DAVID

JANUARY 2012

www.davidlv.com

2012 JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAM INSIDE

MAZIK’S KINGDOM VEGAS STREET KID TO MEDIA MOGUL

HELLO DALI COREY LEVITAN CHANNELS HIS INNER ARTIST

STARLETS OF DAVID

POP GOES THE EASEL THE ART OF MARTIN KRELOFF

HOTTEST JEWS ON THE BIG & SMALL SCREEN

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January

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14 explore The month’s event listings to help plan your day or your stay 18 devour Where to find some of the best eats, drinks and foodie happenings in the Valley 20 desire Sin City abounds in worldclass shopping ... these are a few of our favorite things 22 discover Hot spots to go, cool things to do, hip people to see—the Entertainment Capital of the World, need we say more 23 mingle Snapshots of the latest, greatest Vegas events

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46 Starlets of David A roundup of the hottest Jews that have graced the small and big screen. This has apparently been going on for some time

58 Carolyn Goodman Mayor The month’s spotlight on someone of interest

The 11th Annual Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival

live 36 speak Local humorist, Corey Levitan,explores his inner Salvador Dali 40 know An introduction to the colorful world of artist Martin Kreloff

52 Mazik A profile in creative tenacity, a Vegas street kid made good. How he became a top name in any A-List Hollywood rolodex

on the cover Oscar winner, Natalie Portman is one of the new crop of Jewish screen stars.

Artwork by Martin Kreloff www.martinkreloff.com

Copyright 2012 by JewishINK LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. DAVID MAGAZINE is protected as a trademark in the United States. Subscribers: If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we are under no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited or contributed manuscripts, photographs, artwork or advertisements.

Submissions will not be returned unless arranged for in writing. DAVID MAGAZINE is a monthly publication. All information regarding editorial content or property for sale is deemed reliable. No representation is made as to the accuracy hereof and is printed subject to errors and omissions.

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LV1147

It could make you feel Super Smart.

Life Care retirement living at Las Ventanas—it just has that effect on people. When you choose it, you can walk around with the satisfaction of making a truly wise decision. You’ll know that you have more financial and personal security than you’d have at any other retirement community in Nevada because ours is the only one with Life Care. Make a smart move right now. Call to learn more.

Wi s e D e c i s i on

Premier Life Care Retirement Living 10401 West Charleston Boulevard • Las Vegas, NV 89135 • (702) 207-4215 • www.wisedecision.org Las Ventanas is an ABHOW-managed community.

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Max Friedland

max@davidlv.com editor@davidlv.com

Joanne Friedland joanne@davidlv.com

EDITORIALllllllll

Editorial Assistant

Jeremy Leopold a

Copy Editor Contributing Writers

Brianna Soloski

brianna@davidlv.com

Pat Teague Allison Calhoun Marisa Finetti Skids Poppe Corey Levitan Cynthia Robbins Lynn Wexler-Margolies

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

Art Director/ Photographer

Steven Wilson

Cover Art

Martin Kreloff

steve@davidlv.co

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Advertising Director

Joanne Friedland joanne@davidlv.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS 702-254-2223 | subscribe@davidlv.com

Volume 02 Number 09 www.davidlv.com DAVID Magazine is published 12 times a year.

Copyright 2011 by JewishINK LLC. 1930 Village Center Circle, No. 3-459 Las Vegas, NV 89134 (p) 702-254-2223 (f) 702-664-2633

To advertise in DAVID Magazine, call 702-254-2223 or email ads@davidlv.com To subscribe to DAVID Magazine, call 702.254-2223 or email subscibe@davidlv.com

DAVID Magazine sets high standards to ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This copy of DAVID Magazine was printed by American Web in Denver, Colo., on paper from well-managed forests which meet EPA guidelines that recommend use of recovered fibers for coated papers. Inks used contain a blend of soy base. Our printer meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act standards and is a certified member of both the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. When you are done with this issue, please pass it on to a friend or recycle it.

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contributors

Allison Calhoun is a writer, actress, and director who lives in Los Angeles, California.

Having recently finished her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University she is now continuing her studies at UCLA. Allison spent the majority of her life in Tennessee and New York where she grew up and where her family still lives.

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Marisa Finetti is a local writer, marketing professional and blogger. The Tokyoborn Finetti has called Las Vegas home since 2005.

She has written for such publications as Spirit and Las Vegas and Nevada magazines and has a healthy-living blog at bestbewell.com.

When she’s not writing, Finetti enjoys family time with her husband and two boys.

Corey Levitan is a local journalist who was laid off four months before the Nevada Press Association named his “Fear and Loafing” series the Best Local Column of 2011. He is now a freelance writer, a new dad and a pauper. With unexpected time on his hands he has become a three-time NASCAR champion, an avid shrunken head collector and is now in training to become the first eunich in space.

Skids Poppe is an ex-motorcycle gang member turned journalist.

He divides his time between the beaches in Los Angeles and the Las Vegas Nightlife.

Sometimes he participates in scientific experiments for money.

Cynthia Robins was the television editor for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, fashion and beauty editor for the San Francisco Examiner and finally, a feature writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

She took a buyout from Hearst in 2001 and hightailied it to Las Vegas where she has written three books and set up a jewelry studio to create unique gemstone pieces. She is currently working on a memoir.

Lynn WexlerMargolies has been a feature writer and contributor for magazines and newspapers, locally and nationally, for over 20 years. She writes a monthly online column entitled Manners in the News, which comments on the behavior of politicians, celebrities and others thrust in the public arena.

She is the Founder and President of Perfectly Poised, a school of manners that teaches social, personal and business etiquette to young people.

She is a former TV Reporter and News Anchor. Of her many accomplishments, she is most proud of her three outstanding teenaged children.

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OUR FIGHT IS ON BEHALF OF ALL SISTERS. BUT OUR INSPIRATION BELONGS TO ONE.

Our Founder, Nancy G. Brinker

Her Sister, Susan G. Komen

Years ago, Nancy G. Brinker made her dying sister a promise: to do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

For more information about Komen for the Cure’s mission to end breast cancer forever, visit komensouthernnevada.org or call 702.822.2324.

This space provided as a public service. ©2009 Susan G. Komen for the Cure ® The Running Ribbon is a registered trademark of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

BE SURE TO JOIN US FOR THE 17TH ANNUAL KOMEN SOUTHERN NEVADA RACE FOR THE CURE® Saturday, May 5, 2012 • Fremont Street Experience • Downtown Las Vegas For further information, call 702.822.2324 or visit our website at www.komensouthernnevada.org

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feedback Dear Sir, Every year you hear over and over again how difficult it is for interfaith families to celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah. In your article “Menorahs and Mistletoe” the writer goes into great detail about this problem.

Families need to decide on one religion to follow and that avoids all complications. I hope it was not the intention of your article to encourage young Jewish people to marry outside the faith.

“Am Yisroel Chai” Joseph Burke Henderson To the Editor, I was very moved by Corey Levitan’s “An Inconceivable Story”.

My husband and I have been through this. After many years of failed attempts to conceive we are the proud parents of a beautiful son and daughter. Our daughter was conceived through in vitro fertilization, whilst our son was G-ds gift even if he had to be delivered by cesarean section.

This story should be an inspiration to any couple that has ever struggled with fertility issues. Their baby girl is beautiful!

Jenny Fuller N. Las Vegas Letter to the Editor: DAVID magazine has evolved into a vital expression of our Jewish community’s raison dêtre. The magazine’s design and content continue to become more refined, sophisticated and thought provoking. With their adroit fingers on the pulse of what is relevant and interesting (both culturally and socially), the writers and editor of this eloquent labor of love succeed in establishing a style that is substantive and entertaining.

Our Jewish community should recognize and encourage this publication with a high level of commitment. We need to use and support this extraordinary community resource, and share its Jewish ideas, perspectives and events.

The interest and support that DAVID Magazine has provided to the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival continues to be a fundamental part of the film festival’s success. DAVID Magazine achieves all this and more with finesse and verve!

Joshua Abbey Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival Henderson, NV

We want to hear from you!

Compliments and complaints are welcome, but only if we get them. Send them to the editor at editor@davidlv.com with “Letter to Editor” in the subject line or mail them to DAVID, 1930 Village Center Circle, No. 3-459, Las Vegas, NV 89134 10

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from the publisher It is an annual ritual in my family to argue over which networks coverage of The Rose Parade to watch. Bleary-eyed from the previous evening’s countdown, hoarse from our over-zealous renditions of “auld lang syne,” we gather to view the spectacle. Each year we giggle at the same inanity, while marveling at the creative ingenuity the floral masterpieces represent. The ephemeral nature of the pageant is striking, with the color palette drawn from products whose shelf life is measured in hours — not days, weeks or months.

