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Articles by Ellen Levitt
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
The film This Is Spinal Tap from 1984 was widely praised but not a hit when it was first released, but over the years it's turned into a cult movie classic, a quirky touchstone of pop culture. Forty one years later, the sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is in select theaters, and it's a funny (sometimes very funny), nostalgic and somewhat obnoxious comedy.
Me To Play
When we non-theatrical folks watch a live performance, we rarely think about the aches and pains that the actors, dancers, singers, and other live performers are going through. We focus on what we see on stage, not on the hernia surgery or cancer scares, or other physical maladies afflicting the people on stage. The performance is supposed to have that special quality above reality, and the cast and crew want that to be portrayed as well.
Media Assignments for Social Studies Students
When I was a junior high school student, one of my teachers taught us how to make Super 8 mm films. In high school, some of my peers made PSAs (public service announcements) in our school’s TV studio. My daughters had friends who made short videos on their cell phones for a high school social studies course. Teachers can assign students to use social media in order to make course-appropriate projects for their courses—especially for social studies classes.
Box of Rain
This documentary is worth including in public library collections for any Deadhead patrons. It is also worth including on library shelves about pop fandom and music. If you are an academic media librarian, consider this title for students studying group identity and psychology, sociology of pop culture movements, and grassroots entrepreneurship.
A Synagogue Just Like Home
Review By – December 7, 2022 Rabbi Ruben would be a popular community rabbi in any city or town. He cares deeply about his synagogue and the people it serves, and he has a wonderful, can-do attitude. Unfortunately, the synagogue is no longer in good condition; the windows are drafty, the floors creak, and kitchen sink leaks. Cheerful Rabbi Ruben is sure he can fix these problems himself, using a bit of ingenuity and whatever materials are on hand.
Best Sports Movies for Fall Student Athletes
High school and college sports are in session! Student-athletes are rarin’ to go, and maybe a movie night will inspire them to greater achievements. Football, soccer, and tennis are among the sports featured at this time of year. Films centered around these sports should entertain and motivate these teams, and perhaps they can even learn a thing or two. If you are an educator, think about why you should host a public screening of these films. Are you teaching teamwork? Technique?
Forget Me Not: Inclusion in the Classroom
The plight of special education children, and not ignoring their needs in society as a whole, are the focus of Forget Me Not. This is an unusually moving, gritty, and often frustrating documentary about how parents of special needs children are dealing with getting the best educational opportunities for their children.
Shalom Taiwan
Shalom Taiwan is a dreamy but realistic film with mild humor and a mixing of cultures. It features a lot of long-range shots and colorful scenery. Jewish audiences would appreciate the film because it explores the doings of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who travels to Taiwan on a desperate mission, Shalom Taiwan is a low-key character study with a story that combines financial strife, marital tensions, and a religious mission. The narrative works, but at times it lags.
NYC Dreams
Countless people throughout the years have looked to New York City as their inspiration and their dream city, their idealized urban center. It certainly has been home to and an incubator for various types of arts and media. There have been many films, TV shows, podcasts, songs, and pieces of artwork and photography that have been made about New York City, and the city has shown its influence in a myriad of ways.
An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines
There are many documentaries and fictionalized films about the Holocaust, but there is always a new angle that can be explored within this horrifying and significant topic. An Open Door is about a little-known subject, the plight of Jews in the Philippines before and during World War II.
Of Animals and Men
One of the lesser-known yet deeply moving stories of the Holocaust involves the Warsaw, Poland city Zoo. When the Nazis invaded and bombed Warsaw, the family that managed this zoo chose to help upwards of 300 Jews and other refugees, housing them for days or even months in the zoo complex and their own home on the campus. The documentary Of Animals and Men is a moving and quite interesting examination of this story, and brings to life a conscientious and determined couple and their young children.
Educational Documentaries for Religion Students
Instructors who teach courses on religion at the college level can show or assign educational documentaries to their students. By showing segments in class, instructors can illustrate tenets of faith. They can assign students to watch documentaries on their own time and write reviews or other written work. These types of documentaries could also be used in other courses, such as anthropology, regional studies, history, and others.
Films to Screen at a Jewish Community Center or Synagogue
Jews are often referred to as “the People of the Book,” but they have also been deeply involved in movies throughout the years. Jewish individuals have worked in the film industry in many capacities (as actors, directors, writers, producers, designers, etc.) and there are many films that have featured Jewish characters and subjects. Jewish community centers (JCCs) and many synagogues in the United States and elsewhere will show films throughout the year as part of their programming efforts.
Films to Screen at a Jewish Community Center or Synagogue
Jews are often referred to as “the People of the Book,” but they have also been deeply involved in movies throughout the years. Jewish individuals have worked in the film industry in many capacities (as actors, directors, writers, producers, designers, etc.) and there are many films that have featured Jewish characters and subjects. Jewish community centers (JCCs) and many synagogues in the United States and elsewhere will show films throughout the year as part of their programming efforts.
