Arts & Culture

Playwright/actor brings Wiesenthal back to life
By Ari L. Noonan, Jewish Journal Simon Wiesenthal — history’s most successful pursuer of Nazis, who brought almost 1,100 criminals to justice — lives again in playwright and actor Tom Dugan’s talented hands. Dugan has been performing his one-person play, Wiesenthal, around the world since 2009. And in 2021, he

Zionism’s key figures explored
By Kylie Ora Lobell, jewishjournal.com There have been plenty of books written about Zionism and its early founders and builders, like Theodor Herzl, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Golda Meir and Louis D. Brandeis. While many of these works are compelling and help readers learn more about the history of the Jewish state,

Einstein and pop culture: It’s all relative, says author Benyamin Cohen
By Justin Vellucci Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle Jewish journalist Benyamin Cohen sees Albert Einstein everywhere. Yes, there’s the long shelf life of E=mc2. And a lot of people still know Einstein from his opposition to deploying the atomic bomb, or his theory of relativity. But the genius thinker, who is widely

At what price the American dream?
By Martina Jackson, Fig City News The Foxtail Legacy is a tale of the legacies we all are heir to — family history, family dynamics, family culture, and genetics. And it is that last category that at the beginning and end of the novel is pivotal in defining who should

Female artists explore memory, identity, heritage at The Co
By Hannah Kasper Levinson Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer New exhibitions by three female artists are on display at The Contemporary Dayton through March 26. Uniting the works of Becky Suss, Carmen Winant, and Yael Bartana are their varied interpretations of feminism and Jewish heritage. Their art ranges from

1930s Philadelphia setting of Rothman-Zecher’s 2nd novel
By Hannah Kasper Levinson, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer Days after the final edits on his first novel, Sadness is a White Bird, Israeli American author Moriel Rothman-Zecher set out to create his next work of fiction. The discovery of a Yiddish poetry collection led to his new novel,

Playwright/actor brings Wiesenthal back to life
By Ari L. Noonan, Jewish Journal (Los Angeles) Simon Wiesenthal — history’s most successful pursuer of Nazis,who brought almost 1,100 criminals to justice — lives again in playwright and actor Tom Dugan’s talented hands. Dugan has been performing his one-person play, Wiesenthal, around the world since 2009. And last year,

Two new books from Dayton’s geek/pop culture whiz
An interview with Mathew Klickstein By Marshall Weiss, The Observer If you’re working on your Chanukah gift-giving list, all-around pop culture vulture Mathew Klickstein might suggest adding two books: See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and The Triumph of Geek Culture, published by Fantagraphics in

A Titanic Jewish Experience
Titanic Museums’ tribute to Jewish passengers & crew draws direct line to immigration restrictions & the Holocaust Story and Photos By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer Below the Smoky Mountains, not far from Dollywood and neighboring Gatlinburg, drivers on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. see outsized, bizarre architecture

Myth & memory in photographer’s toy dioramas
An interview with David Levinthal By Hannah Kasper Levinson, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer David Levinthal is a photographer based in New York whose exhibit, American Myth & Memory: David Levinthal Photographs, opens Oct. 15 at the Dayton Art Institute. The exhibit is on tour from the Smithsonian American