The analogy is apt; it is as if the past year is reflected in the floral compositions. The purple hibiscuses, for example, on “ Sweet Dreams,” Honda’s Rose Parade float. In their prime, they are so impressive, fragrant yet fragile. And now they lie composting — stored only in memory and, thankfully, in multimedia archives.

For us the holiday festivities are over, the confetti barely swept up.

The sounds of popping champagne corks are a fond memory. Somewhat hung over, our credit cards maxed out, we prepare to write the next compendium in the Annus Americanus series.

We are bombarded annually by the year-end reviews. The 10 best and worst (in myriad categories) are debated and analyzed. Each “year in memoriam” commemorates those who have passed on. I am always struck by the degree to which those on the list contributed to the culture that defined the world we know. We add those close to us to the list, dear ones “famous” in our inner circles, no less significant than the luminaries.

As those icons of our existence fade from the scene, they leave a legacy to be added to by generations to come. The list of the famous born in 2011 is not yet composed; but they, too, will leave their mark on future generations.

The transient nature of our realities aside, we marvel at the one true constant: From ancient cave illustrators to moviemakers, stone carvers to bloggers, chanting monks to urban rappers, history chronicles our need to create. It is for this reason we kick off the year with a magazine devoted (albeit with a DAVID twist) to arts and culture. For all the impending disaster, we can rely on this truth: humans will do and make incredible things.

It is our hope that 2012 will be defined more by what man’s creative zeal can inspire rather than the alternative. Sadly, we know that other script all too well. It’s time to focus on the arts. May the individuals highlighted in this issue inspire your creativity. My new year’s resolution is to dance; oh, how I will dance.

“Hilarious!

A steady stream of belly laughs!”

– New York Post

“Outrageously Funny!”

– Los Angeles Times

“Fogel deserves to take center stage.”

– New York Post

The Story of a gentile who wanted to marry a Jewish girl so he’d never have to make another decision... was only the beginning

After a 3 year record breaking off-Broadway run, Bryan Fogel, Jewtopia’s creator and Jeremy Rishe, it’s co-star finally come to Las Vegas!

Max Friedland max@davidlv.com JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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pulse INSIDE explore @ 14 devour @ 18 desire @ 20 discover @ 22

Explore alternative photographic processes at the Majorie Barrick Museum on the campus of UNLV. Get there quickly as the exhibition is scheduled to close on January 8th.

The artwork represented is paint and collage on a photographic print

by New Mexico based artist Holly Roberts.

JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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eXplore L A S

V E G A S

Drake. 8 p.m., $95.50-$101, 21+. The Joint at the Hard Rock, 4455 Paradise Road, Las Vegas. 702-693-5000. www. hardrockhotel.com Winter in Venice. Through Jan. 8, 11 a.m.-10:45 p.m., $14-$19, all ages. Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-4141000. www.venetian.com

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Celine Dion. Through Jan. 22, $55-$250, 7:30 p.m., 21+. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-731-7110. www.caesarspalace.com

Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou: The Films of Edward G. Robinson.

Tuesdays through Jan. 31, 1 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org Mob Month. Tuesdays through Jan. 31, 7 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org Art Series: Tomb Culture of Ancient China. 11 a.m., free. Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, 888 W. Bonneville Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-483-6036. www. keepmemoryalive.org

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Lunch & Learn Educational Series.

Wednesdays through Jan. 25., 12 p.m., free.

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, 888 W. Bonneville Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-483-6036. www.keepmemoryalive.org

1.5 Jerry Misko, Artist in Residence. Through Jan. 14., free, all ages. Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-698-7000. www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

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Rumor de Lobos Grandes: Endi Poskovic Selected Prints. Through Jan. 9, free, by appointment only, all ages. Historic 5th Street School, 401 S. Fourth Street, Las Vegas. 702-229-1012. www.artslasvegas.org A Walk on the Wild Side. Through Jan. 26, free, Mon.-Thurs. 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m., all ages. Bridge Gallery at City Hall, 400 Stewart Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-229-1012. www. artslasvegas.org “Mama’s Fabric” Visual Arts Exhibit, featuring Artist John Broussard.

Through May 5, free, Weds.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

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& Sat. 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., all ages. West Las Vegas Arts Center Gallery, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-229-4800. www.artslasvegas.org Exploring Photographic Alternatives. Through Jan. 8, times vary, free, all ages. Barrick Museum at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-8951402. www.barrickmuseum.unlv.edu Lost Places in the Mojave: Photographs by Julian Kilker.

Through Feb. 5, times vary, free, all ages.

Barrick Museum at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-895-1402. www. barrickmuseum.unlv.edu

Circus Spectacular. Through Jan. 8, times vary, $12-$18, all ages. Orleans Hotel & Casino, 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas.

702-365-7111. www.orleanscasino.com Short Stories, featuring the art of Bobby Ross. Through March 17, Weds.-Fri. 12:30-9 p.m. & Sat. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., free. Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 S. Brush Street, Las Vegas. 702-2296383. www.artslasvegas.org

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First Friday Las Vegas. 6 p.m., free, all ages. Various locations downtown. For more information, www.firstfridaylasvegas.com

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Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. 8 p.m., $31.50-$75, all ages. Artemus Ham Concert Hall at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-895-3761. www.unlvtickets.com

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Anti-Defamation League’s American Heritage Dinner, honoring Jan Jones. 6-10 p.m., $300/ person & $2,700/table. For more information, contact Jolie Brislin at 702-862-8600.

Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-895-1402. www. barrickmuseum.unlv.edu

America’s original

Tom Stevens. 7:30 p.m., $13.59, all ages. The Showroom at the Suncoast, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. 702-636-7111. www.suncoastcasino.com

hookah lounge

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Open Every day from 5pm-1am, Happy Hour every day 5pm-7pm & Tuesdays from 5pm-1am

Faces of Israel Documentary Screening. 9:30-11 a.m., free, 16+.

Congregation Ner Tamid, 55 N. Valle Verde Drive, Henderson. 702-733-6292. www. lvnertamid.org

Featuring Specialty Cocktails, Beer, Wine, Mixed Drinks, Hookahs and Food.

Faces of Israel Documentary Screening. 6-7:30 p.m., free, 16+. Temple Beth Sholom, 10700 Havenwood Lane, Las Vegas. 702-804-1333. www.bethsholomlv.org

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Surf & Turf Benefit Dinner, with Rick Moonen and Stephanie Izard.

7 p.m., $150-$175, 21+. RM Seafood at Mandalay Place, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-632-9300. www.mandalaybay.com

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UNLV Jazz Concert Series: Jazz Combos. 7 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-5073459. www.lvccld.org

Jameson Whiskey Fusion Dinner.

7 p.m., $59, 21+. Bar & Bistro, 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-202-6060. www.barbistroaf.com

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(Dragon) Exhibition: Art of the Year of the Chinese Dragon.

Through March 11, free, by appointment only, all ages. Historic 5th Street School, 401 S. Fourth Street, Las Vegas. 702-229-1012. www.artslasvegas.org Disney On Ice: Toy Story 3. Through Jan. 15, times vary, $10-$50, all ages. Thomas & Mack Center, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-895-3761. www.unlvtickets. com

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Paula Poundstone. Through Jan. 14, 8 p.m., $19.95, 21+. Orleans Hotel & Casino, 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas. 702365-7111. www.orleanscasino.com Maya - A Thirty Year Retrospective: Photographs by Michael Plyler.

Through April 2, times vary, free, all ages.

Barrick Museum at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland

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Sonny Geraci. 7:30 p.m., $15.95, all ages. The Showroom at the Suncoast, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. 702-636-7111. www. suncoastcasino.com Radon Awareness Workshop. 12:30 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. www. www.lvccld.org

Saturday Movie Matinee: The Help.

2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org Lisa Lampanelli. 8 p.m., $49.50-$59.50, 21+. Pearl at the Palms, 4321 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-942-7777. www. palms.com Las Vegas Wind Quintet Concert.

2 p.m., $5, all ages. Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 S. Brush Street, Las Vegas. 702229-6383. www.artslasvegas.org USA Ballroom Dance. 7-11 p.m., dance lesson at 7:30 p.m., $5-$10. Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 S. Brush Street, Las Vegas. 702-229-6383. www.artslasvegas.org 2012 Miss America Pageant. 5:30 p.m., $71.43. Planet Hollywood, 3667 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-785-5488. www. planethollywoodresort.com CNT & JCC Singles Wranglers Hockey Night. 6:30 p.m., $10, all ages.

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hookahlounge.com paymons.com 702.731.6030 4147 S. Maryland Pkwy.

