Category Archives: Arts & Entertainment

Jews in the World of Art & Entertainment

Jew of the Week: Barbara Walters

In Memory of an Iconic Journalist

Barbara Jill Walters (1929-2022) was born in Boston to Jewish parents who were the children of immigrants from Russia and Poland (the original family last name was Waremwasser). Her father worked in show business and moved the family around many times, having also made and lost his fortune several times. After earning her BA in English, Walters worked for a small NBC-affiliate in New York. Her first production was a 15-minute kids show. In 1955, she moved to CBS to work as a writer for The Morning Show. Six years later, she switched to NBC’s The Today Show. Eventually, she went from writer to “Today Girl”, meaning a female journalist who relayed only local news and weather, since in those days it was thought a woman could not deliver “serious news”. Walters did eventually break through to be taken as a serious reporter. By 1971, she had her own show called Not for Women Only. Three years later, she became the first-ever female co-host of a national news program. Hugely popular, Walters was soon able to sign a whopping $5-million deal with ABC, making her the first American female news anchor and the highest paid news anchor of all time (male or female). In 1979, she joined 20/20, and turned it into one of America’s most-watched shows. Walters was famous for her interviews of presidents and global leaders. In 1977 she interviewed both Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. She would go on to interview the likes of Yeltsin and Putin, Castro and Gaddafi, Thatcher and Indira Gandhi. Her interview of Monica Lewinsky in 1999 is still the most-watched news program of all time, with 74 million viewers having tuned in. Walters was co-creator, co-producer, and co-host of The View, which won an Emmy for Best Talk Show in 2003. She also won an Emmy for Best Talk Show Host. Walters retired from 20/20 in 2004, and from The View in 2014, and her final official interview was with Donald Trump the following year. She wrote the bestselling book How to Talk with Practically Anybody About Practically Anything, as well as a popular memoir. Walters received many honours, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, induction into the TV Hall of Fame, a Disney Legends award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Sadly, she passed away last week.

Falling in Love with Judaism in Cameroon

In a Monastery, a Menorah Brings a Jew Back Home

Words of the Week

Only he who has been a force for human goodness, and abides in hearts and souls made better by his presence during his pilgrimage on earth, can be said to have lived, only such a one is heir to immortality.
Rabbi Dr. J.H. Hertz

Jew of the Week: Jacques Spreiregen

The World’s Coolest Hats

Yakov Henryk Spreiregen (1894-1982) was born to a Jewish family in Warsaw. The family immigrated to France when he was a young man—where he changed his name to Jacques—and then to England to escape the First World War. Spreiregen found a job working for a hatmaker, but was soon called up to serve in the military. After returning to England following his service, he started importing military-style berets from France. He then began making his own hats from high-quality angora wool. In 1938, Spreiregen leased an old thread factory in northwest England and founded Kangol (a name he made up from “knitting angora wool”). The company initially struggled to turn a profit, and many of the first employees were his own family members. Eventually, the hats did become popular, and earned a reputation for quality and durability. During World War II, Spreiregen won a contract to outfit the British army with berets. By the end of the war, he was making a million hats a year! Kangol later outfitted the English Olympic team, and the crew of British Airways. The company went public in 1952. Two years later, Spreiregen started a new division to produce helmets and seat belts. Kangol went on to become the largest seat belt manufacturer in Europe. In 1964, Kangol made a deal with The Beatles to make their branded hats. Soon, Kangol hats were popular among American hip hop artists, too, and have since been sported by the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Madonna, Brad Pitt, and Princess Diana. The most famous wearer of Kangol hats is undoubtedly Samuel L. Jackson, who has said that it’s a family tradition going back to his grandfather. Spreiregen retired from the company in 1972. Just a few years later, it would officially become the world’s largest hatmaker. Because Americans would often ask for the “kangaroo” hats when shopping, Kangol made their logo a kangaroo in 1983, a year after Spreiregen passed away.

14 Facts You Should Know About the Book of Psalms

The Caesar Who Saved Judaism

Words of the Week

The real danger of antisemitism is not what others think of us, but what it makes us think of ourselves.
– Rabbi Manis Friedman

Jew of the Week: Amedeo Modigliani

Greatest Painter of All Time?

Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) was born to an influential Sephardic Jewish family in Livorno, Italy. As a child, he was often sick and was home-schooled by his mother, his favourite hobby being painting. After nearly dying of typhus, and then tuberculosis, his mother took him on a cross-Italy tour, with an important stop in Florence to see its great artworks. She then signed him up for lessons with master painter Guglielmo Micheli. Modigliani spent several years at Micheli’s school, and proved himself as a creative and original artist. Micheli nicknamed him “superman”, not only for his artistic ability but because Modigliani liked to study and quote the philosophical works of Nietzsche. After some time learning art in Venice, Modigliani settled in Paris in 1906 and lived in the Montmartre commune for poor artists. He was entirely devoted to his art, producing as much as one hundred works per day! Unfortunately, “Modi” (as he was now known) descended into heavy drug and alcohol use, partly to deal with his chronic pains and illnesses. In 1909, he took up sculpting. (In 2010, his Tete carving became the third most expensive sculpture ever sold, going for over $70 million at auction.) He returned to painting in 1914. When World War I broke out, Modi enlisted in the army but was soon kicked out due to poor health. That same year, he had a relationship with renowned British painter Nina Hamnett. He had met her at a café and famously introduced himself simply as “Modigliani, painter and Jew”. He had several other high-profile relationships, including with Russian poet Anna Akhmatova and English writer Beatrice Hastings. He eventually settled down and got married. Modi was famous for being unconventional and uncategorizable as an artist, and for his many rich portraits. His Nu couché nude painting sold for over $170 million in 2015, among the most expensive paintings ever sold, while Nu couché (sur le côté gauche) set a Sotheby’s record in 2018, selling for $157 million. As a result of his illnesses and addictions, Modi died at the young age of 35. The following day, his grieving wife, pregnant with their second child, jumped out a window and committed suicide. Many believe that had Modi lived longer, he would have become the undisputed greatest painter of all time. There are thought to be more fakes of Modigliani’s works today than of any other artist. Two movies have already been made about him, and currently Johnny Depp and Al Pacino are working on a new biopic about his life.

Words of the Week

I only look for the good qualities in every Jew. That way I come to love him.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859), the Kotzker Rebbe