How Librarians Can Help Create Tours for Patrons
Do you ever have visitors to your library who have expressed interest in giving tours? Perhaps they want to create a walking tour for their vacation. Or they want to set up a tour to show their extended family the best sites of the town or city. Maybe they are fledgling tour guides who need help starting their businesses. Or they could be students who have an assignment to cobble together a meaningful tour.
Celebrate World UFO Day at Your Library
Look up at the sky, or at least to your screens: July 2nd is World UFO Day, and libraries can help communities commemorate this other-worldly day through unique programming. (The day commemorates the legendary and supposed Roswell, New Mexico UFO incident of 1947). Films, TV shows, and other types of multimedia (as well as books and other reading materials) have long offered coverage of UFOs and space aliens, extraterrestrial stories, and commentary on life Out There.
Librarians Can Help K-12 Students WIth History Month Projects
Elementary and high school students often have assignments based upon themed history months. They will receive research projects as assignments, often similar to Science Fair projects, for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American-Pacific Islander Month, and other special monthly tributes. School librarians can do their part to help students create their topic searches and do research for their projects.
A Guide to Screening Films at Summer Camps
Summer is just around the corner, and many children will be attending summer camps for one or several weeks. After two summers impacted greatly by the pandemic and restrictions, these camps and summer programs are eager to welcome back campers. At times day and sleepaway camps do rely on showing media. Rainy days or instructional times can be good opportunities for showing a movie, a series of videos, or specific clips.
10 Documentaries About Women in Music
These past few years have seen the release of several interesting documentaries about women in pop music and rock ‘n roll. Some focus on major stars, while others on lesser-known performers. These documentaries, made for theatrical release as well as HBO, Apple Plus, and other platforms, center on the music and the personalities involved. They also explore themes such as the difficulties faced by women in the industry, aging, and emotional struggles.
Resources to Find Public Domain Video Clips
Are you a student or indie videographer who is working on a project? Are you a teacher who wants to create informative media for your lessons? Do you work for a non-profit group and want to assemble interesting media packages for a conference? Are you working with a limited budget and wish to find worthwhile media resources for your projects? Then you want to make use of public domain video clips.
How to Plan Your National Library Outreach Day
National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day) on April 6 should be a fun, energetic, and inspirational day for communities. It’s a way to go out into our neighborhoods, towns, and greater communities in order to bring the library to people, beyond the typically established buildings. An initiative of the American Library Association, can be a highly meaningful experience.
Honestly, Celebrating Thanksgiving Has Gotten More Complicated For Me As the Years Go On
For many Americans, Thanksgiving is a feel-good, welcome-home holiday. It’s secular and can appeal to us all. It’s about family, comfort, and food. Some people even do volunteer work during the day. All types of positivity, right? But in recent years, as many of us have been thinking more critically about the experiences of Native Americans in this country, Thanksgiving has become more complicated. It’s not just a simple gathering together.
Both My Girls Are Off to College In the Middle Of a Pandemic & I'm Honestly So Impressed
Frying pans. Extra pillows. Pens, pencils. And masks. All these are items that my daughters Jess and Mich will bring to college this semester. And this academic year will be the first time that both my daughters will be at college and living away from home. This is the Big Time, bigger than when I brought them both up to sleep away camp for a few weeks. Jess will be a senior at SUNY New Paltz; Mich is entering her sophomore year at SVA, School of Visual Arts.
Who let the dogs out?
Local hot spots for you and your canine As the saying goes, dogs are a man’s (and woman’s) best friend, and that happens to be particularly true here in Astoria. Whenever you step out your door, the streets are alive with the sounds of barking, panting, tail-wagging pups, such as Coco, Bunchy, Carly and Buster. You’ve probably strolled past these four-legged locals and other pooches throughout the neighborhood.
This charter school belongs elsewhere: Why we are pushing for Urban Dove Charter School to find another Midwood home
In recent weeks there has been a great deal of media attention around the proposed relocation of a charter school, Urban Dove (UD), to the East Midwood Jewish Center (EMJC) in Brooklyn. UD is charter school for “at-risk” students that has struggled to find a permanent home. As lifelong members of the Midwood community, we, along with the vast majority of our neighbors with whom we speak to, vociferously oppose its relocation to EMJC.
A Walk Through a Synagogue Slated for Demo on Prospect Place in Crown Heights
Editor’s note: Lifelong Brooklyn resident and author Ellen Levitt has written four books, including “The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn,” published in 2009 by Avotaynu. The views expressed here are her own. In October 2018, 554 Prospect Place was a nice-looking brick building, with an attractive half-rose stained glass window. Now most of it has been torn down, so that only part of the front wall and greatly diminished parts of two sides remain.