702.804.0293 8380 W. Sahara Ave. JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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Orleans Arena, 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-733-6292. www.lvnertamid.org

1.15 Commercial Real Estate Opportunities For commercial real estate disposition and/or acquisition opportunities, or for investment sales career information, please contact Marcus & Millichap, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm.

Richard Bird Regional Manager (702) 215-7100 Offices Nationwide

Jewish Geneology Society, featuring Mackey Murdock of I Preserve. 1 p.m., free, all ages. Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-528-4334. www.jgssn.org Play Without Pain Children’s Sickle Cell Benefit. 5 p.m., $155$350, 21+. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-731-7110. www.caesarspalace.com Nevada Chamber Symphony: Name That Tune. 3 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas.

702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org

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Art Series: Gods and Heroes of India. 11 a.m., free. Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, 888 W. Bonneville Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-483-6036. www. keepmemoryalive.org

www.MarcusMillichap.com

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Red: A Play by John Logan.

Through Jan. 22, times vary, free, all ages. Barrick Museum at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-8951402. www.barrickmuseum.unlv.edu Munch & Mingle for NonProfits. 11:45 a.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas.

702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org

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Non-Profit Survival Skills: Non-Profit’s Guide To Financial Statements. 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas.

702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org Wu-Tang Clan. 9 p.m., $35-$45, 21+.

House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-632-9300. www.mandalaybay.com

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Aaron Lewis of Staind. 8 p.m., $39$65, all ages. Access Showroom at Aliante, 7300 Aliante Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-6927484. www.aliantehotelcasino.com Steven Wright. Through Jan. 21, 8 p.m., $34.95, all ages. Orleans Hotel & Casino, 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-365-7111. www. orleanscasino.com

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USAF Band of The Golden West Winds: Woodwind Quintets Through the Ages. 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org

1.22

The Elephant Who Wanted To Be The Most: A Play in Hebrew. 4:30 p.m., $10-$15, 2+. Midbar Kodesh Temple, 1940 Paseo Verde Drive, Henderson. 702-454-4848. www.midbarkodesh.org UNLV Jazz Concert Series: Jazz Ensemble I. 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas.

702-507-3459. www.lvccld.org

1.26

AIPAC Las Vegas Annual Dinner.

5:30 p.m., $150/person, 21+. Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-837-8350. www.drapoport@aipac.org

Europa Galante with Fabio Biondi, featuring Vivica Genaux. 8 p.m., $31.50-$75, all ages. Artemus Ham Concert Hall at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-895-3761. www.unlvtickets.com

1.27

The Seagull, based on the Anton Chekov story. Through Jan. 29, 2 & 8 p.m., $17-$30, all ages. Judy Bayley Theatre at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas.

702-895-2787. www.nct.unlv.edu Fantastic Things, featuring the artists of Opportunity Village.

Through March 18, times vary, free, all ages.

Barrick Museum at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-895-1402. www. barrickmuseum.unlv.edu Social Distortion. 8 p.m., $28-$31, 21+. The Joint at the Hard Rock, 4455 Paradise Road, Las Vegas. 702-693-5000. www.hardrockhotel.com Kid Rock. 9 p.m., $104, 21+. House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-632-9300. www.mandalaybay.com

1.28

Solomon Schechter Annual Gala.

7 p.m., $75, 21+. Temple Beth Sholom, 10700 Havenwood Lane, Las Vegas. 702-804-1333. www.bethsholomlv.org Aaron Lewis of Staind. 8 p.m., $39$65, all ages. Ovation at Green Valley Ranch, 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson. 702617-7777. www.greenvalleyranchresort.com

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Saturday family flix: kung fu panda 2. 2 p.m., free, all ages. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas 702-632-9300. www.lvccld.org Brad Paisley. 7:30 p.m., $54.05-$96.15, 21+. Mandalay Bay Events Center at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702632-9300. mandalaybay.com

2012 Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival Calendar All screenings take place at the following address unless otherwise stated, Adelson Educational Campus, 9700 Hillpointe Road, Las Vegas.

702-255-4500. www.adelsoncampus.org Synopses of the individual films

presented are available on pages 30 & 31.

Tickets are available through the

Presenting Sponsors or online at: www. brownpapertickets.com. Search Jewish Film Festival.

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The Boys. 7 p.m., $10. Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada. 702-794-0090. jccsn.org.

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Otto Frank. 1 p.m., free. Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust. www.nvholocausteducation.org/ holocaust_resources_in_nevada My Austrailia. 4 p.m., $10. Brandeis National Committee. 702-255-6667. www. bnclv.org

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Joanna. 7 p.m., $10. Cinemark Century Theaters at South Point Hotel & Casino, 9777 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. Congregation Ner Tamid. 702-733-6292.www.lvnertamid. org

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Mahler On the Couch. 7 p.m., $10.

Temple Beth Sholom. 702-804-1333. www. bethsholomlv.org

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Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray. 1 p.m., $10. Temple Sinai. 702-254-5110. www. templesinailv.org Dolphin Boy. 4 p.m., $10. Jewish Family Service Agency. 702-732-0304. www.jfsalv.org

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israel inside. Sold out student screening.

Adelson Educational Campus. 702-255-4500. www.adelsoncampus.org Tango, A Story with Jews. 7 p.m., $10.

Cinemark Century Theaters at South Point Hotel & Casino, 9777 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. Midbar Kodesh Temple.702-454-4848. www.midbarkodesh.org

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Intimate Grammar. 7 p.m., $10. AntiDefamation League. 702-862-8600. www. regions.adl.org/las-vegas/

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Love, Ect.. 1 p.m., $10. Temple Bet Knesset Bamidbar. 702-228-4744. www.bkblv.org/

301 N. Buffalo Drive 255-3444

Jews in Nevada. 4 p.m., $10. Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. 702-732-0556. www.jewishlasvegas.com

www.thebagelcafelv.com

To submit your event information, email calendar@davidlv.com by the 15th of the month prior to the month in which the event is being held.

WhereTheLocalsEat.com

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devour Surf & Turf Benefit @ RM Seafood Want to support local organizations while enjoying a delicious meal?

Of course you do! Rick Moonen of RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay and Stephanie Izard of Girl and the Goat in Chicago are teaming up to host a dinner that will benefit Three Square and Share Our Strength.

Izard and Moonen will be combining their culinary talents to create a “surf and turf” meal that is sure to delight all of your senses – each course will be paired with a beer, wine, or cocktail designed specifically for the event. This is a rare opportunity for locals as Izard lives in Chicago and it’s notoriously difficult to get a reservation at Girl and the Goat. Surf & Turf Benefit Dinner, January 9, $150-$175. RM Seafood at Mandalay Place, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-6329300. mandalaybay.com

DAVID’S Apocalypse Cocktail The Mayan Calendar ends on December 21st, 2012, so here’s to the impending apocalypse. With this in mind the staff at DAVID Magazine has toiled late into the night to find the perfect tipple.

1 oz peppermint schnapps 1/2 oz vodka 3/4 oz kahlua 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey Combine in mixing glass half filled with ice cubes. Stir and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass or tumbler.

Pasta Cucina @ Stations Station Casinos is unveiling their new brand of Italian restaurants, called Pasta Cucina. Modeled after higher end Italian establishments, Pasta Cucina will provide diners with more affordable options in an ambient atmosphere. The dishes served are found at restaurants all over the valley, but the chefs take it to the next level, using the finest ingredients and creating new dishes from scratch, dishes that will be unique to Pasta Cucina. Open for dinner only, Pasta Cucina strives to provide the best dining experience possible for its customers. Currently at five casinos, there are plans for other locations in the future. Pasta Cucina at Station Casinos, various locations. Sun.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m. & 5-11 p.m. Fri. & Sat. For more information, visit stationcasinos.com 18

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Candlelighting Tevet/Shevat 5772

THURS., JANUARY 5, TEVET 10 Fast of Tevet 10 Fast: 5:15 a.m. – 5:13 p.m.

FRI., JANUARY 6, TEVET 11 Light candles at 4:23 p.m.

SAT., JANUARY 7, TEVET 12 Shabbat ends 5:23 p.m.

FRI., JANUARY 13, TEVET 18 Light candles at 4:29 p.m.

SAT., JANUARY 14, TEVET 19 Shabbat ends 5:30 p.m.

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FRI., JANUARY 20, TEVET 25 Light candles at 4:36 p.m.

SAT., JANUARY 21, TEVET 26 Blessing of the New Month Shabbat ends 5:36 p.m.

WED., JANUARY 25, SHEVAT 1 Rosh Chodesh Shevat FRI., JANUARY 27, SHEVAT 3 Light candles at 4:44 p.m.

SAT., JANUARY 28, SHEVAT 4 Shabbat ends 5:43p.m.

