Faith Goes Pop
The Artist just won the Oscar for Best Picture, but the real prize is this cartoon from Israeli daily Ha’aretz, which depicts Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama as characters from the film. Read more
The Artist just won the Oscar for Best Picture, but the real prize is this cartoon from Israeli daily Ha’aretz, which depicts Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama as characters from the film. Read more
As the Hunger Games opening day approaches, songs from the soundtrack are starting to trickle out. The first official song is from Taylor Swift, and now the second has made its debut: a track from Arcade Fire entitled “Abraham’s Daughter.” With band member Regine Chassagne on lead, it’s a haunting melody that references the near-sacrifice of Isaac while Abraham’s daughter watches from a hidden place. It’s a nice way to tie Biblical imagery in with some references from The Hunger... Read more
The Jewish holiday of Purim is next week. If you’re not familiar with the holiday, it’s like Halloween for Jews: candy, costumes, and staying up late. Some students from the Hebrew Union College put together this great Purim-themed parody of the hit Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, should you need more background. (Thing to know: “morah” means teacher.) Read more
Prepare for some eye candy: Cuban-American telenovela star William Levy, best known to US audiences for appearing in a Jennifer Lopez video, has joined the latest cast of Dancing with the Stars. Though the actor is of some Jewish heritage (hence the last name Levy), he formally converted to Catholicism in 2009. Did I mention he is hot? Because yeah. Let’s hope he can dance, too, because he has to compete against the much better known Gladys Knight, Melissa Gilbert,... Read more
Erykah Badu was planning a few concerts in Malaysia this week, including one in the capital of Kuala Lumpur. However, it seems like she’s out of luck. The concerts were cancelled after a Malaysian paper printed a photo of Erykah where one of her tattoos–the word “Allah” in Arabic script–was visible. In addition to that tattoo, she also has other tattoos in both Hebrew and Arabic. Tattoos are not permitted in Islam, and Erykah’s ink was considered super offensive. It... Read more
Stefon, if you’re not as much of a “Weekend Update” nerd as I am, is a recurring Saturday Night Live character played by Bill Hader. Stefon was inspired by that sort of “too cool for everything” New York City club kid type, but is much, much funnier than the Party Monster movie. Anyhow, Splitsider is pretty sure that Stefon’s last name is Zolesky, which makes me hope against hope that he might be Jewish. There are a lot of Jewish... Read more
I loved the Berenstain Bears books when I was growing up: they taught values without being preachy or boring. I even followed Brother and Sister Bear into their brief YA series where they explained why drugs are bad and were nice to the kid in the wheelchair. The authors, Stan and Jan Berenstain, were a real-life married couple. Stan passed away several years ago, and Jan died last week at the age of 88. Many of the original Berenstain books... Read more
This season on The Real Housewives of Orange County, longtime rivals Gretchen Rossi and Tamra Barney shockingly made up after years of hating each others’ guts. What led to the reconciliation? God, apparently. Gretchen attends pastor Rick Warren‘s Saddleback megachurch in southern California. Apparently, it was a sermon that made her reconsider her relationship with Tamra. “Literally an Act of God helped change my way of thinking,” Gretchen wrote in her Bravo blog. “I was attending church after the reunion... Read more
Makeup artist Bobbi Brown and her eponymous line of cosmetics are both big successes. But unlike some of her peers, Brown has deliberately chosen to live outside of the New York fashion world. She lives in a New Jersey suburb with her husband, who is not a celebrity or mogul, and her children. “My husband taught me I don’t have to be part of [the scene],” she told T magazine. She told a story in which she became the Sandy... Read more
The Duggar family has been stumping for Rick “Don’t Google my last name” Santorum on his campaign trail, and they clearly think that his recent surge (giggle) is partly to their credit. “We want a man that honors God to lead our nation,” Michelle Duggar said. “We have been praying to the Lord that if you want the heart of the voters to turn to Rick Santorum then please do so. We prayed that more people would take a look... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In