recounting his family’s antics, his adolescence and his lifelong commitment to saving traditional hazonos. Music by Jonathan Comisar. Hollis Hills Jewish Center (210-10 Union Turnpike, Queens Village; 718-776-3500, hollishillsjc.org).
Dec. 24-29: Yiddish New York! A celebration of the breadth and range of Yiddish culture around the city, with music, theater, food, walking tours and much more. The schedule is still being formulated but you can keep up at yiddishnewyork.com.Theatre List
"Where Was I?" Stage and screen actress Karen Ludwig reviews her storied career in show business in a one-woman show, "Mend the Envelope." A one-act play by Jason Lasky about an interfaith couple coping with tragedy and more...Theater List
Danny Burstein plays Tevye and Jessica Hecht is Golde in the new, Bartlett Sher-directed production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
“Where Was I?” Stage and screen actress Karen Ludwig reviews her career in show business, which has included playing Meryl Streep’s lover in “Manhattan” and Ethel Rosenberg in “Citizen Cohn.” Directed by Dorothy Lyman, the one-woman show begins previews on Sept. 1 for a Sept. 3 opening. Theatre 54, 244 W. 54th St. $18, spincyclenyc.com, (212) 352-3101.
“In Bed With Roy Cohn.” Playwright Joan Beber, who penned “Ethel Sings,” imagines the once powerful Jewish lawyer being visited on his deathbed by Ronald Reagan, Barbara Walters, and even his own youthful self. Runs Sept. 2-Oct. 3 at the Lion Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. $55-$65, telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.
“Mend the Envelope.” A one-act play by Jason Lasky about an interfaith couple coping with tragedy. Sept. 21-26 at Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 W. 26th St. $20, brownpapertickets.com.
“Letters to Sala.” Based on “Sala’s Gift,” Ann Kirschner’s account of her mother’s surviving seven Nazi labor camps in a five-year period, the play by Arlene Hutton incorporates material from the 350 letters about the life of the camps that Sala Garncarz miraculously managed to preserve. Oct. 3-18 at TBG Theatre, 312 W. 36th St. $18, letterstosalany.com, SmartTix, (212) 868-4444.
“Hard Love.” Israeli playwright Motti Lerner’s 2003 play is set in the haredi Jerusalem neighborhood of Me’ah She’arim; the TACT/The Actors Company Theatre production centers on the romance that develops between the teenage children of a divorced couple’s second marriages. Sept. 29-Oct. 31 at the Beckett Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. $63.25, telecharge.com,(212) 239-6200.
“Rothschild and Sons.” York Theatre Company presents a new one-act version of “The Rothschilds,” the 1970 musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick about the wealthy German-Jewish family. Starring Robert Cuccioli, the show previews Oct. 6 for an Oct. 18 opening at St. Peter’s Church, East 54th Street just east of Lexington Avenue. $67.50, yorktheatre.org, (212) 935-5820.
“Unseamly.” Oren Safdie’s new play is about a Latina woman who seeks to sue her former boss, a Jewish man who runs a clothing company known for its sexually explicit billboards. The play is based on the charges brought against Dov Charney, the playwright’s first cousin, who is the CEO of American Apparel. Oct. 8-Nov. 1 at Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th St. $55,urbanstages.org, (212) 868-4444.
“Fiddler on the Roof.” The iconic musical returns to Broadway with Danny Burstein (“South Pacific,” “Follies”) as Tevye. Bartlett Sher directs the production, which will feature choreography by the Israeli artist Hofesh Shechter, based on Jerome Robbins’ original staging. Previews begin Nov. 12 for a Dec. 17 opening at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway (52nd-53rd). $35-$167, telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.
“The King of Chelm.” A family musical, suitable for ages 5 to 12, presented by the FolksbieneRU, about a boy who dreams of being a superhero, only to find himself in a magical world where his wish comes true. The play is based on the poetry of the Soviet writer Shike (“Ovsei”) Driz; it runs from Nov. 14-29 at the Kraine Theatre, 85 E. Fourth St. $18,horsetrade.info, (212) 460-0982.
“Di Goldene Kale” (The Golden Bride). The Folksbiene revives Joseph Rumshinsky and Louis Gilrod’s glittering 1923 operetta about a beautiful girl who inherits a tremendous fortune, which she offers to the man who can reunite her with her long-lost mother. Runs Dec. 2-27 at The Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl. $40, nytf.org, (866) 811-4111.