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desire

Let’s Get Physical

The first WiFi body scale connected to the internet automatically records your weight, fat mass and BMI, which you can view from your computer or smartphone, $159. Staples at Town Square, 6677 Las Vegas Blvd. S. Suite 108 Las Vegas. 702-207-2896.

A state-of-the-art stability running shoe with maximum cushioning., $125. Nordstrom at Fashion Show and kswiss.com, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702862-2525.

It’s never too cold for a stand-up paddle boarding. Now you can enjoy the luxury of having your own board, like this one by Coreban, the Alfa Race comes in 12’6 or 14’ lengths, $1,500 - $2,200. Paddle to the Core at Loewe’s Lake Las Vegas, 101 Montelago Boulevard, Henderson. 702-335-3036.

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The Mat is engineered with natural rubber to give added support and cushioning and reversible to experience two completely different yoga practice surfaces, $68. Lululemon at Fashion Show, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-696-1282.

Rugged, light-weight and built for sport, this Swatch Chrono timepiece is jet black on a textured silicone strap, $120. Swatch at Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd.

S., Las Vegas. 702-734-1093.

Sourced from old plastic bottles, the REI Balance gym bag is gentle on the environment as it is functional and chic, $59.50.

REI at The in Green Valley, 2220 Village Walk Drive, Suite 150, Henderson. 702-896-7111.

The must-have outdoor vest is the polyamide down puffer, which comes in assorted colors by Moncler, $450. Neiman Marcus at Fashion Show, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-731-3636.

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discover Martin Lawrence Galleries Looking for something new and different to do this weekend? The Martin Lawrence Galleries might be just the ticket. Located in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, the gallery feature numerous works of art by the cream of the crop, from Picasso to Warhol. The gallery is unique in that it has nearly 13,000 square feet of space allowing the curators to find and showcase larger pieces of art. The experience is exciting for locals and tourists alike and is not to be missed. So, if you find yourself on the Strip and have some time to kill, swing by Martin Lawrence Galleries and check out some of their recent acquisitions. The gallery is open 10 a.m.-11 p.m. (weekdays) and 10 a.m.-midnight (weekends). Martin Lawrence Galleries at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-991-5990. martinlawrencegalleries.com

Super Bowl @ Sammy’s Ready! Set! Hike! There is no shortage of Super Bowl happenings in Las Vegas, but this year the place to be is 6500 Tavern, adjacent to Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza’s Sahara location. The Tavern will be hosting the sixth annual Bowl Bash and it promises to be a party not to be missed. Offering food and drink specials all day, the party kicks of at 2 p.m. and will offer two for one drink specials, half off tapas, and cash and merchandise giveaways throughout the game.

The full menu from Sammy’s will also be available and designated drivers will be offered complimentary water and soft drinks.

Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza/6500 Taven, 6500 W. Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-227-6000. sammyspizza.com

Boot Camp Las Vegas

Drop and give me 20! Are you looking to fulfill your new year’s resolution of working out? If so, boot camp might be the way to do it. Boot camp is one of the more popular ways to workout right now and provides a more rigorous workout than you would get going to the gym on your own. Gyms around the valley offer programs, but the most popular group in Las Vegas is put on by Boot Camp Las Vegas and takes place at parks around the valley, making it convenient no matter where you live. Boot Camp offers a variety of workouts for people of all levels, from beginner to advanced. Classes meet Monday through Friday, in four week sessions. Packages start at $39/week, unlimited classes and $150/month, unlimited classes. 3753 Howard Hughes Pkwy., Las Vegas. 702-767-8797. bootcamplasvegas.com 22

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JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE AGENCY LIGHT OF LIFE MENORAH LIGHTING Opportunity Village Magical Forest Wednesday, December 21 Photographs by Cory Fields fieldsphotographylv.com

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cosmopolitanconnections.com HOSTED BY YVETTE BROWN

Paymon’s Mediterranean Cafe & Lounge Thursday, December, 22 Photographs by Amit Dadlaney www.amitdphotography.com

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(left to right)Rabbi Yitz Wyne, Will Thompson and Alan Stock

Dinah Steinberg and Helene Wyne

Dr. Alan & Dee Milman’s 3rd Annual Cocktail party for Young Israel Aish Las Vegas Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa Thursday, December 8 (left to right)Ahuva Finsley, Rachel Mazalian, Morian Leopold and Dee Milman

(left to right) Ahuva Finsley, Wendy Riback, Tanya Freeman, Peter and Donna Dubowsky

Photographs by Anne Lubin Bernstein technophoto & media services (tpms)

Dr. Adam and Dee Milman, hosts.

Bob and Shelley Dubin

(left to right) Dr. Adam Milman, Mrs and Dr. Eric Sirulnick

(left to right) Sharon Levi, Nili Braner and Daniel Feldman

(left to right) Steve and Heather Baker, Dr. Adam Milman and Dassi Lefkowitz

(left to right) Mrs and Dr. Lionel Handler and Rabbi Yitz Wyne

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Jewish Community center of southern nevada - Bagel ball

Besso Ultra Lounge @ Crystals, City Center Saturday, December, 24 Photographs by Cory Fields fieldsphotography.com

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2012 LAS VEGAS JE WISH FILM FESTIVAL PROGR AM

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2012 LAS VEGAS JE WISH FILM FESTIVAL PROGR AM

2012 Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival RATED PG for PARENTAL GUILT STRONG JEWISH THEME ADVISORY

By Lynn Wexler-Margolies

A

hhhh … the enigma of cinema. Americans and people the world over have been sitting in the dark since the turn of the 20th century, spellbound as stories unfold through moving pictures … black, white and color … on a large silver screen. It’s indigenous to our species to seek emotional stimulation, question beliefs, challenge prevailing thought and employ voyeurism to reflect on our own lives. In the safety of the theater we can accomplish all of that, daring to voyage to, engage in or rendezvous with real, imagined and sometimes forbidden people, places or subjects. And, if we’re open to it, for better or for worse, we will be changed by what we witness and experience from that lone seat in the dark. Powerful, to say the least.

Now, let’s harness and focus that power to capture, raise awareness and celebrate Jewish culture, legacy, history, traditions, struggles and search for identity, and present it to Jewish communities in the form of a festival … a Jewish Film Festival. From documentaries to comedies, tragedies to triumphs, the myriad of Jewish film genres serve to educate

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Jews and non-Jews about the Jewish people. And because Jewish films often examine the diversity that naturally exists among the Jewish people, audiences learn about other cultures as well, as they book safe passage to Jewish life for the price of a $10 movie ticket.

Making its debut in San Francisco in 1980, the Jewish Film Festival in America was conceived and founded by human rights activist and filmmaker Deborah Kaufman. Her vision for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival was to use the popularity of cinematic dramatization to ignite new and open discussions of politics and culture within the Jewish community, and to challenge Hollywood’s Jewish stereotypes.

An instant hit, the SFJFF gave birth to the Jewish Film Festival in cities across the country. According to the Jewish Outreach Institute, there are now more than 70 Jewish film festivals in the states, with more than half a dozen in Canada and another two dozen in foreign cities. Jewish communities rapidly embraced the opportunity to rally ‘round a shared and profound passion and identity in a neutral

Tickets are available through the Presenting Sponsors or online at: www.brownpapertickets.com (Jewish Film Festival).

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venue, where participants could freely celebrate being Jewish. The films themselves offered moviegoers the experience of mutual pride in Jewish courage and accomplishments, along with the opportunity to address critically the tough, painful and controversial issues and challenges Jews face as a people. A recent Jewish Studies survey at Stanford University showed that people who attend Jewish film festivals believe it is a valid expression of their Jewish identity — however they choose to define it.

The 2012 Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival — no stranger to this successful celebration of Jewish life and culture exposed and expounded in film — proudly opens its 11th season on Jan. 14 (running through Jan. 29). This year’s festival is co-produced by Desert Space Foundation and its executive director Joshua Abbey, and the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada. Major support has been provided by the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, with Host Venue Sponsorship provided by the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus. Cinemark Century Theatres is a Host Satellite Sponsor. Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging Centers, Innova Technologies, Manpower and DAVID Magazine are corporate sponsors.

Abbey (with the DSF) has been the festival’s producer since its 2002 inception.

JFLV President and CEO Elliot Karp states: “The Federation’s support of this cinematic gift, highlighting and depicting our cultural treasures and legacies, is integral to the Federation’s vision … to see more Jews doing Jewish. Our mission is not to encourage proscriptive Judaism, but rather support and enable all means of Judaism to take root and flourish by every productive means possible. The Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival does just that … it enables creativity, ingenuity and innovation … qualities that sustain the Jewish people and add cultural vibrancy to our community.”

