Gladys Kessler, a federal judge who issued a landmark ruling against the tobacco industry in 2006 — finding that cigarette makers had violated racketeering laws by conspiring to deceive the public about the deadly threat posed by smoking — died March 16 at a hospital in Washington, DC. She was 85. Judge Kessler handled cases involving detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act; the administration [...]
Norman Steinberg, a screenwriter, including the films “Blazing Saddles” and “My Favorite Year,” and the TV movie “Free to be...You and Me,” died on March 15. He was 83. A lawyer, who began practicing in Manhattan, Mr. Steinberg disliked being a lawyer, his family said. He would stop for coffee at Chock Full o’ Nuts, where he met Mel Brooks. Brooks encouraged him to try writing a script for “Get Smart.” When Brooks told him [...]
Rivka Basman Ben-Hayim, a Lithuanian-born Israeli Yiddish poet and educator, died on March 22 in Herzliya, Israel. She was 98. During WWII, she spent two years in the Vilna ghetto, after which she was sent to the Kaiserwald concentration camp in Riga. There, she started writing poetry to cheer up fellow inmates. She was liberated in 1945. In 1947, she made Aliyah and joined Kibbutz HaMa’apil. At her kibbutz, she taught children and also joined [...]
After nearly a year of waiting, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” the hit series that airs on Amazon Prime Video, will return for its fifth and final season. Three of the nine episodes will drop on April 15, with the final episode airing on May 26. Mark your calendars now. If you’re just tuning in, the show follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel as she navigates her career as a stand-up comedian. But the comedy — and drama [...]
Adam McKinney, a Black Jewish choreographer, who attended Orthodox schools in Milwaukee, is the new artistic director of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. “A question I often ask is this,” he said. “‘What can dance do other than entertainment?’ Not only does dance have the capacity to heal but, for me, dance has the capacity to fill in the blanks of history.” In that vein, he will oversee the premiere of a ballet about Florence Waren, [...]
Lee Zeldin, (R-NY), a former New York gubernatorial candidate defeated by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the November 2022 election, has announced the launch of a political action committee to back candidates who will increase Republican turnout among Jews, voters of color, and younger voters, according to “The Hill,” an online political site. ‘Leadership American Needs PAC,’ chaired by Zeldin, plans outreach to groups like Millennial and Gen. Z voters, also Black, Latino and Jewish [...]
After 20 years of leading the Whitney Museum of American Art — and overseeing its move from Madison Avenue to the meatpacking district — Adam D. Weinberg is stepping down this fall as director. In an unusual joint announcement by the Whitney’s board, the museum also said it had already selected Weinberg’s successors: Scott Rothkopf, 46, the current senior deputy director and chief curator, who will become director on Nov. 1. Rothkopf told The New [...]
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presented the 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to comedian, actor writer, producer and musician Adam Sandler at a gala event on March 19. The prize honors one of the world’s greatest humorists. “Adam has created characters that have made us laugh, cry, and cry from laughing,” said Deborah F. Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center. “He has entertained audiences for more than three decades [...]
Shul member Ellen Wiederlight was featured with Jill Schroeder in an article in the March 16 issue of the Suffolk Times. The article pointed out that Jill Schroeder, a personal trainer, was preparing to run a half-marathon and raise $5,000 for lung cancer research, which her client, Ellen Wiederlight, has been battling for eight years. In addition to training with Jill Schroeder twice a week, Ellen Wiederlight will participate in an experimental antibody medical trial [...]
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced plans to honor the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Brooklyn native, with the unveiling this spring of a permanent carving of the justice’s likeness in the New York State Capitol. Ginsberg’s portrait along the Great Western Staircase will be only the seventh woman depicted in the staircase gallery.
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