arts & entertainment A New Home On The Internet JewishFiction.net is the only online or print publication in the world devoted solely to Jewish fiction. I Jeffrey F. Barken JNS.org S peaking over lively klezmer music in a Krakow cafe, Canadian author and freelance journalist Menachem Kaiser wonders if Jewish readers are com- fortable with the term "Jewish fiction:' Kaiser is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in Lithuania, where he teaches creative writing. His story Din, was recently published alongside several prominent authors in a new online journal, JewishFiction.net. Din is a sensitive account of the personal guilt and private anguish of "genetic incom- patibility" faced by a young Jewish couple, each a carrier of the lethal Tay Sachs dis- ease gene. Although Kaiser admits that his Jewish background strongly influences his work, and that "highly Jewish" themes often rise to the surface and become his focus, he is reluctant to narrowly define the genre that he and fellow Jewish writers produce. "Are we writing in a closed language?" he tells JNS.org, warning against typifying Jewish motifs. "We're not exactly an endan- gered species, and it's not an emerging mar- ket. In many ways, it is actually a dominant voice' If not dominant, Jewish voices have always been impacted by the cultural and political realities that surround the faith. Always at the center of modern public dialogue and debate, Israel is the source of strongly emotional and disparate views Ann Birstein, Chava Rosenfarb, Yorem Kaniuk and others — lending the publica- tion real prestige. To achieve broad appeal, every issue reserves space for bright, energized, up- and-coming new writers. Gold's team of reviewers is swamped with submissions and blessed with an abundance of young talent. Gold herself won a Canadian Jewish Book Award for Marrow and Other Stories. As editor-in-chief, Gold pays particular attention not only to gender balance but also to the language mix represented on the site. Every installment includes at least two or three Hebrew works translated into English. Stories have also been translated g from Spanish, French, Russian, Romanian, il Serbian, Turkish, Croatian and Yiddish. Gold recalls founding JewishFiction.net in part because she worried that upheaval Left: Elie Wiesel, among readers. build a bridge, and a dialogue, in the publishing industry might limit one of the well- For Dr. Nora Gold, the between Jewish writers in Israel opportunities for Jewish voices to be heard. known featured founder and editor of and the Diaspora." The global nature of the Internet allows authors on JewishFiction.net, publishing Since debuting in September her to portray a vivid perspective of Jewish JewishFiction.net Jewish stories from around 2010, the JewishFiction.net communities previously isolated by lan- Right: Nora the world has highlighted and website — which can be found guage barriers but also provides a vehicle Gold, founder of linked unique perspectives. at www.jewishfiction.net and for spotlighting quality storytelling other- JewishFiction.net "I see this journal as a can be read free of charge — has wise rejected by mainstream publishers due means to bring together in attracted readers in 95 different to its Jewish content. one place first-rate Jewish fic- countries. Registered as a non- Ostracizing Jewish writers is a serious tion from many different countries, thus profit in Canada, the site is the only online charge. Yet, several writers in Gold's circle allowing us all to experience simultaneously or print publication in the world devoted readily recount rejection because their work the rich diversity that exists within Jewish solely to Jewish fiction. focused on Jewish themes unfamiliar to gen- culture and the core elements that unite Gold actively solicits and receives sub- eral audiences. Indeed, many also worry that us," she writes in the "About" section of the missions and translations of works by dis- hints of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli senti- journal. "I am also committed to trying to tinguished authors — including Elie Wiesel, ment influence modern media practices. A New Home on page 52 ews +I Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News •_ Im The Hammer J:11 Help You probably remember The Hebrew Back in 2003, this indie film CI Hammer. played briefly in theaters but was seen because Comedy Central 4 1 widely paid $500K upfront to have the rights (0) to show it almost as soon as it was released and for five years thereafter. It starred Adam Goldberg, now 42, as a Jewish private detective (modeled after Shaft) who is enlisted to save Chanukah from the "evil son" of the (good) Santa Claus. Goldberg There were tons of Jewish jokes/cul- tural references that most, if not all, 48 December 27 • 2012 Jl thought were funny and not offensive. Eventually, Vanity Fair and the Boston Globe put it on their lists of the best holiday movies of all time. Now, after five years of legal wran- gling, the film's director, Jonathan Kesselman, is solicit- ing for 200K in dona- tions to start filming a sequel, The Hebrew Hammer v. Hitler, next May. The dona- tion page, which can Kesselman be easily found on the site Jewcer.com , is pretty funny and explains what you get for your donation (i.e., for $18, a digital download of the film). Partially filmed in Michigan, This Must Be the Place opens exclusively at Cass City Cinema in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 27. In the film by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, Cheyenne (Sean Penn, 52), a retired rock star living off his royalties in Dublin, returns to New York City to find the man Penn responsible for a humiliation suffered by his estranged, recently deceased father in Auschwitz during World War II. Frances McDormand and Judd Hirsch, 77, co-star. Casscitycinema. com . Joffrey Ballet An American Masters 90-minute documentary titled Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance traces the strug- gles and triumphs of the pioneer- ing American dance company and premieres on PBS stations at 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28 (check your local cable guide for Detroit showings). The film is nar- rated by actor Mandy Patinkin, 60, a Chicago native. Rahm Emanuel, 53, Patinkin the present and first Jewish mayor of Chicago, was offered a ballet scholarship to the Joffrey, then in New York. He turned it down in favor of Sarah Lawrence College, which has a strong dance Emanuel program. Now the Joffrey is a jewel in Emanuel's kind of town, Chicago. ❑