Freelance Writing Success Without Bylines? Yes!! by Ellen Levitt
During the past several months, I’ve gotten good freelance writing opportunities from two websites. One site pays a decent amount and the other pays quite well. And, the editor of the better paying site has been receptive to many of my suggestions for articles. However, there is one harsh drawback to each of these sites: my articles do not carry my byline. I like making money for my writing and also want my name to be seen alongside these articles.
Writing Letters to the Editor: A Great Exercise for Any Writer
by Ellen Levitt Savvy, enterprising writers look for publishing opportunities all over the place, and there are always opportunities for writing letters to editors. While it’s rare to receive monetary payment for this sort of writing, there are many reasons to undertake this exercise. Newspapers, magazines, journals — either online or in-print — offer many placements for letter writing. Just months after my college graduation, one of my letters was printed in the venerable New York Daily News.
Interviewing for Fiction and Nonfiction Writers
by Ellen Levitt For some authors, writing is a solitary craft; just the creator and the computer (or notebook with pen); occasionally they correspond via email or traditional mail with other people. But for others, there is necessary, frequent and important interaction with other people. Nonfiction writers in particular often must interview people for their subject area and to provide data for their books, articles and reports.
New York, Nu York: One Thing I Didn't Do in 5777
The Yomim Noraim are here. We take stock of our year past and pray fervently for the year upcoming. That is not new; it is age-old and brings about certain familiar tropes in Jewish thought. Many of us think about things we did not do during the past year and hope that we can remedy that in the next year. Typical things we might feel we did not do enough of in 5777 and intend to do more of in 5778 might be...
New York, Nu York: September 11, Sixteen Years On
What are the most appropriate ways to observe, commemorate, make meaning of the horrors of September 11, 2001? People have various ways of dealing with this. Many honor the day as a Day of Service, doing volunteer work. Some attend memorials, including those who go to readings of the names of victims. As a New Yorker who does indeed remember that horrible day in vivid detail, I chose to start my day by going to the morning minyan at my synagogue, the East Midwood Jewish Center.
New York, Nu York: A Vacation in London
I am fascinated by cities, especially large, famous cities. As a lifelong resident of New York City, I enjoy traveling to other urban areas and experiencing them, comparing and contrasting them to my own city, and creating memories. And checking out there systems of public transportation (I am a "train nerd"). My younger daughter and I visited Dublin, Ireland for one week in early August. Then later my husband, both daughters and I visited London, England for eight days.
New York, Nu York: The Upper West Side, Ever Evolving
The Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan has been substantially Jewish in makeup for over 100 years. It has been home to several vibrant synagogues, running the gamut of religiosity. There are Orthodox synagogues, such as Shearith Israel, Ohab Zedek, the Jewish Center, Young Israel and others. There are Conservative congregations such as B'nai Jeshurun, Shaare Zedek, Ansche Chesed (on the northwestern edge of the region) and more.
Nu York, New York: Coming Home to Harsh Realities
My younger daughter and I came home the other day from a lovely 8 day vacation, the first we two ever took together. Originally M had been headed to Young Judaea sleep away camp but after sustaining (another) concussion to her head while working at a local music day camp, her neurologist told us she could not attend camp. She sobbed bitterly, and I told her that as a consolation, I would take her on vacation.
New York, Nu York: Tours in the Shadow of Tisha B'Av
In 2011, just before the mournful Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, I headed up a tour of former synagogues in the Bronx, New York City. The tour was based on my research of "lost synagogues" in the northernmost borough of New York City, and was organized by Rabbi M Fuchs, the spiritual leader of a synagogue on Cruger Avenue in the Bronx. The following year, during Tisha B'Av, we also conducted another tour of former synagogues in the Bronx, in a different section of this borough.
New York, Nu York: A Few Summer Woes
Both my daughters have greatly enjoyed their summers at Young Judaea's Camp Tel Yehudah, a sleep away camp for teenagers located in upstate New York. I also attended this camp, in the summer of 1980, and my girls have been even more involved in the camp than I. I'm very pleased about this, especially because this is one of their main cultural and educational links to Jewish life at this point in their lives. In fact, my older daughter is now in Israel, on a Young Judaea program called Machon.
New York, Nu York: Palindrome Day in New York City
I am not a great mathematician, but I do appreciate numbers and computation in general. I also have a soft spot for palindromes: nuggets such as "Madame, I'm Adam" and "A man, a plan, a canal--Panama" have long been goofy faves. Even numerical palindromes are a bit magical: July 11, 2017 can be written "7.11.17".
New York, Nu York: Make Music New York, 2017
One of the highlights of June in New York City, in my humble opinion, is the annual celebration known as Make Music New York. Held annually on June 21st, the longest day of the year, it is a massive music festival with locations throughout the five boroughs of the Big Apple. It started here but this concept has spread to other cities in the United States. Run by a non-profit organization, there is a huge, dizzying schedule of musical performances offered.
