Up close and personal in the Gaza Strip [Vice News]
After a failed attempt in 2007 to make it into Gaza, during a violent conflict there, Vice News finally makes it in, sharing their insights and experiences on one of the most hotly debated geographic regions on Earth.
Licking the Lubavitcher Rebbe…? [Jerusalem Post]
A set of commemorative stamps featuring the visage of the late Chabad leader known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe would have been released in Israel were it not for the efforts of Chabad itself, which characterized licking the stamp with their former (and beloved) spiritual leader on it as “disrespectful.” Instead, it seems a compromise has been reached:
“While the Lubavitcher hassidim opposed the issue of a stamp showing the face of the first in the line of Chabad rebbes – Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi – for the same reason, his visage now appears on a new first-day cover (official envelope). But the stamp, released recently by the Philatelic Service, depicts an open copy of the Tanya, Zalman’s main work that was published in 1797.”
Meet the man behind the new Times of Israel [Forward]
Seth Klarman, the American Jew who has financed the establishment of a new Web-based Israeli newspaper, may be as “softspoken” as The Jewish Daily Forward describes him. But he also has a vision for better coverage of Israeli news. The Forward writes:
“The surprising background fact is that Klarman’s involvement with Israel is basically new. He took his first trip to Israel only seven years ago. But the wealthy investor defies simple categorization. His statement on the paper’s launch seems to toe a familiarly hawkish pro-Israel line. But Klarman also describes himself as an opponent of Israel’s policy of establishing exclusively Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank, calling it a mistake ‘from the beginning.'”
The ‘King of Avant-Garde’ talks making art with Jewish themes [Zeek]
Richard Kostelanetz, often described by his peers in the art world as the “king of avant-garde,” sat down with Zeek Magazine to discuss pushing the boundaries of creativity, the role of Jewish identity in his creative process (and that of others), and the best Jewish communities for the artistic mind.
“Founded to serve Tribeca workers, when that downtown neighborhood still had factories and offices, it recently changed its name from the Civic Center Synagogue to the Synagogue for the Arts, no joke. Though I know some artists who go there, they don’t recommend the rabbi; it also has an art gallery whose exhibitions I’ve found trivial.
To one and all, I recommend Beth Simchat Torah, ostensibly gay and lesbian, for its rabbi Sharon Klienbaum, at once more profound and funnier than most, and its congregation, which culturally reflects downtown Manhattan, where I’ve lived most of my life. About its Yom Kippur service, traditionally at the magnificent Crystal Palace at the Javits Center, a friend comments it was the first she ever attended that ‘wasn’t a fashion show.'”