This year’s festival features 12 narrative dramas and documentaries, mostly contemporary, global in scope and representing a variegated junction of the Jewish culture spanning Eastern Europe to South America, Australia, the United States and Israel; covering Jewish history, festivities and customs, Holocaust memories, Israel-Diaspora relations and personal stories with universal struggles. Themes range from Jews in the Civil War, to the Academy Award-winning Sherman brothers, who were acclaimed songwriters for Disney, to Otto Frank’s lifelong promotion of his daughter’s diary, to the alliance between a lonely Christian woman and an orphaned Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, to the comedic antics of Gustav Mahler’s marriage, to klezmer music’s influence on the Argentinean tango, to an Israeli boy’s miraculous recovery from violence through his relationship with a dolphin. All are outstanding. All are worth the time to travel to places on celluloid that will expand your mind, heart and soul and, thus, your life’s possibilities.

The goals and purposes of Nevada’s longest running and most popular

film festival “are manifold,” says Abbey. “Foremost is to inform and strengthen our Jewish community, utilizing relevant stories told through the vibrancy of film and cinéma vérité. The lessons learned and the thoughts provoked by the festival experience are intended to promote community collaboration, entice the unaffiliated and offer educational outreach to Jews and non-Jews alike, by enhancing cultural awareness, diversity and tolerance through an appreciation of Jewish identity, history and struggles. The Jewish community is not separate from the community at large when it comes to universal themes that affect us all. The festival presents a social opportunity, and the films present a safe way for many to comfortably explore subjects with no pressure or strings attached.”

Neil Popish, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada says “We at the JCC are pleased to partner with Josh Abbey and the Desert Space Foundation because our missions are similar. The film festival is a perfect fit for our cultural arts programming.”

Additionally, the LVJFF helps promote solidarity with Israel by screening films that showcase its ethical, technological, scientific and political prowess on the world‘s stage. Abbey takes a more conservative approach in curating the festival, as opposed to the more controversial choices of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Abbey is committed to promoting a positive image of Israel and chooses films suitable to that end. “I believe film is the best way to address misconceptions about Israel, socially and politically, that are perpetuated by the media.”

Schiffman agrees with Abbey’s sentiment toward Israel. “As a presenting sponsor, The Adelson School chose to screen the full length documentary, Israel Inside ... a movie we thought our students would relate to in understanding the culture, people, climate and great modern inventions happening in Israel today.”

Equally vital is the interactive and educational discourse immediately following each film, led by visiting filmmakers, special guests and community rabbis. “Audience members and moderators enter into open dialogue, evaluating a film’s message and meaning, and hopefully arriving at new understandings and deeper connections to one‘s Jewishness,” Abbey states.

Occasionally, these discussions become heated. “At a previous festival, after the screening of Killing Kastner, audience members disagreed vehemently with Kastner’s daughter, who starred in the film and was the guest speaker, for the film’s forgiving and positive portrayal of her father,” Abbey says. “People were respectful, but the disagreements were definitely impassioned.”

The LVJFF also creates a forum for local Jewish organizations and synagogues to provide cultural enrichment for their constituents, promote themselves and generate revenue by becoming LVJFF Presenting Sponsors, entitling them to choose a film to present at the festival continued p.32

Tickets are available through the Presenting Sponsors or online at: www.brownpapertickets.com (Jewish Film Festival).

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2 0 1 2 L as V egas J ewish F ilm F estival P rogram

The Boys

My Australia

Mahler on the Couch

(USA 2010, 102 min, English)

(Israel 2011, 96 min, Polish & Hebrew, English subtitles)

(Austria, Germany 2010, 100 min, German,

Presented by: Jewish Community Center of So. Nevada

Presented by: Brandeis National Committee

English subtitles)

Moderated by: Jeffery and Gregory Sherman, (Producers/Directors)

Moderated by: Ayelet Blit, Jewish Educator

Presented by: Temple Beth Sholom

MY AUSTRALIA is a powerful and immensely appealing film about a Polish mother and her two sons, following their escape from the anti-Semitism of postwar Europe and their effort to find refuge in Israel. MY AUSTRALIA, which won the Audience Choice Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, explores the struggles for self-identity while trying to build a new life in a foreign country.

Moderated by: Arlene Blut

THE BOYS is an intimate journey through the lives of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, the astoundingly prolific, Academy Award winning songwriting team that defined family musical entertainment for five decades with unforgettable songs like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocous” from Mary Poppins, and “It’s a Small World After All.” The documentary takes audiences behind the scenes of Hollywood and offers a rare glimpse into the creative process of extraordinarily talented brothers who were personally estranged from each other throughout much of their unparalleled professional partnership.

Sunday, Jan. 15, 4:00 p.m.

Adelson Educational Campus $10 | 255-6667

MAHLER ON THE COUCH is an exuberant recreation of the real-life marriage of Gustav Mahler and his tempestuous wife Alma Schindler Mahler, in a sensory feast of art, sex and celebrity set in 1910 Vienna. Frustrated by her agreement to give up her own musical ambitions, Alma seeks passion in the arms of the young, dashing architect Walter Gropius, which sends a tormented Mahler to Sigmund Freud for consultation. Moving and funny, the film is filled with Mahler’s.

Saturday, January 21, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 14, 7:00 p.m.

Adelson Educational Campus

Adelson Educational Campus

$10 | 804-1333

$10 | 794-0090

Otto Frank

Joanna

Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray

(Netherlands 2010, 75 min, Dutch, English and German with English Subtitles)

(Poland 2010, 105 min, Polish, English subtitles)

(USA 2011, 86 min, English)

Presented by: Congregation Ner Tamid

Presented by: Temple Sinai

Moderated by: Rabbi Sanford Akselrad

Moderated by: Stan Armstrong, Documentary; Film Director, Instructor at UNLV

Presented by: Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust Moderated by: Myra Berkovitz, Ed. Advisor, Gov. Council OTTO FRANK is known by every reader of Anne Frank’s diaries as “Pim,” but his role in the book extends far beyond the Amsterdam attic. Otto was the only Frank to survive the Holocaust, and after the war he dedicated his life to the diaries, working tirelessly to ensure the book’s status as one of the 20th century’s most important literary testaments. The film traces Frank’s early years as an assimilated German Jew and details his obsession in maintaining Anne’s memory.

Sunday, January 15, 1:00 p.m.

Adelson Educational Campus Free Admission

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JOANNA is the story of a young Jewish girl named Rose who, separated from her mother in German-occupied Warsaw during a roundup, seeks refuge in the pews of a church where Joanna goes to pray. Joanna, a piano teacher waiting to hear news of her soldier husband whom she has not seen in years, takes the child home.

They embark on a relationship that helps to heal their respective losses amidst the terror-ridden paranoia of trying to hide a Jewish child and survive during wartime occupation.

Thursday, Jan. 19, 7:00 p.m.

Cinemark Century Theaters, South Point Hotel and Casino

JEWISH SOLDIERS IN BLUE & GRAY explores the little known history of the Civil War Jews who fought on both sides of the battlefield. Brother against brother, Jew against Jew, 10,000 Jewish soldiers fought in the nation’s deadliest war. Allegiances during the War Between the States split the Jewish community as deeply as it did the nation at large.

Sunday, January 22, 1:00 p.m.

Adelson Educational Campus $10 | 254-5110

$10 | 733-6292

Tickets are available through the Presenting Sponsors or online at: www.brownpapertickets.com (Jewish Film Festival).

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Dolphin Boy

Tango, A Story with Jews

Love Etc.

(Israel 2011, 72 min, Hebrew, Arabic, English subtitles)

(Argentina 2009, 70 min, Spanish, English subtitles)

(USA 2010, 94 min, English)

Presented by: Jewish Family Service Agency

Presented by: Midbar Kodesh Temple

Presented by: Temple Bet Knesset Bamidbar

Moderated by: Shari Stanton, JFSA Clinical Director

Moderated by: Jorge Schapira

DOLPHIN BOY is the unique story of Morad who, after being bullied and beaten by his classmates, does not speak or respond. He is sent to Eilat, Israel for a special treatment program with Dolphins. As he undergoes this unique therapy, he develops an exceptional relationship with the Dolphins and achieves a miraculous recovery. This true story shows the devastating trauma that violence can cause upon the human soul, and how the healing power of family, nature and love can produce hope and renewal.

Sunday, January 22, 4:00 p.m. $10 | 732-0304

Adriana

Gonorazky,

P.E.,

S.E.,

TANGO, A STORY WITH JEWS is a captivating documentary that tells the story of how Jewish musicians, who fled Russia for Buenos Aires at the end of the nineteenth century, contributed to the romance of tango music through their festive and deeply lyrical klezmer music. Family memories and seductive historic recordings bring the figures in this little-known story of cultural and artistic fusion to life. The film also illuminates tango’s revival among young Argentineans today.

