Currently Browsing: Jan Lisa Huttner

B’ShERT Purim Shpiel: Prospect Park West Side Story

Kudos to Cantor Suzanne Bernstein (aka “Lenny”) for last night’s terrific Purim Shpiel. This was the debut performance of the new B’ShERT Congregation = the merger of Temple Beth Emeth (Beth Emeth v”Or Progressive Shaari Zedek) and PTBAS (Progressive Temple Beth Ahavath Sholom).  Learn more about B’ShERT on Facebook. Meanwhile, Reform Judaism is alive and thriving […]

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JUFB Sign-Off: Tzivi Says Goodbye

When is the right time to say goodbye? My relationship with the JUF News began with a freelance assignment way back in July 2004. Abigail Pickus was one of Chicago’s Nextbook coordinators at that time (raise your hand if you remember Nextbook), she had an event on the horizon, and she told Aaron Cohen (JUF’s much loved and recently […]

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D’var Torah for Parsha Pinchas (5777)

D’var Torah for July 15, 2017 By Jan Lisa Huttner Park Slope Jewish Center Brooklyn, NY Follow link to download text as a PDF file: 17July15DvarTorahPinchas My D’var Torah today on Parsha Pinchas is about “cherry-picking,” a subject which immediately leads us into the conceptual thicket of memory and the construction of memory – not just […]

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Tzivi’s Cinema Spotlight (April ’17): Tzivi raves about NORMAN!

On Account of a Hat. In one of Sholem Aleichem’s best–loved stories, a wheeler dealer is forever “negotiating transactions” until “one day God takes pity on him, and for the first time in his career—are you listening?—he actually works out a deal.” But on account of a hat, exhilaration turns into farce and when he […]

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Norman (2016): Huttner reflects on what we talk about when we talk about “Norman”

I am not just in love with Joseph Cedar’s new film Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, I am ensnared and somewhat obsessed. I have now seen Norman three times, first at a critic’s screening in mid-March, then at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema on opening weekend in NYC (the night […]

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Tzivi’s Cinema Spotlight (March ’17): Reviews of IN SEARCH OF ISRAEL CUISINE and MR. GAGA

Spring brings two new documentary films from Israel to Chicago. One I loved. The other? No so much. So let’s start with the spinach. Mr. Gaga, which opens tonight at the Music Box Theatre on Southport, is Tomer Heymann’s new film about Ohad Naharin, the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company. Chicago has long […]

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Sneak Peeks from the 2017 NY Sephardi Film Festival

Sneak Peeks from the 2017 NY Sephardi Film Festival: Letters from Bagdad, Dimona Twist and The Women’s Balcony.

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Mr. Gaga (2015): Review by Jan Lisa Huttner

From IMDb: Ohad Naharin, artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, is regarded as one of the most important choreographers in the world. Meeting him at a critical turning point in his personal life, this spirited and insightful documentary will introduce you to a man with great artistic integrity and an extraordinary vision. Filmed over […]

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In Search of Israeli Cuisine (2016): Review by Jan Lisa Huttner

From IMDb: A portrait of the Israeli people told through food. We shot in fine restaurants, in home kitchens, wineries, cheese makers, on the street and much more. Americans see Israelis and Palestinians as always in conflict. Those are not the people of Israel for the most part. “The Search for Israeli Cuisine” will show the […]

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“The Fiddler Returns” wins award from Illinois Woman’s Press Association

FF2 Media congratulates Editor-in-Chief Jan Lisa Huttner, who just won a 2nd place certificate in the Photographer/Writer category for her January JUF News feature “The Fiddler Returns.” The Fiddler Returns By Jan Lisa Huttner The final event in the worldwide celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Broadway performance of Fiddler on the Roof is […]

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