Mar-14 Sydney: Test for a bone marrow match to save a life

Gift of Life need as many people between 18 and 50 as they can get to test to see if their bone marrow can save a tiny baby’s life. Read more

Mar-28 Melbourne: The Mark Ginsburg Band

The Mark Ginsburg plays jazz based on the sounds of chazzanut. Read more

Apr-06 Canberra: The Mark Ginsburg Band

The Mark Ginsburg plays jazz based on the sounds of chazzanut. Read more

Mar-22 Sydney: The Great Debates

It’s time to update our feasts and fasts Read more

Mar-15 Sydney: The Great Debates

Inreach, not Outreach, should be our priority. Read more

Mar-21 Sydney: Play-reading at Emanuel Synagogue

Jack Feldstein’s award-winning play “A House Like Any Other”. Discuss the play with the playwright. Read more

Mar-10, 12,13 Sydney: Pinchas Steinberg conducts the SSO

Renowned Israeli conductor Pinchas Steinberg takes charge of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Read more

Kiwi in command in Sinai

Major General Warren Whiting has taken command of the Multinational Force Observers in Sinai. Read more

Forbes publishes Australia’s richest

Forbes Asia has published its list of the top 40 richest Australians. Read more

New film to highlight UK Lake District aid to Holocaust children

The BBC is filming the story of over 300 child Holocaust survivors taken from Prague in 1945 to the Lake District in the North of England before being dispersed to new homes…some of which were in Australia. Read more

New Zealand signs reciprocal working agreement with Israel

Up to 200 young New Zealanders will be able to spend a year in Israel following the signing of a reciprocal Working Holiday Scheme. Read more

Australian passports used in Dubai killing

Israel’s ambassador Yuval Rotem was summoned to FOreign Minister Stephen Smith’s office following the announcement in Dubai that three Australian passports had been used by the team which assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month. Read more

A simcha in Israel

Not sure how to organise a simcha in Israel? Nanci and Stephen Schwartz can help. Read more

Zentai appeals to the HRC

Lawyers acting for Charles Zentai, the Perth man facing extradition to Hungary to face questioning about the 1944 death of a Jewish youth in Budapest, have appealed to the Human Rights Commission to “safeguard their client’s rights”. Read more

Holly Torah

Reader Marc Schneider points to a somewhat tenuous result in the snow-boarding event at the Winter Olympics. Read more

Short+Sweet to present controversial play

7 Jewish Children, the British play produced in Melbourne last year under a cloud of controversy, will be performed at Sydney’s NIDA’s theatre this week. Read more

Shutter Island ***

Spoiler Alert: Although every effort has been made to limit the revelations in this review, it’s difficult to provide a coherent discussion of Shutter Island without giving away something, so readers are hereby placed on alert. If you’re familiar with the book, however, there’s no reason to stop here…

What’s wrong with Shutter Island? This has been the question ever since Paramount Pictures elected to move the Martin Scorsese-directed thriller from its comfortable pre-Oscar position to the wastelands of February. It turns out that there’s nothing wrong with Shutter Island – except perhaps that it’s not Oscar worthy material. An atmospheric mind-twister of a thriller, this movie delights in playing games with the audience’s perceptions and has been crafted with such competence that it rises above the somewhat generic storyline that forms the basis of Dennis Lehane’s novel. The strength of the film, like the book, is that it never allows the viewer to feel comfortable with what he is watching. That’s because Shutter Island is presented from the perspective of an unreliable narrator and, as such, the lines between fantasy and reality sometimes blur so strongly that it’s easy to become unanchored in trying to distinguish between what’s real and what isn’t. A case can be made that the movie is so enamored with this aspect of its approach that it fails to connect on an emotional level. Shutter Island addresses some powerful, disturbing concepts but, despite effective performances by the leads, the movie’s psychological impact is minimal. It doesn’t pack the powerhouse punch one has come to expect from Scorsese. Still, the director’s consummate skill has lifted what might otherwise be a middling endeavor into something compellingly watchable. It’s another Cape Fear.

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View trailer

Crazy Heart ***

Crazy Heart is the country music version of The Wrestler: a grizzled veteran whose days in the spotlight are behind him struggles to keep going while seeing the world through a haze of regret and booze. The story is unremarkable; the alcoholic coming to terms with an addiction and striving to overcome it has provided the framework for everything from compelling cinema to maudlin made-for-TV movies. What elevates Crazy Heartis the remarkable performance of Jeff Bridges. The Oscar buzz about Bridges, which began to build slowly before reaching a critical mass when Fox Searchlight decided to go to bat for him, is driving this production. Not to take anything away from Bridges’ co-star, Maggie Gyllenhaal, or supporting performers Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell, but everything that is compelling about Crazy Heart is filtered through Bridges. He, more than the story or the direction of first-time filmmaker Scott Cooper or T-Bone Burnett’s country/western songs, is the reason to set aside two hours to watch this.

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Woman charged following the death of Ian Gray

A 22-yr-old woman has been charged with manslaughter, supplying a prohibited drug and stealing. Read more

Happy anniversary, North Shore!

Sydney’s North Shore Synagogue has celebrated its 70th anniversary…and New South Wales Governor Marie Bashir was guest of honour. Read more

Sydney Valentine’s Day match needed!

Find your Perfect match on Valentine’s Day ! The Gift of Life needs a DNA match to save three lives. Read more

Marathon Granny strikes again

Anne Besser earned the name “Marathon Granny” at last year’s Maccabiah. She competed in the recent Coles Classic Ocean swim. Read more

Aborigines told to learn from the Jewish people

Noel Pearson has sent a message to Australia’s Aborigines….learn from the experiences of the Jewish people. Read more

Cry from the heart

Shula Endrey-Walder is once again searching within the community to help save a life. Read more

UIA shaliach’s daughter reports from Haiti

Ronny Bar-Tur  was a popular UIA shaliach in Sydney…his daughter Yael was with the Israeli army hospital in Haiti. J-Wire does not usually publish blogs, but in this case…… Read more

Sir Zelman Cowen at Australia Day function

Former Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen attended an Australia Foundation function in Melbourne. Read more

Sean through to the semis

Sean Berman is the last Aussie standing in the Australian Open Tennis Boys’ Championship at Melbourne Park. Read more

Stop Press Sean wins

Sean Berman beat the number three seed at Melbourne Park this morning. Read more

Gay Shabbat

Friday, Feb-26

Dayenu

Shabbat service/dinner for Sydney’s gay and lesbian Mardi Gras festival. The theme for this year’s parade is Mardi Gras’ history of the world and Dayenu’s float will be celebrating our 10th anniversary since first participating in the parade back in 2000. The parade will be taking place on Saturday 27th Feb from 7:45pm and Dayenu’s Mardi Gras Shabbat Service and Dinner will be held on Friday 26th Feb at Emanuel Synagogue, Woollahra. The service (free of charge) begins at 6:30pm and the dinner ($30 per person) at 7:30pm.  Tickets are available directly from the synagogue on +61 (0)2 9328 7833.

Rabbi denies Melbourne group is ex-communicated

Reports that a breakaway group from Melbourne Yeshiva had been ex-communicated have been denied by the Yeshiva’s Rabbi.
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