Wednesday, January 25, 7:00 p.m. $10 | 454-4848

Moderated by: Robert Mirisch, Film Scholar LOVE ETC. is a witty, poignant and humorous exploration about the universal stages of love, depicted through five real stories over the course of one year in New York City. Everyone has experienced love and the joy, and the frustration that comes with it. From teen romance to a decades-long marriage; newlyweds to a recent divorcee, and even a bachelor so frustrated in his search that he chooses to have children without a partner, “Love Etc.” documents the intimate journeys of engaging characters and takes an honest look at life’s most challenging pursuit.

Sunday, January 29, 1:00 p.m. $10 | 228-4744

Israel Inside

Intimate Grammar

Jews in Nevada

(Israel 2011, 60 min, English)

(Israel, 2010, 110 Min, Hebrew, English subtitles)

(USA 2012, 60 min, English)

Presented by: Adelson Educational Campus

Presented by: Anti-Defamation League

Presented by: Jewish Federation of Las Vegas

Moderated by: Paul Schiffman, Head of School

Moderated by: Phyllis Friedman, Exec. Director, ADL

ISRAEL INSIDE explores the secrets of Israeli success from a humanistic and psychological perspective. By sidestepping the usual conversation of politics, conflict and violence and focusing instead on Israel’s human side and its global contributions, the film shows that deep-seated values such as freedom, education, family, and responsibility (tikkun olam) directly contribute to Israel’s accomplishments in the economic, technological, and humanitarian spheres.

INTIMATE GRAMMAR, Nir Bergman’s film adaptation of David Grossman’s novel, “The Book of Intimate Grammar”, won the award for Best Israeli Feature at the 2010 Jerusalem Film Festival. Thirteen-year-old Aharon is a sensitive, lonely boy whose romantic ideals are at odds with everyone and everything around him. With his bar mitzvah on the horizon, Aharon dreads being initiated into an adult world. The film captures the atmosphere of Israel in the early 1960s, as the country was itself coming of age.

Moderated by: Dr. Michael Green, Professor of History, CSN

Wednesday, January 25 Sold Out Student Screening

Saturday, January 28, 7:00 p.m. $10 | 862-8600

JEWS IN NEVADA – a production of KNPB Channel 5 Public Broadcasting in Reno – is adapted from John Marschall’s acclaimed book of the same title. The documentary begins with the supportive role of Jewish merchants and entrepreneurs during Virginia City’s gold and silver bonanza, and the invention of copper riveted jeans in Reno. It marks the Jewish contributions to the advancement of a statewide tourism-based economy, and the development of a Jewish support infrastructure in Las Vegas. A recurring theme is the importance of tikun olam or “repairing the world” in the lives of young people and adults alike.

Sunday, January 29, 4:00 p.m. $10 | 732-0556

Tickets are available through the Presenting Sponsors or online at: www.brownpapertickets.com (Jewish Film Festival).

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2012 Las Vegas Je wish Film Festival Pr ogr am

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From p.29 from among many that Abbey offers them. Joining The Adelson School as a presenting sponsor this year are the Anti-Defamation League, Congregation Ner Tamid, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust, the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, Jewish Family Services Agency, Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Midbar Kodesh Temple, Temple Beth Sholom, Temple Sinai, Brandeis National Committee and Temple Bet Knesset Bamidbar.

Christina Primack, executive director of JFSA, explained why the agency chose to present Dolphin Boy. “It was particularly intriguing, as it tells the story of a boy who completely disconnected himself from humans after a violent attack. This documentary is about the devastating effects human havoc and violence can wreak upon the human soul, and about the healing powers of nature and love. That’s what JFSA is all about.”

“We generally don’t get much participation from the Orthodox congregations,” Abbey says. “I think that’s mostly due to concerns for, what could be viewed as, their endorsement of difficult content in many of the films. Rabbi Harlig of Chabad of Southern Nevada presented previously, as did Shaarei Tefilla; and Rabbi Wyne served as a moderator, but that‘s about it.”

In choosing films, Abbey travels to other festivals, networks with other festival curators, and views films that get sent to him given the success he now enjoys. He looks for films that have not been screened in theaters or on cable, and tries to create a balance between dramas, documentaries, foreign films, English-language films and films produced, directed, written and shot in Israel, by Israelis.

Schiffman hopes “people appreciate the hours that go into preparation for the festival. I think those who do will flock to support it!”

Abbey would like to present far more films than he offers now.

“While we have been successful, and we’re growing in prominence, attendance and sponsorship is still not what it should be given the size of the Las Vegas Jewish community and the community in general. If I add more films, I’ll only dilute existing attendance.”

He attributes this problem to a few things: the Strip‘s dominant gaming and entertainment culture that spends millions to capture people’s limited leisure time; a good percentage of the Jewish population moved here as retirees and feel that they’ve paid their dues in their previous communities; a fair portion of the community is not culturally educated, and, therefore, lacks awareness as to why such an event is important to a community’s well-being. “We’re one of the only major metropolises that doesn’t have an art house cinema,” he notes.

That doesn‘t discourage Abbey. “It’s a matter of expanding,” he says.

“I’ve been the sole manager of the film festival for these past 10 years.

I’m now ready to spread my wings with an advisory committee to help me with ideas on how to evolve into the next generation of growth and potential.” That would involve a business plan and marketing efforts to raise cultural awareness, competing on some level with the lure of gaming and entertainment and creating sponsorship incentives.

For now, Abbey is pleased to be gliding into his 11th year with terrific sponsors, presenters, films, guest speakers and an audience eagerly awaiting the festival‘s opening. Ten of the twelve films will play in the state-of-the-art theater at The Adelson Educational Campus in Summerlin. Two will play at the Cinemark Century Theatres, South Point Hotel and Casinos.

“The (Las Vegas) Jewish Film Festival is my favorite Jewish holiday,”an avid festival-goer said.

And with the growing number of Jewish film festivals in North America and around the world, it’s becoming a “holiday” millions will derive benefit from observing.

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live INSIDE speak @ 34 know @ 40

Artist’s Palette : The arts scene in Las Vegas is poised to take off. This issue features artists of all types, from music to painting to film, amateur to established and everything in between.

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Art Attack Putting the p-a-i-n in painting

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Colin Pringle and Corey Levitan

“O

h … my ... God,” says Mary Mayer, unable to tear her eyes from the teeny dot of red paint with the ginormous price tag.

The dance teacher from Chicago, who is visiting Las Vegas’ First Friday art festival for the first time, whips out her iPhone for an urgent photograph.

Everybody is an artist, said the German postmodernist Joseph Beuys. I’m currently testing this theory at City of the World, a nonprofit downtown gallery normally brimming with the work of professionals who aren’t experimenting for magazine articles. Here, “Corey Levitan: The One-Half Man Show” has just opened. It’s an exhibition of my life’s work, none of which existed eight days ago.

Why not? Las Vegas resident Autumn de Forest, age 9, has painted art that has sold for more than $250,000 (and not just to her parents!). In the late ’50s, Congo the chimp painted elegant abstractions. So do elephants today in Thailand.

I reached out to Colin Pringle, a noted Las Vegas Michelangelo who also happens to be one of my Facebook friends. Pringle, 71, is among the 32 locals hanging at City of the World. He’s also an art instructor who believes not only that anyone can be an artist, but a great one.

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“If they can sign their name, I can bring it out of them,” Pringle says. “Even if they can’t sign their name — although it will take a little longer.”

Still, Pringle thought my goals a tad lofty at first.

“No artist in their right mind would ever try to create an entire show in eight days,” he told me eight days ago. (Insert obvious joke about the state of my mind here.)

But that’s how long I had, considering when DAVID publisher Max Friedland decided to assign me this adventure. Actually, thanks to an out-of-town Thanksgiving, it was four days. So, during his twice-weekly City of the World class, Pringle took me on, as he has hundreds of beginners since 1955 (many of whom are now prizewinners).

Pringle — whose credits include a painting at the Louvre — is a realist. So he suggested I be one, too.

“It’s the thing that lasts forever,” he said. “Pop art didn’t last, and I knew it wouldn’t.”

He is also the other kind of realist.

“Portraits are absolutely the most difficult things an artist can paint,” he said. “So I don’t recommend a double-portrait as your first painting. How about a landscape?”

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No. I insisted on “Mother & Daughter,” a 16-by-20-inch doubleportrait based on a photo of my wife cradling our newborn daughter in the hospital. It is the defining image for this nascent period in my family’s existence.

Pringle taught me the key to painting my subject: not painting it.

It must be viewed purely as a random collection of shadows. Without once touching my canvas, he showed me how to draw these, then fill in the white highlights representing my light source, then prepare and apply coats of wash to blend everything. Automatically, my girls began emerging from the acrylic murk.

