Stephen Silver, Author at JMORE

Looking Back on ‘Keeping the Faith,’ 20 Years Later

by Stephen Silver | May 4, 2020 | Arts & Life, Film & TV

It sounds like a corny old joke, about a rabbi and a priest walking into a bar. But “Keeping the Faith,” the rom-com released to mixed reviews 20 years ago this month, stretched the premise into one of the more clever films of its genre. And in hindsight, it can be...

Filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld Writes Decidedly Jewy Memoir

by Stephen Silver | Mar 17, 2020 | Arts & Life, Books, The Arts

In the early 2000s, director and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld got into a shouting match with Larry David at a hotel breakfast in New York. Donald Trump was in the room, too. The topic of the argument? Who was more neurotic. “As a Jew, you want to be No. 1,”...

In Cuba, Jewish Foods are Hard to Come by

by Stephen Silver | Mar 11, 2020 | Arts & Life, Food, International

HAVANA (JTA) — The remaining Jewish community in Cuba has much to contend with — a lack of resources and rabbis, a population that’s both aging and dwindling, and ongoing uncertainty about how much aid and assistance they can expect from their co-religionists in the...

Bob Dylan’s Pal Louie Kemp Writes Memoir about the Iconic Singer-Songwriter

by Stephen Silver | Sep 10, 2019 | Art, Arts & Life, Books, Music, Performing Arts, The Arts

Jewish summer camp is a crucial part of the American Jewish experience. Many Jewish adults, even in their later years, often remember the names of kids in their cabins from when they were 11 years old. More than six decades ago, one of those cabins contained a couple...

James Caan’s Latest Character: A Jew Who Moves to Israel to Become a Pig Farmer

by Stephen Silver | Jun 26, 2019 | Arts & Life, Film & TV

(JTA) — “Raising pigs in Israel? Couldn’t you play golf like everyone else?” That’s a quote that doubles well as the concept behind the movie “Holy Lands,” which stars Hollywood veteran James Caan as a relatively secular American Jew turned Israeli pig farmer. The...