New York, Nu York: Nostalgic for Old Trains
Many of us have our slightly offbeat likes and dislikes. Some people like chutney or bourekas or shmaltz, some people have no preference and others cannot stand these foods. Some people enjoy reading Yiddish poetry, others prefer Hebrew or Ladino or French. Some people like old trains... and then there's everyone else. Actually, quite a few New Yorkers must like old subway trains because the MTA, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, maintains several vintage trains in its collection.
New York, Nu York: Winter Solstice in Brooklyn
Ahh, the winter holiday season is fast approaching. This year what great good luck: the two most commercialized holidays with religious roots are upon us. This may sound sarcastic, but I mean it in a straight-forward fashion. Hanukkah is just about here and so is Christmas, and heck, they will both start together. In the United States at the very least, this is a business boon and it is quite hard to escape the consumer-goods ads, the multitude of garish decorations and all that comes with it.
New York, Nu York: Yizkor Book Introduction
The other day I received a book that is fascinating to a small group of people, but since I'm one of those people it is tailored to, it amounts to a window opening onto a long-gone world. It is the Yizkor Buch, Remembrance Book of the Jewish community of Zambrow, Poland. I am a member of the United Zembrover Society, apparently one of the few active landsmanschaften groups in the Americas. The people who belong have familial roots in the city of Zambrow.
New York, Nu York: An Exhibit Across the River
New York and New Jersey are next-door neighbor states and there is quite a bit of cooperation (as well as competition) that goes on between our two states. A bit to my chagrin, several of my school mates have moved from NYC to parts of New Jersey, and to be honest, I rarely visit them there but instead get together with them when they visit Brooklyn or Manhattan. But I do get into New Jersey for various reasons.
New York, Nu York: A Rally in Brooklyn
When I was a teenager I attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, from 1979 through 1982. It was not the stereotypical high school in many ways, and many students found their own niches or even carved them out. One of the boys was a skinny punk rocker with spiky hair. He was not in any of my classes but I saw him around the hallways and first dubbed him "White Riot" because he usually wore a button on his trench coat with that Clash song title.
New York, Nu York: A Bar Mitzvah
Jews as well as many non-Jews typically attend bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies many times throughout their lives. A few of these celebrations will stand out in your mind: your own, those of your children and grandchildren, perhaps a few others. I grow misty-eyed at this time of year on two Shabbatim because my older daughter chanted the haftorah for Lech Lecha, and my younger daughter did so for Chayei Sarah. And I happen to remember a few other times people chanted the haftorah for Lech Lecha.
New York, Nu York: Brooklyn Jewish Comic Con To the Rescue
We have experienced an insane week: the United States elections and the many, many rallies against (and for) the results. Reports of increasing prejudiced attacks against Jews, Muslims, Gays, Latinos, women, African-Americans and others. The death of Jewish singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. The Supermoon might even be driving us into more of a frenzy, if you are so inclined to believe. Where do we find solace? escape or escapism?
New York, Nu York: For the Love of the Marathon
Nearly everyone in the United States, and of course in New York City, is anxious about this presidential election cycle. I cannot recall a more contentious race, full of anger, vulgar behavior, on the part of candidates, hangers-on and many citizens of this nation. It has been wearing us all down. The recent major league baseball World Series took our minds off the election, to some extent.
New York, Nu York: Jews 'n Lit
We New Yorkers are talking a lot about the upcoming United States presidential elections, but that's not all we have been talking about as of late. The political talk can turn so grim, as does talk about terrorist attacks in Israel. And our baseball teams have already been eliminated from the Major League Baseball playoff series.
New York, Nu York: Live Music Before the New Year
New York City typically offers up lots of live music options on any given day or night. Rock, jazz, ethnic, classical, experimental, kazoo, whatever; you will find it. So many options can seem dizzying at times. I knew that a certain 1970s rock band was playing a show tonight, Saturday, October 1 and at first I was interested in seeing the concert. But I wimped out and instead saw a classical music program at my Brooklyn synagogue, the East Midwood Jewish Center.
New York, Nu York: A Tale of Real Estate and History
I've become entangled in a battle between a New York City Jewish congregation (not my own) and their angry, alarmed neighbors. It's not a comfortable thing and frankly, I do recognize the viewpoints of both sides. But at this point I have sided with one camp. And it's a sad, modern tale of real estate versus history, feelings of desperation versus architectural preservation.
New York, Nu York: What's Your Summer Song?
What is your summer song this year? What are your favorite summer songs of the past? Ahh, the Summer Song. A song that you hear a lot during a particular summer that, when you hear it years later, will spark happy memories of easier days. A song that gets so much airplay and seems to be the IT song of the season. A song that gets many people dancing and singing, while others roll their eyes after two notes.
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