Pringle began drawing at 3, inspired by the clothing models he copied perfectly from the Sears catalog.

“My dad said, ‘That’s impossible.’ My mom said, ‘I watched him do it.’”

By age 5, he sold his first oil painting – the same one that won him his first national competition.

“It was quite apparent that I was born to do this,” he says.

Pringle is one of about 1,000 working artists inhabiting Las Vegas — although he’s a rarity in that it’s his only line of work. (He ran a gallery in Redondo Beach, Calif., before moving to Vegas in 1980 to soothe a hand condition.) Here at City of the World, artist Gayle Nathan is a District Court judge; Carol Mittwede owns a yoga studio;

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and Liza Amor is a Clark County schoolteacher (a popular artist occupation). They pay $30-$100 monthly rental fees to display works that barely pay for themselves.

“We do it for the love of art, not money,” says Pringle, who lives in an apartment modest even for the Fremont East entertainment district.

I’m not the realist Pringle hoped for. It turns out abstraction is my bag. The faces in “Mother & Daughter” turned out so shockingly not bad — notwithstanding the legal action my wife threatened over the size of her nose — that Pringle halted the process before I attempted the realistic details and risked ruination.

“That’s actually quite good,” Pringle said.

It surprised me, too.

Unfortunately, completing this one painting took two days. That left only two more for five other from-scratch masterpieces. Colors flew everywhere — even on top of colors that weren’t dry enough.

Wherever skill and time were required, arrogance was substituted.

The results included a white Gesso triangle I titled “Sonny Bono’s Tree,” a trio of acrylic circles traced by overturned buckets (titled “String Theory” by a fellow student) and an oil I called “Still Wet” because it will be for at least another week.

Mary Mayer continues examining my red dot on canvas, aka “Brilliance,” searching for hidden intrinsic layers of value. Inspired by a similar piece I saw as a child at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, it is now the most expensive piece hanging at City of the World.

I’m asking $2,000.

“Really, come on now,” Mayer says out loud to herself.

Later, she explains that the iPhone photo she snapped will join a collection of “stupid things” she’s seen in her travels, including forsale signs for a “refriderator” and a pair of dance “tihts.”

“You photograph stupid things?” asks F. Andy Taylor, the illustrator and newspaper graphics designer who was kind enough to lend me his City of the World wall for this experiment. “Wow, you’re go-

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ing to be busy here.”

Isaac Ochoa is equally fascinated by “Brilliance” — no doubt because he paints similar things in his art class at Ira J. Earl Elementary and wants to know if he’s sitting on a goldmine, too.

“Man, I can paint that with my eyes closed,” the 11-year-old tells his mom, who shushes him.

Then Ochoa wonders why “Starry Night II,” my nearby smattering of white stars against a blue background, is only $50.

“It has a BUNCH of dots,” he says, scratching his chin.

Last up to my wall is gallery owner Roz Knight. She opened City of the World in 2006, in a onetime house at South Casino Center Boulevard and East Colorado Avenue.

I can sense the deep fault Knight wants to find with her potentially art-mocking newest resident. After several minutes of studying, however, she calls my sense of color “terrific,” noting only that some of my dots are smudged (due to the wet paint) and that I should have painted the sides of my canvases.

“Colin probably should have mentioned that,” she offers. “Today, people don’t have paintings framed as much.”

That’s higher praise than I dreamed of.

By evening’s end, Beuys’ theory receives even more conclusive proof. Everybody IS an artist, it turns out. Of the three paintings that sell tonight from this gallery, none comes from my wall. But “Brilliance” receives a solid offer. A friend says he’ll take it off my hands for $20, “if no one else wants it.”

It’s not quite $2,000. But that’s what negotiation is for, right?

Some of Levitan’s paintings still hang at City of the World, 1229 S. Casino Center Drive. All proceeds from their sale will benefit the gallery. Check out all of Levitan’s musings at www.coreylevitan.com and Twitter at @coreylevitan.

— By Corey Levitan

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The Art of Martin Kreloff

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djacent the Cashman Center on North Las Vegas Boulevard and bounded by Bonanza and Washington are four museums, a public library and a Shakespearean theater company.

In the aggregate, they comprise the Las Vegas Cultural Corridor.

Until last August the buildings were a vague and unbranded collection of concrete and steel without a unifying concept. The Las Vegas Arts Commission, eager to remedy this urban ennui, put out a call for artists (local and national) to submit their visions for providing the area an unforgettable visual identification.

The winning blueprint included a decorative flyover bridge, a series of sidewalk inlays, or “flourishes,” by Denise Duarte and 60 large banners festooning the light poles along the boulevard.

The man with the winning plan was Las Vegas artist Martin Kreloff, 67, a Vegas transplant with roots in Brooklyn, Coconut Grove, Fla., and San Francisco. His oppy-poppy style — a marriage of bright colors, easily identifiable shapes and heavy black outlines — is as well-suited to the main thrust of his art — portraits of show business icons — as it is the iconography of Las Vegas’ cultural institutions.

“I read online that the city was sending out a request for a local artist to design the banners for the cultural corridor,” Kreloff recalls.

His conceptual response was “Pole Dancers,” a banner series featuring hands (navy blue or black) and representative symbols of each museum or facility against a vivid cadmium yellow background.

Kreloff met with the director of each institution to understand “what they saw as the most important quality of their institution that I could translate into something visual. Then I put it in my mental pressure cooker and came up with the concept that culture is the achievement of humanity, the highest achievement we have — that the hands of humanity give information from one person to another. I chose the hands to tell the story.” He illustrated his proposal with the letters L.I.B.R.A.R.Y. tumbling from one hand to another. A banner for the old Mormon Fort features a hand toting a bucket of water.

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“What I am trying to do is visually brand our culture,” he says.

“It’s not a big step from everything else I’ve done. I want to see that Las Vegas is coming into its own culturally with the Smith Center opening (this spring) and a variety of other cultural events. I see Las Vegas being in a very similar place to where Miami was in the 1970s — a medium-sized city that suddenly understands what (its) role is in culture and what the role of culture is to (the) city.”

Kreloff previously designed vivid murals and banners for the Greater Miami Opera, Royal Caribbean International, the Circus Circus casino and a massive billboard in San Francisco’s Castro District for an AIDS charity. But creating and overseeing the manufacture of the corridor banners is his biggest project yet.

More often than not, you can find him at his easel, where a Hollywood icon’s portrait is emerging from a huge square of canvas.

“When I was a kid, I fell in love with movies, especially Disney cartoons,” he says. “They were as meaningful to me as anything I was experiencing in real life. Why? The fantasy. I was a quiet child.

I drew. I colored. I listened to music. I may have grown up in Brooklyn, but I lived in fantasy from the time when I was 12 years old and went to my first Broadway show — Ethel Merman in ‘Happy Hunting’ — which added live theater to the mix.”

Originally, Kreloff wanted to be an actor. But from the age of 5, he’d demonstrated an ability to draw pictures that looked like real people. It was the Jewish theater superstar Molly Picon, and the influence of New York Times theatrical cartoonist Al Hirschfeld, that pointed Kreloff in the right direction. He met Picon when she was on Broadway in Jerry Herman’s musical, “Milk and Honey.”

Kreloff ’s uncle, Manny Fleishman, was the musical director for the Yiddish Theater and had worked with Picon many times. “I in-

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terviewed her for my Erasmus High School newspaper,” Kreloff says.

“I went to the show and then backstage afterwards, and I took my drawing portfolio to show her. She said, ‘My God, are you talented!”

She put the young Marty in touch with costume designer Miles White.

“Going to Miles’ house was like going to see Auntie Mame,” Kreloff remembers. “A Fifth Avenue address; everything super-sophisticated and super smart. He offered me a cigarette and I was such a nerd and said, ‘I’m too young to smoke.’ I showed him my drawings, and he told me I was incredibly talented and asked me what I wanted to do.” Kreloff told him: “I want to get the best education I can.”

The dean of the Parsons School of Design was a friend of White’s and set up an appointment for Kreloff. “I went with my portfolio and was accepted and given a partial scholarship.”

Kreloff credits his affection for show business stars and his nearcartoon-like style to Hirschfeld’s weekly theatrical images for The Times. The artist would hide the name of his daughter, Nina, in his drawings — in the folds of a sleeve, the hair — and “the Nina count was the first thing I did when I picked up the paper. So here I am at 12 in 1956,” Kreloff recalls, “and I am being bombarded with a variety of images that played to my fantasy. So my work was shaped

by Hirschfeld and Walt Disney studios. I learned about line, form and color not only in school but in a darkened theater and from the pages of a newspaper.”

