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International

Liza Wiemer’s monthly recommendation: Illustrations of India by Siona Benjamin

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The Blue Butterfly of Cochin, by Ariana Mizrahi, illustrated by Siona Benjamin, published by Kalaniot Books  In this important and touching picture book, Mizrahi shares the history of Jews from Cochin, India, highlighting their magnificent ancient synagogue and the Jewish community’s traditions. As the Cochin Jews get ready to move to the land of Israel, a magical blue butterfly reminds a girl named Leah that even though we may need to leave things behind, we carry our stories and must pass them on to others. Readers will learn much from the backmatter. The stunning illustrations...

Josh Nankin joined religious pilgrimage to Ukraine, after bout with addiction 

Josh Nankin joined religious pilgrimage to Ukraine, after bout with addiction 

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Josh Nankin does not flinch from telling his story: He grew up in Milwaukee, was enmeshed with Jewish life here, went out into the world, and fell into the dark pit of a terrible addiction. Then his marriage “fell apart,” he said.  But now, thanks to a strain of Jewish thinking called “Breslov,” he’s feeling […]

Wisconsin-born playwright brings “The Chosen” to Milwaukee  

Wisconsin-born playwright brings “The Chosen” to Milwaukee  

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“The Chosen,” the story of a pair of Jewish boys growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940s, began life as a novel by Chaim Potok, first published in 1967. It was adapted into a movie in 1981 and then, in 1999, Aaron Posner worked with Potok to turn it into a stage play.   That play […]

Glendale Torah scroll ceremony 

Glendale Torah scroll ceremony 

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The Dec. 3 Torah scroll dedication at Chabad of Glendale, sponsored by Lubavitch of Wisconsin with participation from the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, was a profoundly emotional experience.   I flew in from Florida with family. Hundreds of Wisconsin Jews, spanning religious, secular, atheists and agnostics, were present at Chabad, symbolizing how the Torah transcends denominational differences.  […]

‘Book Smugglers’ exhibit at Jewish Museum Milwaukee 

‘Book Smugglers’ exhibit at Jewish Museum Milwaukee 

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In 1942, in Vilna in what is now Lithuania, a group of Jews worked to hide books, art, and other cultural artifacts from the Nazis. Led by poets Abraham Sutzkever and Shmerke Kaczerginskithe group was known as the Paper Brigade of Vilna, and it took and hid the items that had been part of the […]

Khaya Matusevich, now a Milwaukee resident, survived the Holocaust and dreams of peace for all

Khaya Matusevich, now a Milwaukee resident, survived the Holocaust and dreams of peace for all

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Death was everywhere.  That’s how Khaya Matusevich, now a Milwaukee resident, remembers the scenes she witnessed during the Second World War. Matusevich grew up in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. She was 12 –years old when, in 1941, she and her family encountered bombing in the country.  Along with her grandmother, Matusevich had been away […]