The Beginning or the End? Under the Rubble My name is Reggie. I was originally from Egypt. My complete story will unfold as you read further and it is quite a story of a small cast off “mutt” that had a pivotal role in the course of changing world history. From a loving owner in… Read More Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog: My Story (The Final Cut)
The Gaza Strip is 28 miles long, and 3-7 miles wide with a population of 1.7 million. In January 2009 Israel’s army and air force invaded Gaza in an incursion called “Operation Cast Lead” which is also known as “The Gaza Massacre” where three weeks of shelling and experiments with flesh melting white phosphorus resulted… Read More RKS 2024 Documentary Film: Palestinian Voices: “From Under the Rubble” (2017)
For his 1975 Bar Mitzvah in Toronto Jason Sherman received as a gift a certificate issued by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) that a tree had been planted in his honour in Israel. Not having any real emotional connection with Israel Sherman became curious about this tree. With some effort Sherman searched JNF records in… Read More RKS Film: “My Tree”: The Loss of Ignorance and the Great Repair
There was once a Rabbi Dr. Mordecai Schornstein who arrived in Palestine in 1935 from Copenhagen. Not wishing to remain a rabbi he transformed his love of animals into a pet shop then donated all his animals to establish a zoo in Tel Aviv. The deal was the Zoo gets the animals and he would… Read More “There are No Lions in Tel Aviv”: A Story of Passion, Greed and Downfall: Toronto Jewish Film Festival
There may be for some a deep dark humor in “Born in Jerusalem and Still Alive” an Israeli film playing at the virtual Toronto Jewish Film Festival on October 30 and 31. Ronen (Yossi Atia) is a thirty something resident of Jerusalem who witnessed a horrific terrorist bombing of a Jerusalem bakery as a teenager.… Read More “Born in Jerusalem and Still Alive”: Is There Anything Funny About Terror?: Toronto Jewish Film Festival
The 2012 Israeli film “The Garden of Eden” is a gem from the vault. As the theatrical release of films has stalled due to COVID-19 I have to result to the vault to keep you entertained and the good thing is that it is a good film and it is free! It was the… Read More The Garden of Eden: Even Paradise Can’t Escape Politics
Poor Omri, a soldier in the Israeli Defence League, has been seriously wounded in the Gaza by an exploding booby-trapped house. He has survived but his brain pieced by shrapnel. 5 of his colleagues were killed. He lies in a coma surrounded by his loving comrades, family and even the local mayor and his retinue… Read More “Good Morning Son”: Anything More Than a Medical Melodrama?
(HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM) – Did the Americans Win the War in Vietnam? After visiting the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City I was reminded most unpleasantly of the terrible toll taken on French, American, Korean, Pilipino, Australian, New Zealand, and Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. In a sense, one side was fighting… Read More Vietnam On The Move
(TORONTO, ON) – The Congregation Against An Upstart Rabbi. Women’s Balcony is an interesting look at how a congregation in an Israeli synagogue holds firm against an upstart young Orthodox Rabbi. The film begins in a joyous mood as a young man is ready to become a man at his bar mitzvah. The happy throng… Read More Women’s Balcony Film Review
(TORONTO, ON) – The results are finally in. Portugal, its winemakers, and the consular officials in Canada and the EU are very serious about exposing their wine to the Canadian media, realizing that they have some influence in directing the wine consuming public toward what to drink. The Greeks and Argentineans are not that far… Read More Best Wines of 2016 And Shame On Ontario
Set the Bar 