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By Laura Blum Sixty-five years ago, Jews had no country to call home -- only faith and vision. The State of Israel changed that, and now we have 65 years of Israeli independence to celebrate. Spearheaded by JCC Greenwich, a community-wide palooza will do just that on Sunday, April 21, 11 am - 1:30 pm at the Greenwich Civic Center, 90 Harding Road, Old Greenwich. Israel at ...

By Laura Blum Sherwin Nuland, octogenerian author and professor of surgery at Yale Medical School, knows a thing or two about getting older. The golden years have their "surprising blessings," he says. And even vigorous souls heading into their 30s can already start thinking about -- and prepping for -- life's later journey.

"Bring a lot of Alka-seltzer and Tums!" is the advice Ellen Davis offers from her recent family vacation in the Kingdon of Bhutan. "The food is tricky -- it's extremely starchy and very, very spicy," she says. Known for its liberal use of chili peppers, Bhutanese cuisine can give deliver quite the culture shock to American stomachs accustomed to what passes for Asian food back home. In the Land of the Thunder Dragon, the fiery pe ...

In the South Asian kingdom of Bhutan, Gross National Happiness is famously considered more important than Gross National Product. Visitors will want to contribute to the bliss, and enjoying fine hotels is one way to start.    The boutique hotel Uma by COMO, Paro may spark nirvana with its Himalayan scenery alone. Located 1 ...

Two years after JCC Greenwich began life with a celebration of photography -- Frédéric Brenner's -- we're stoking the tradition with an exclusive private tour of Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, on Thursday, April 4, 11 am - noon. (Registration link t ...

Interview by Laura Blum Brazil’s 2007 foreign-language Oscar entry, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, is a sad, funny saga set in 1970. That was the year when Brazil swept the World Cup for the third time, entered its sixth year of military dictatorship and, in Cao Hamburger’s film, witnessed the coming ...

By Laura Blum Depending on your philosophy, the fact that Daniel Burman's newest film All In won audience kudos at the 2013 New York Jewish Film Festival -- not to mention the best screenplay award at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival -- is a matter of chance or will. The romantic comedy about poker explores luck vs determination in shaping one´s destiny, as suggested in its original title, ...

By Laura Blum Early word on Holy Motors was that it's seriously loopy. But little could prepare filmgoers for this latest hallucination from director  Leox Carax. It's a doozy. More than a decade has elapsed since the French auteurist last regaled -- or bedeviled -- us with a feature film. And now the creator of such titles as Pola X, The Lovers on the Bridge and Ba ...

By Laura Blum Gregory Crewdson’s photography isn’t like sausage: it’s best to see it being made. To watch Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters – coming soon to Netflix – is to crave a closer look at his haunting Beneath the Roses series. How the Brooklyn native created it over nearly a decade supplies the meat of this riveting documentary by Ben Shapiro.

By Laura Blum Chocolate may be addictive, but apparently Jewish-chocolate history is too. Read chef Alessandra Rovati on the Jews' seminal role with this and other delicacies in Italy http://jccgreenwich.org/index.php?option=com_community&view=groups&task=viewgroup&groupid=99&Itemid=55, and see if you too don't ...

By Laura Blum Imagine Italian food without tomato sauce. Venetian-born chef and writer Alessandra Rovati does, and when she comes to Greenwich for a March 4 cooking demo, she'll tell us about the remarkable role that the Jews played in matchmaking between Italy and its beloved tomatoes. She'll also regale us with the fascinating history of chocolate and what the Jews had to do with it. So next time you reach for a Scharffen Ber ...

For all you Israeli film fans out there, now you can catch some of the best recent releases and classics via Israel Film Center STREAM. Brought to you by our friends at JCC Manhattan, this terrific Israeli film streaming platform offers the instant gratification of connecting to Israel without leaving Greenwich. Wait, it gets better! They're dangling a special promotion: Enter code "jcc" till Jan 1, 2013 and get $2 off any film ...

By Laura Blum It may sound odd that a shopping spree should turn into a talmudic inquiry, but that's what happened during my recent quest for the ideal water purifier. I set out with two certainties: it's time to upgrade from my Brita and alkalize, alkalize, alkalize. Never mind that I hadn't bothered about pH or "potential hydrogen" levels since high school. But now that health science is the new black, it's chi ...

Egypt ; The Land of Pharaohs, cradle of civilizations, legends and mysteries. Legends of Pharaohs & The Nile Tour offers you an unforgettable experience to the ancient wonders of Egypt discovering the legendary sites of the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum and the bustling night bazaars of Cairo. Enjoy the Nile cruise with visits to the ancient temples of Philae, the High Dam, the Valley of Kings & Queens, ...

By Laura Blum Paris: A Love Story is a contest between a city and a state (of mind) over which one will become the main subject. Kati Marton’s new book doubles as a valentine to the French capital and a réquiem for heartbreak and loss. The author and newswoman first lived in Paris as a student during the turbulent 60s. She would subsequently return during marriages to the late anchorman Peter Jennings ...

On November 27, when Eleanor Ehrenkranz presents her anthology of modern Yiddish, Israeli and American-Jewish poems, history will have come full circle. Dr. Ehrenkranz, an English professor at Pace University, conceived the idea for the book several years ago, while researching a talk for the UJA Federation of Greenwich. And now -- together with host Temple Sholom -- UJA brainchild JCC Greenwich is the impressario of her Fall 2012 book pa ...

Now that the Olympics are over, we can once again turn our attention to a more serious global phenomenon: sushi. Raw fish -- the former cat food staple -- is conquering the world. China, India, Latin America -- consumers across exploding markets want their Blue Fin Tuna, and they want it now. With dire implications for our oceans. If Japan doesn't have a solution, Connecticut does. One hour northeast as the Toro ...

This past June, JCC Greenwich showed Claude Miller's wartime remembrance Un Secret (A Secret) at the Byram Shubert Library. Based on a best-selling autobiographical novel by Phillippe Grimbert, Un Secret charts a Jewish couple’s survival in Nazi-occupied France. Miller drew on his own family's experience to adapt the story. Born in 1942 in a Paris suburb, Miller credits his father’s unwill ...

Touring London is hard work. Buckingham Palace, West End -- just thinking about the British Museum sounds exhausting! When siteseeing zaps your reserves, time to ditch culture and refuel. Carbs, glorious carbs... Baker & Spice is there to help out. The artisanal café rolls out breads, muffins and other baked treats daily, using seasonal, local produce first and organic whenever possible.  There's a French version of ch ...

South Beach hotels bring to mind glamour, fawning service and the exacting standards of their jet-set clientele. Apparently not W South Beach. The Collins Avenue franchise is “terrible,” says a friend of JCC Greenwich who is a savvy world traveler.  “It tries to be fashion-forward and chic, and on the surface it is, but it is ridiculously overpriced for what you get,” she reports from her recent stay. Sc ...