Rosalind Fox Solomon, a photographer whose black-and-white portraits shot in the American South, Israel and diverse spots around the globe earned her the admiration of critics and a place in the world’s most prestigious museums, died on June 23 in Manhattan. She was 95. Ms. Fox Solomon came to realize that “something is different about me when I’m taking pictures,” she said. “I connect with something in myself that’s different than when I’m in social [...]
Daniel Abraham, an entrepreneur who turned a tiny family business into a giant that dominated the weight-loss industry with popular brands like Slim-Fast and Dexatrim, died on June 29 in Manhattan. He was 100. Mr. Abraham built his fortune on a pharmaceutical company that his father, a dentist, bought for $5,000 in 1947 after spotting it in an advertisement in the trade publication Drug Store News. He expanded the company into an empire that included [...]
In a long career as a psychoanalyst, Anna Ornstein, who was deported to Auschwitz when she was 17 and experienced unspeakable horror in her youth, embraced a school of psychotherapy that stresses empathy — a belief that all people, even those who seem the most vile, contain a spark of humanity. Dr. Ornstein died on July 2 at her home in Brookline, MA. She was 98. She and her husband, also a Holocaust survivor, emigrated [...]
Jack Kleinsinger, a lawyer by day who in his evening hours indulged his passion for music by creating and running Highlights in Jazz, one of New York’s longest-running concert series, for which he arranged and hosted more than 300 shows over a 50-year run. Mr. Kleinsinger died on June 11 at his home in Manhattan. He was 88. He once said he never intended to leave a legacy. He just wanted to hear good jazz, [...]
Mortimer Matz, a New York public relations impresario who was credited with introducing the raincoat as an essential fashion accessory so that recently arrested defendants could hide their handcuffs from photographers, and who co-founded a gluttonous annual hot dog eating contest to promote Nathans of Coney Island, died on June 26 at his home in Manhattan. He was 100. Sometimes likened to an upscale version of the unsavory press agent Sidney Falco in the 1957 [...]
Richard Greenberg, who won frequent praise for his sharp-witted plays about the manners and mores of urbane New Yorkers, and who received a Tony Award in 2003 for “Take Me Out,” his play about a gay baseball player, died on July 4 in Manhattan. He was 67. Mr. Greenberg rose to theater fame in the 1980s with a string of scripts that delved into the interior lives of young urban professionals (yuppies). In addition to [...]
Alan Bergman, who teamed with his wife, Marilyn, to write lyrics for the Academy Award-winning songs “The Way We Were” and “The Windmills of Your Mind” and for some of televisions most memorable theme songs: The gospel-like themes for the comedy series “Maude” and “Good Times” and the breezy intro to “Alice,” died July 17 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 99. The Bergmans were among the favored lyricists of stars like Frank [...]
Tisha B’Av/Havdalah Observances On Saturday Please plan to join us this Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. to participate in the Tisha B’Av observance, followed by the Havdalah ceremony. A hybrid event. Tisha B'Av, meaning "the ninth of Av" in Hebrew, is an annual Jewish day of mourning that commemorates the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. It's considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. The Book of Lamentations is [...]
In the reflective spirit that follows our national celebration of independence on the Fourth of July, we are invited not just to look back — but to look deeper. The fireworks may have faded, but the question remains: What is freedom? And how do we live it? Both the Bible and the American story are conversations about freedom. They are messy, complex, and hopeful — not just about liberty as an idea, but as [...]
Rabbi Suzan Lipson has been working daily at our shul for weeks. She told me she was bothered by the state of the shul’s library — books shoved onto shelves wherever there is a space, no regard for order. She asked me if I’d mind if she straightened up the shelves, put the books into categories, and made a database so we would know what we have. Would I mind? Was she kidding? A [...]
Get Social