Judaism & Jewish Culture

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews, "Europa, Europa," the foreign film based on a true story about a Polish-German Jewish boy who escapes the Germans and Russians by hiding his true identity.

Comedian and filmmaker Mel Brooks. Brooks has made some of the funniest films in movie history, including "The Producers," "Young Frankenstein," and "Blazing Saddles." In his new movie, "Life Stinks," Brooks plays a billionaire who accepts a wager to spend a month living on the street.

Journalist Ari Goldman is the religion correspondent for The New York Times. He's written a new book, "The Search for God At Harvard," about the year he took off from his job to attend the Harvard Divinity School. It details his experiences there and how they affected his own faith as an Orthodox Jew.

The New York Times reporter has spent the last decade covering the Middle East. In light of the start of the Gulf War, he has two questions -- How will we know when we win? And how will the war affect the peace process between Israel and Palestine? Friedman is the author of the bestselling book From Beirut to Jerusalem.

Filmmaker Pierre Sauvage made the film "Weapons of the Spirit," about a small, farming village in France that sheltered 5,000 Jews during World War II. Sauvage's own family was among them.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan says that, after reading the writer's first two autobiographies, it's shocking to confront Simon as an old woman. The third and final memoir, published after Simon's death from stomach cancer, is called Etchings in an Hourglass.

Clarinetist Don Byron. Byron's black, but he plays klezmer, the music created from the mixture of American jazz and European jewish culture. Byron's an alumnus of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and he performs on a new anthology album called "Live At The Knitting Factory." It's on A&M records.

Comedian David Brenner. He's written a new book about the pitfalls of traveling.

Writer Judith Miller. She's deputy media editor of The New York Times and author of the new book, "One, by One, by One: Facing the Holocaust." Miller visited six countries (including the U.S.) to examine how the Holocaust is remembered. (published by Simon & Schuster)

Filmmaker Michael Roemer. In 1969, Roemer wrote, directed, and co-produced (with Robert Young) a movie called "The Plot Against Harry," about a small-time New York gangster trying to go straight. Now, 20 years later, the film is finally being released, and to huge critical acclaim. Roemer and Young also worked together on a number of documentaries and "Nothing But A Man," a 1964 film about blacks in the South. Since the 60s, Roemer has taught at Yale University and worked on several projects for public television.

World music critic Milo Miles reviews the work of Israeli singer Ofra Haza. Haza's the closest thing to a world music "Superstar," with several very successful albums to her credit.

Filmmaker Robert Young. Young's new movie, "Triumph of the Spirit," tells the true-life story of a young fighter who was imprisoned at Auschwitz during the Second World War. While being held there, the Nazis forced him to box other prisoners, the loser being sent to the death ovens. The film stars Willem Dafoe, Robert Loggia, and Edward James Olmos. Young's earlier credits include "Dominick and Eugene" and "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez."

Writer Stefan Kanfer. Kanfer's latest book is called "A Summer World: The Attempt to Build a Jewish Eden in the Catskills, from the Days of the Ghetto to the Rise and Decline of the Borscht Belt." The Borsht Belt nurtured a generation of comics and defined a culture. Kanfer talks about the lives of the people who frequented the Catskill resorts, and the reason those resorts are now in decline.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Labyrinth of Exile," Ernst Pawel's (pronounced "Powell") biography of Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionist movement.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews an English translation of the novel, "The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman," by Polish writer Andrzej Szczypiorski. Although it was a bestseller in Europe, the novel was banned in Poland because of the writer's involvement with Solidarity. With the recent political changes, Szczypiorski's book is now published in Poland and in July he was elected to the Polish Senate.

Historian and author Frederic Morton. Morton's new book is "Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914." In it, Morton examines that city on the eve of the First World War. Book critic John Leonard described the mix of intellectualism, arts, and political intrigue going on in Vienna at that time as "waltzing on the edge of the abyss." Morton's previous book, "A Nervous Splendor," looked at Vienna in 1888 and '89.

Violinist Shlomo Mintz. Mintz was born in Moscow and emigrated with his family two years later to Israel. He made his concerto debut at age 11 with Zubin Mehta, and has continued to appear with Mehta each season since. Mintz is considered one of the foremost violinists of this generation.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Saul Bellow's new book, "The Bellarosa Connection."

NFL referee Jerry Markbreit (MARK-brite). His book, Born To Referee, is an inside look at the world of football through the eyes of a referee. Markbreit began calling the shots at high school games and made his way up to the pros.

Writer Saul Bellow. His short stories and novels have won him three National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize. His newest novel is "The Bellarosa Connection," a story about the meaning of memory.