DVD 18 Voices Sing Kol Nidre: The Secrets of a Sacred Chant From Those Who Have Been Touched by It Why does this short, controversial

Major News  Orna Barbivay is Israel’s first female major-general and the new head of the Israel Defense Force’s Manpower Branch. Previously she served as the

Films The Names of Love On the surface a romantic comedy about Arab-Jewish relations, French sociopolitics and the Holocaust, this charming film has characters chatting

The Free World: A Novel by David Bezmozgis. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 356 pp. $26) In 1980, when David Bezmozgis was 7, he and his family

Bar Mitzva for Life While the creativity and pizzazz of the b’nei mitzot featured in “Today I Am a Director” (June/July issue) are to be appreciated, it

Campus Battle Regarding “Defending Israel on Campus” in the April/May issue: I take issue with the use of the term “pro-Palestinian” for those promoting boycott,

Exhibits/ Music Festivals/ Film Festivals/Theater EXHIBITS United States ARIZONA The Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum, Phoenix (480-951-0323; www.spjm.org) Features a composite synagogue sanctuary from Djerba, Tunisia, with ornate floral-motif tiles and

Operation Let’s Be Friends Ever wondered what soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces truly think of their service—of tours of duty in Gaza and the