Arts & Entertainment
BEST BETS
Gail Zimmerman
Arts Editor
Steve 6 Cokie
wrote together, From This Day Forward,
their best-selling account of their more
The Ann Arbor District Library
than 35-year
hosts one of the stellar couples
marriage (he is
in the world of journalism 2-
Jewish; she is
3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at the
not) and of other
Ark in Ann Arbor. Co-sponsored
marriages in
by the Jewish Community
American history,
Center of Washtenaw County,
as well as their
the event features a discussion
respective books:
with Cokie Roberts, political
Cokie's Founding
commentator for ABC News and
Mothers: The
senior analyst for National
Women Who
Public Radio, and Steve Roberts,
Raised Our
a longtime writer on politics for
Nation and
the New York Times and U.S.
Steve's My
News, as well as a commentator Steve and Cokie Roberts
Fathers' Houses:
on radio and television. He now
Memoir of a
teaches political science and
Family.
journalism at George Washington
Steve Roberts' book (for which he'll
University.
also make an appearance at this year's
The couple will discuss the book they
Jewish Book Fair) is a memoir of his
Russian-Jewish immigrant family, one
that reached for the American dream
and was bound together by their love for
one another and for the written word.
Cokie's book brings to light the
stories of the women who
fought the Revolution as
valiantly as the men,
sometimes defending
their doorsteps from
the British, managing
their husband's busi-
nesses, running the
farms, raising the chil-
dren and enduring years
of separation.
Books will be available for
purchase and signing. For
more information, call the Ann
Arbor District Library at (734) 327-
4560.
,
Sweet On
Sugarloaf
The 11th annual Sugarloaf Art Fair
returns to Novi, at the new
Rock Financial
Showplace, 10 a.m.-6
p.m. Friday and
Saturday and 10
a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 21-23.
More than 300 fine
artists and craft
designers will present
their one-of-a-kind pieces
— everything from silk and
wool wearables and herbal
soaps and lotions to metal
sculptures, 18 karat gold jewelry,
leather bags and award-winning photog-
raphy. Participating artists include jewelry
Out & About on page 53
dews
NateBloom
MR Special to the Jewish News
lin
r2
g
Ersatz Jew Update
Word is out among the hip: Madonna's
"Kabbalah Centre" is a joke. If it is not
the very hip David Spade calling the
41) Centre a group of
"fake Jews" on his
Comedy Central pro-
gram, it's Radar mag-
azine doing an online
expose of the dubious
financial practices of
the Berg family, who
run the Centre.
It's a simple story:
A little-known rabbi
created his own "reli-
gion" and called it
"Kabbalah." Any con-
Demi Moore and
nection to real
Ashton
Kutcher
Kabbalah/Judaism
was largely coinciden-
tal. Courtesy of Madonna, the Centre got
cm)
52
and gets lots of publicity, but it's lost its
momentum. The same few celebs are
described as supporters: Madonna and
Mr. Madonna (director Guy Ritchie),
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, some-
times "quasi-member" Britney Spears.
Nobody new in a long time.
Maybe this loss of
momentum explains why
the Centre is inventing
"media-worthy" lifecycle
rites for these celebs. Last
month, it was Ashton and
Demi's "Kabbalah wedding"
and Britney Spears possibly
having a "bris-like" (oy!)
ceremony for her new baby
boy.
They must have been
cheering at the Centre when
some Israeli rabbis, who
teach real Kabbalah, just
denounced Madonna for
having a song on her
upcoming CD about famous (real)
Kabbalist Itzhak (Isaac ben
Solomon) Luria. Their attack made all
the papers — exactly what the Centre
wants.
Well, one doesn't have to be a Kabbalah
scholar to predict that the Centre will
end its media run when Madonna drops
out. In some future cable program, it will
be covered with other fads of recent
decades like pet rocks, EST and the
Atkins Diet.
So Long, Louie
Louis Nye
Shalom to veter-
an Jewish come-
dian Louis
Nye, who died
on Oct. 9 at age
92. Younger
readers may
know him from
his role as the
prissy "Sonny
Drysdale" on the
endless reruns
of The Beverly Hillbillies and as the
father of Larry David's manager on
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
However, Nye made his name as a bril-
liant ad-lib comedian in the 1950s on
the Steve Allen version of the Tonight
show. He was also reportedly a nice man,
much loved by his associates in the
1,,Torld of comedy.
Joseph's Coat
Now in produc-
tion, with a sum-
mer 2006 release
date, is the movie
Stormbreaker,
from the first "Alex
Rider" novel by
English Jewish
author Antony
Horowitz.
Stormbreaker and
the other Rider
Alicia Silverstone
Celebrity Jews on page 53
October 20 2005 ITN