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Arts & Culture Articles

Remembering the Holocaust in Germany

Location Saves Berlin Memorial

By Eitan Kastner

The catastrophic events that escalated in Germany from 1933 until 1945 contain many horrific images. Visuals so appalling, so chilling, it is with extreme difficulty that they can be erased from the mind. Nevertheless, representations of the events of the Holocaust are important for the construction of memorials and other artistic expressions of the Shoah. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that Peter Eisenman's memorial in Berlin to commemorate "the murdered Jews of Europe" during the Holocaust is done in abstract.

Orphaned Land's Epic Jewish Black Metal

Opening the Floodgate

By Marc Hans

Orphaned Land Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven Nice Jewish boys don't listen to metal. Nice Jewish boys definitely don't perform metal. But then there is nothing nice about Orphaned Land, the Israeli black metal band defying conventions with their new album, perhaps better referenced as their new epic, Mabool.

Yeshiva University Film Festival

You Can Bring Culture to the College...

By Ben Levy

In an attempt to promote dialogue and enliven culture on campus, President Richard M. Joel and University Professor of Psychology Norman Adler have recently initated the YU Film Festival. Over the course of the year, a series of films will be shown to students and faculty members at the Geraldine Schottenstein Cultural Center on the Beren Campus.

MTA Graduate Rocks WMMR

Tyszler Brings God to Modern Rock

By Joshua Shinefield

"Why become a doctor or a lawyer when you could do something you really enjoy?" These are the paraphrased words of one Sean "Rabbi" Tyszler, 28. Tyszler is the Music Director for WMMR Philadelphia, the biggest rock station in the city. WMMR is a hip station playing hits from the 70's to the 00's.

Biopics and Hollywood's Quest for Dimishing Returns

Exploiting Johnny Cash for Money

By Paul Adam

By now, it's too late too save network TV from the "reality show" juggernaut. Its cheap laughs and depressing predictability may trample Hollywood, too. In addition to a sudden surge in the public appetite for documentaries, directors and writers are moving steadily towards complete literalism, which may just be the grim prelude to "reality". So far, Hollywood seems to be endorsing the move without reservation.

Are Hermes and the Kabbalah Irrelevent?

Giordano Bruno and the Kabbalah

By Joshua Harrison

Karen Silvia De Leon Jones University of Nebraska Press, 2004. The figure of the Renaissance magus looms large at Yeshiva College. Indeed, the very slogan of the school channels the spirit of Egyptian pneumatic magic. Beckoning us to "bring wisdom to life," the new motto conjures an image of a magician, his figure ensconced in dark robes, Picatrix in hand, standing over the moribund YU student and imparting him with the ancient Gnostic wisdom of the Hermetica.

A Judeo-Musical Experience

Zamir At The Stone

By Tani Palefski

Down at John Zorn's The Stone (thestonenyc.com), saxophonist Danny Zamir played with fellow Israeli Marc Moshayev on the drums - a chavruta of sorts. The August 31 show was billed as Danny Zamir with his new ensemble. When I saw only Danny's saxophone case and a drum set, I was a little confused, but I knew it would be an interesting night.

Commercial Genocide

Jews and Pop: Deconstructing Sacred Cows

By Daniel Cowen

"Yeah, well, I'm not Jewish, but my wife is so we go through the usual motions, Christmas or Kwanza - a few chuckles - no, really, like for summer camp, would we send the little brat to some Christian fundamentalist hoe-down so he could learn how to molest his peers, or to a Jewish camp, like Treblinka - pause - that's a death camp people, a death camp, jeez, go and educate yourselves!" Some laughs, some groans.

Jewish Worship of the Dead

613% of a True Story

By Mordechai Shinefield

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story Chuck Klosterman 256 Pages, Scribner, 2005 Stairway to Heaven : The Final Resting Places of Rock's Legends J.D. Reed and Maddy Miller 160 Pages, Wenner Books, 2005 Rachel is totally the Sylvia Plath of the Bible.

New Deli on Amsterdam Embraces Fusion, Diversity

By Miriam Segura

The storefront formerly known as Poppa Iggy's was filled this week by a newcomer to the Yeshiva eatery scene: Aris' Deli. Heralded by a campus-wide mass distribution of maroon refrigerator magnets, the underground and word-of-mouth tactics currently popularizing this new venue are indicative of its ethos and ambiance.

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