The works of legendary singer and songwriter Carole King are together in a new two-CD set. The Essential Carole King (Ode/Epic/Legacy) highlights the performer’s remarkable duality — featuring King’s own recordings as an artist and her compositions recorded by pop music’s major stars. As a singer, she found fame with “I Feel the Earth Move,” “You’ve [...]

AJW Staff Report

The Talmud Torah of Minneapolis will honor Drs. Joyce and Bob Warshawsky for their Outstanding Lifetime Commitment to Jewish Education at its Annual Benefit on Sunday May 16 at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka.
Talmud Torah will also honor Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Peter Himmelman, from Hey class of 1973, as Distinguished Alumnus. The 1973 graduating [...]

Naomi Ragen’s play about domestic abuse in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox precincts deserves a local audience

By DORIS RUBENSTEIN

Women in the Twin Cities Jewish community (and, men, you’ll have to take my word for this) are familiar with the signs in the restrooms of synagogues and other Jewish community buildings: “Judaism has many rich traditions… Domestic abuse [...]

Instead of mulling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the threat from a nuclear Iran, relations between Obama and Netanyahu, and other ponderous issues, this recurring feature will consider some upcoming opportunities for our readers to become involved with their beloved Jewish newspaper.
As I mention from time to time, the continued publication of the AJW is not an [...]

Four young IDF paratroopers visit Minneapolis to share their stories and experiences

By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor

In 2009, a group of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers visited Minneapolis as part of the Parallel Lives program, which connects them with Jewish youth in the Diaspora to strengthen Jewish identity, and solidarity and connection with [...]

Hatred is an equal opportunity employer on Jaffa’s mean streets

By MICHAEL FOX

Even by the high standards set by Israeli films in the last few years, Ajami is a knockout. A crackling urban drama shot with unblinking realism and steeped in astringent Middle East irony,Ajami sinks its hooks in the first minute and never lets up.
Ajami [...]

Songwriter Elisa Korenne brings the lost world of immigrant Jews back to rural Minnesota

By RABBI JONATHAN PERLMAN

When New York native Elisa Korenne takes to the stage with her guitar at the Old Wadena Rendezvous and Folklife Festival in Central Minnesota on Aug. 14, she will perform original songs called “Mail Order Bride” and [...]

In Nora’s Will (Cinco dias sin Nora), a family comes together to bury a mother and ex-wife who, after many failed attempts, has succeeded in taking her life. Director Mariana Chenillo depicts the fault lines in a a Mexican Jewish family that is rehashing old grievances while mourning Nora.
Judaism comes into focus, as the family [...]

A statewide conference titled “From the Holocaust to Darfur: Our Responsibility to Protect,” set for May 1 at the William Mitchell College of Law, has been canceled due to “scheduling challenges.” Sponsors were World Without Genocide, United Nations Association of Minnesota, William Mitchell College of Law and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota.
The [...]