The Book Circle will meet on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 3 p.m. on CTI Zoom to follow a three-century journey to home, as depicted in a Nicholas Lemann book, Returning: A Search For Home Across Three Centuries. The story delves deeply into the family, from their arrival in the 1830s as peddlers from Germany to plantation owners and department store owners in the aristocratic world of New Orleans where, despite wealth, they could [...]
The original, handwritten non-facsimile version of the 23-foot-long Isaiah Scroll that survived for 2,000 years in jars hidden in a cave is now on view at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The scroll was discovered in 1947 by Bedouin shepherds in Qumran Cave 1, near the Dead Sea. It is made of 17 leather sheets stitched together. “There is something spiritual and moving about seeing this gigantic scroll,” said Professor Noam Mizrahi of Hebrew University. [...]
David Rubenstein, the billionaire philanthropist, has purchased the abstract sculpture “Blue” that was removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts grounds last month. Eventually, the Joel Shapiro sculpture will be displayed in the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art. Rubenstein, a major arts donor was chair of the Kennedy Center’s board until he was ousted in early 2025 during President Trump’s takeover. He is chair of the board [...]
Gloria Steinem, the journalist and organizer who became the most recognizable face of America’s modern women’s movement, died Sept. 2 at her New York City home. She was 92. Steinem was the daughter of a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. She was raised without much religion and generally described herself as secular, but she was unequivocal about where she stood when Jews were targeted: “Never in my life have I identified as a Christian,” she [...]
Benjamin M. Rosen a Wall Street analyst and venture capitalist, whose early efforts to rally investors behind companies like Apple, Lotus and Compaq, made the promises of personal computing a reality, died on August 23 in Manhattan. He was 93. There are many gods in the pantheon of the personal computer: Bill Gates for software, Andy Grove for processors, and Steve Jobs for design, and Mr. Rosen for marshaling the financial resources necessary to [...]
Peter Max, whose posters of Day-Glo flowers, butterflies, rainbows, and stars sold by the millions to express the exuberance of the countercultural 1960s, died on Sept. 14 in Manhattan. He was 88. His graphic images, incorporating Art Nouveau, Op Art, and psychedelic motifs, lent themselves to a long list of licensed commercial products, from sheets, glassware and shower curtains to airplanes and a stamp for the U.S. Postal Service. For his legions of [...]
Jay Maisel a masterly photographer whose dark and moody portrait of the jazz great Miles Davis performing at the Apollo Theater appeared on the cover of his landmark 1959 album, “Kind of Blue” — Mr. Maisel’s best-known work in a long and varied career — died on August 20 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 95. Mr. Maisel’s honors include the 1987 Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, and induction into [...]
Ada Yonath, the boundary-pushing Israeli chemist whose ingenuity and tenacity helped unlock the inner workings of the ribosome — the microscopic factory inside every living cell that builds the proteins necessary for life — died on August 31. She was 87. The Weizmann Institute of Science, near Tel Aviv, where Dr. Yonath worked for decades, announced her death. Dr. Yonath’s career was defined by a question that had long bedeviled scientists: What does the [...]
We are pleased to announce that Rabbi Robert L. Wolkoff will begin teaching two regular weekly classes starting next week. Wednesdays at 12 Noon — Parsha and Poetry Although most of the Torah looks like prose, it is as tightly packed with meaning as poetry. Using the work of modern poets, we will seek to understand the nuances and complexities of the weekly Torah text. Thursdays at 4:00 PM — Introduction to the Siddur Our prayer [...]
The Baal Shem Tov, the 18th-century spiritual master who founded the Chasidic movement, once recited the following parable: Two men went to the royal palace to see the king. At the entrance, they were informed that the king was not holding court that day. One left immediately, but the other asked permission to visit the palace, and view its beautiful paintings and works of art. This, explained the Baal Shem Tov, is very similar to [...]
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