JTA Blog: Chanan Tigay is a longtime journalist for publications ranging from Agence France-Presse to The Jerusalem Report to JTA. He received an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, has recently completed a collection of short stories and is at work on a novel. He starred in the feature film "Hitler's Strawberries" by Academy Award-nominated director Gian-Luigi Polidoro and in the Off Broadway hit "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral." He lives in Los Angeles and is at work on a television pilot. Apparently, he's not the only one in L.A. trying to break into T.V. http://www.jta.org/ en-us Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:28:07 -0500 (c) JTA. Reproduction of material without written permission is strictly prohibited. http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/10856.html It was on June 10, 1967 that the Six-Day War ended, which means June 11, 2007 marks the four-decades anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s current reality. I’m not going to go into the historical,... Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:28:07 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/10856.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/10769.html So I'm driving along Sunset Boulevard in L.A. recently and a large billboard catches my eye. It’s an ad for American Apparel (click to see photo), a clothing line for the hipster set whose ads have ge... Wed, 30 May 2007 16:33:12 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/10769.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/9888.html There’s a new online journal out there for secular Jews; this is great news. Not that I think Secular Culture & Ideas on its own is likely to really change the landscape of modern Jewish identity in t... Thu, 10 May 2007 14:41:09 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/9888.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/9764.html I just read Dina Kraft's great story on the JTA site about the recent Kissufim conference in Jerusalem at which Jewish writers debated what it means to be "a Jewish writer." It's noteworthy that this... Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:48:41 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/9764.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/4459.html I've shed exactly zero tears for Don Imus. The shock jock deserved to be fired for his latest incredibly insensitive, probably racist comment alone. That it was one in a long line of related comments... Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:31:14 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/4459.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/2695.html When people talk about the pantheon of North American Jewish writers, most often they mention Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud -- and rightfully so. It's unfortunate that Mordecai Richler usu... Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:50:16 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/2695.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/1484.html So, apparently Passover’s coming really late this year. Last year it was early. It never seems to come on time. Why is that? Just throwing it out there. Whatever the answer may be, the spring festival... Sun, 01 Apr 2007 12:52:50 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/1484.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/1016.html A word on television sitcom pilots, because I finished writing one this week.... Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:33:31 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/1016.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/753.html You want to talk about talented Jews?... Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:11:10 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/753.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/510.html Here's a bit of recommended reading for you. I just finished "You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom." It's a memoir by Phil Rosenthal, who created the massive TV sitcom hit "Everybody L... Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:33:02 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/510.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/349.html A gaggle of Hollywood stars is expected to show up at this month’s Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles, from Sacha Baron Cohen of “Borat” fame to veteran actor Jeff Goldblum.... Tue, 06 Mar 2007 16:41:27 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/349.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/281.html If you listened carefully during the Oscars, you heard a little bit of mamalushen emanating from the stage. It was about 16 hours into the broadcast, though, so if you were asleep or had otherwise thr... Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:51:15 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/281.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/276.html It's Oscar time again and that means the opportunity to see what has become of Joan Rivers' face, an overdose of Hollywood self-congratulation and, if we're really lucky, an awards broadcast that incl... Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:42:45 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/276.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/262.html Have you noticed just how much bad news has been coming out of the Israel these days? President Moshe Katsav seems likely to be indicted on, among others, rape charges; Prime Minster Ehud Olmert’s un... Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:20:16 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/262.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/posting/248.html First, an admission: I listen to Richard Wagner’s music. Yes, I’m aware that he was a rabid anti-Semite, that his anti-Semitism may have been influential with Adolf Hitler, that he was, at the very le... Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:23:00 -0500 http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/blogs/248.html