“Stars of David.” The revue of humorous songs about Jewish celebrities, based on the book by Abigail Pogrebin, will be restaged for one night only, Dec. 5 at the 92nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street. $36-46, 92y.org, (212) 415-5500.Visual Art Listings
"Unorthodox," at The Jewish Museum will feature over 200 works by contemporary artists from a variety of backgrounds that emphasize art's role in breaking rules and traditions, Roy Lichtenstein's art, selections from the Saltzman Family Collection and more are on display this season. more...Visual Art List
Two opportunities to see the art of Roy Lichtenstein:
Roy Lichtenstein: Between Sea and Sky
Though Oct. 12,Guild Hall, 158 Main St., East Hampton, L.I., More than 30 land and seascapes from the 1960s-1990s, created using paint, plastic, enamel, drawings, collage, print.
And Roy Lichtenstein: Greene Street Mural
Sept. 10 – Oct. 17, Gagosian New York, 555 W. 24th St.. A full-scale replica of a wall painting originally created by Lichtenstein in 1983.
Selections from the Saltzman Family Collection
Through Nov. 8, Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Dr, Roslyn, L.I. . The exhibition includes art by modernists such as Chagall, Brancusi, Degas and Picasso from the collection of Arnold Saltzman, the late diplomat, businessman, and Founding President of the museum.
Altered Appearances
Through Jan. 4, 2016, Fisher Landau Center for Art, 38-27 30th St., Long Island City, Queens, flcart.org. Michal Rovner’s photography is included in this show of art created with digital manipulation; subjects are not always what they appear to be.
Threatened Beauty
Sept. 6 – Jan. 10, 2016, Yeshiva University Museum, 15 W. 16th St., cjh.org. Orthodox, feminist artist Andi Arnovitz, who is based in Jerusalem, reflects on tensions with Iran in a suite of 35 colorful collage and watercolor works in an exhibit adapted from Jerusalem’s L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art.
LABSCAPES: Views Through The Microscope
Sept. 8 – Dec. 16, JCC in Manhattan ,334 Amsterdam Ave., jccmanhattan.org. Images taken by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology using a range of microscopes used in the fields of exact sciences (chemistry and physics), life sciences, engineering and medicine.
Gego: Autobiography of a Line
Sept. 10 – Oct. 24, Dominique Lévy, 909 Madison Ave., dominique-levy.com. The first major U.S. exhibition devoted to the German-Jewish emigré artist Gertrude Goldschmidt, known as Gego, who settled in Venezuela and went on to become an abstractionist.
Wrong Tools
Sept. 17 – Oct. 24, Andrea Meislin Gallery , 534 W. 24th St., andreameislin.com. Ofri Cnaani will provide gallery visitors a visual “reading” and image map in this performative work employing a copy machine and a surveillance camera.
Beloved Dog
Oct. 29 – Dec. 12, Julie Saul Gallery, 535 W. 22nd St., saulgallery.com. A small exhibit of gouache paintings from beloved illustrator Maira Kalman’s new book.
Unorthodox
Nov. 6 - March 27, 2016, The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave., thejewishmuseum.org. A large-scale show of over 200 works by contemporary artists from a variety of backgrounds that emphasize art’s role in breaking rules and traditions.
Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015
Nov. 7 – March 20, 2016, Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., moma.org. Ilit Azouzaly’s work is being featured in this exhibit of new, international photography.
Deborah Kass: No Kidding
Dec. 8 – Jan. 23, 2016, Paul Kasmin Gallery, 515 W. 27th St., paulkasmingallery.com. Ten new large-scale paintings that incorporate neon and plays on words — a continuation of her series “Feel Good Paintings, For Feel Bad Times.”
Important Judaica and Israeli & International Art
Exhibit opens Dec. 12, auctions on Dec. 17, Sotheby’s, 1334 York Ave.. Sotheby’s annual exhibits and auctions of Hebrew books and manuscripts, important paintings, and ritual silver and metalwork, as well as a range of Israeli artwork. This year’s Judaica sale will feature the earliest American ketubah from 1751.
Israel in Camera: 65 years of Israeli history
from the Haaretz photo archive
Dec. 12 – 23, Ronald Feldman Gallery, 31 Mercer St. A survey of the important events captured by the Haaretz photojournalism department.Read more at JewishWeek.Com____________________________
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