In 1967, his parents moved the family to Dade County. Kreloff enrolled at the University of Miami, eventually took his degree and attended graduate school, while working as a catering waiter and in menswear sales among other jobs. He also began doing illustration work for the Miami Herald, eventually creating covers for the Sun-

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day Tropic magazine. His art made him as famous in Miami as the socialites and celebrities he had been serving. In 1976, he had his first solo show: “Miami Says Art.” He photographed 200 famous Miamians saying “Art.” Later, he did 30 individual drawings. The show “put me on the map,” Kreloff says.

Now it’s “Las Vegas Says Art” that keeps Kreloff busy raising funds and compiling lists of prominent politicians, celebrities, philanthropists, artists, producers, casino owners and the like.

Eventually, the list will be winnowed to 30 stellar images, all in Kreloff’s colorful style.

The movie star images Kreloff started painting in the late ‘70s — Lana Turner, Errol Flynn, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, among them -- are both his signature art and his forte. His most recent include a gorgeous portrait of sigh-inducing George Clooney on a bright orange background, Lucille Ball in all her red-headed glory and the Janet Leigh “Psycho” shower scene scream. Entertainment producers have commissioned a number of Kreloff’s celebrity images, including the one of Lauren Bacall. “She was coming to Miami, touring in ‘Wonderful Town,’” he says. “I painted her as she looked in ‘The Big Sleep’ with those sleepy eyes and that hair. The producer, Zev Buffman, asked if it was OK with me to give Bacall the paintings. “Better still,” Buffman added, “why don’t the two of us present it?”

“I still have this photograph, me in a three-piece ‘John Travolta’ suit from the ‘70s and she’s in this cocktail outfit. God, I was so young then. And I said the stupidest thing I’ve ever said: ‘Oh dear, I wasn’t even born then.’ And she turned to me — cut me dead — and said, ‘Never say that again.’”

— By Cynthia Robins

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Fanny Brice born Fania Borach of Hungarian Jewish parents, dropped out of school to work in burlesque.

She most famously starred in the Ziegfeld Follies on and off from 1910 until the thiries. She was a star of stage and screen and earned her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Our current crop of movie maidels can only aspire to her prodigious body of work. Thanks Babs for your wonderful portrayal of Ms. Brice in “Funny Girl” JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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(Warning: This piece is really directed to our male readers. Not that there’s anything too risqué or inappropriate included, but you should know. If you want insight into the male perspective, you could do much worse than read on.)

W

ell … it’s January. The holidays have passed, candles have gone out, resolutions have been made and champagne has been drunk. No matter where you find yourself at the moment, anywhere north of the equator, it’s winter. In Vegas, where we’re used to 115-degree summers, the 40 degrees outside feels like we should be bundled up tighter than kishka1 at a Shabbat2 dinner. And in other parts of America, or the world, where there’s snow on the ground and the temperature is dropping below zero, people are laughing at us.

But regardless, for us men it’s colder than we’re used to and that does strange things to our physicality. So, on behalf of all our landsmen3 out there struggling through the cold nights, let DAVID Magazine clue you in on a few members of the tribe you might not have realized were kosher and bubby4-approved for your dreams. Now, never let it be said we’re not men of substance here. The following are all women you would be proud to take home to meet the whole meshugah5 family. These girls have the whole package, and we’re glad they’re on our side of the menorah.

Just to get it out of the way, this list is starting with Natalie Portman.

Why? She’s probably the most famous Israeli actress since Tovah Feldshuh (who, at 58, is still turning heads and winning awards for her devotion to Judaism) and she’s better looking than Bar Refaeli (Leonardo DiCaprio’s ex, who only gets a place in this article for that AND the fact she was a swimsuit issue cover girl). Aside from that, Ms. Portman is the de facto face of Jewish actresses. Honestly, when you’re out with friends and the words “Jew” and “hot” appear in a sentence, what man amongst us doesn’t think of Natalie Portman? From her introduction as a child protégé to an assassin in The Professional, to her Academy Award-winning turn in Black Swan, we’ve watched her grow up and loved her every step of the way. Add in the fact that she holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard (class of 2003) and you have the girl every Jewish mother wants her son to marry.

But as our goyim6 friends (and Adam Sandler songs) are all quick to point out, there is no shortage of Jews in Hollywood, and Natalie isn’t the first to share her charms with the world through the magic of celluloid.

It’s a cliché to say Jews are funny. Sure, on the male side we can lay claim to everyone from the Marx brothers to the Warner brothers, Al Jolson to Adam Sandler. But what about the women? Don’t you worry; we’re covered there as well.

With the start of Hollywood, we had Fanny Brice, who began doing burlesque revues in 1908, at 17. In 1910, she joined the Ziegfeld Follies, becoming one of the star attractions. Her most famous creation, Baby Snooks, a bratty little girl, entertained radio audiences (and graced a singular TV appearance) for more than 20 years. Probably her most lasting legacy, though, was being immortalized by Barbra Streisand (we’ll get to her soon) in the stage play and film Funny Girl.

Totie Fields, while lesser known than Brice, certainly fulfilled the promise of a funny Jewish gal, and she has a Las Vegas connection. Not only did she live in our fair city, but her last performance was at the Sahara and her daughter founded the city’s long-running Rainbow Company Children’s Theatre. Certainly a credit to the tribe!

Starting in the late ’60s, Madeline Kahn hit the scene and changed the face of Jewish comedy. Brice was cute, and Fields adorable, but Kahn was gorgeous! This isn’t to say she couldn’t be a serious performer, too.

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She was nominated for an Academy Award for Paper Moon in 1973, but it was 1974’s Blazing Saddles (for which she was again nominated for an Oscar) where she really made her mark and launched herself into the American zeitgeist. In that film, she also proved you could be sexy and funny … and Jewish.

Hot (no pun intended) on her footsteps was Gilda Radner, who shared quite a bit with Kahn (including the Gene Wilder connection). Radner was smart, funny and award-winning (an Emmy in 1978 for Saturday Night Live).

On Broadway, Carol Kane is one of our leading lights. Although she might be best known as Simka, the wife of Latka on Taxi or as the wife of Miracle Max in The Princess Bride, it is on the Great White Way where she has really made her mark. Recently, she was seen as Madame Morrible in Wicked, showing her Jewish heritage by playing a teacher.

Today, the comedy mantel has been taken up by a whole new mishpocha7 of talented, funny and, dare we say it, beautiful women.

Lisa Kudrow, who was one of television’s highest-paid women, has a biology degree from Vassar. She made playing dumb into the art form we hadn’t seen the likes of since Gracie Allen (who, unfortunately, was Irish Catholic). Kudrow won an Emmy as Phoebe Buffay on Friends.

Meanwhile, over on The Nanny, Fran Drescher was making us love the nasally Bronx accent that we, as good Jewish boys, fully expect our very own Jewish-American Princesses to have. Drescher took her natural inclinations and turned them into a goldmine. She also found the perfect man in real life; unfortunately, he turned out to be gay (Peter Marc Jacobson).

In an effort to let the lives of fictional Jews mimic those of real life ones, Debra Messing (Jewish) played Grace Adler (also Jewish) on Will and Grace, where she was in a loving relationship with an out-of-the-closet gay man. Messing created a positive Jewish role model who was … well, she was a little neurotic, but that’s OK; between her and Drescher, we’re prepared for anything the Jewish girls of New York can throw at us.

Currently, of the two funniest, beautiful Jews on television, one is representing the West Coast. Mayim Bialik, who holds a doctorate in neuroscience (but her undergrad degree is in neuroscience as well as Hebrew and Jewish studies), plays Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory. Even Sheldon’s fundamentalist mom would be proud to call her daughter.

The other is Alyson Hannigan, who stars as Lily Aldrin in the comedy How I Met Your Mother. Ms. Hannigan is Jewish in real life, but her New York-based character, sadly, is not. Too bad, really.

Then there’s Chelsea Handler. Handler started her public career as a stand-up comic and then, with all the chutzpah8 you’d expect from a nice Jewish girl from Jersey, eased herself into television with her own show, Chelsea Lately, on E! For good measure, she became a New York Times bestselling author. But Handler isn’t the only JAP who transitioned from comedy to cable. Sarah Silverman also started on the circuit but quickly became a television fixture with her edgy comedy and personal observations. The Sarah Silverman Program followed, becoming the highest-rated premiere on Comedy Central. What she’s most known for, though, is F@#king Matt Damon, the video for which she won an Emmy.

Now, on to the serious actors. Sure, we can laugh at ourselves but that’s just because we’ve known pain and suffering — the kind that can only truly be appreciated by seeing these women on the big and small screens and worrying whether they have someone to keep them warm at night. And knowing that even if they do … we could do a much better job of it!

To start with, another Academy Award winner we can claim is Gwyneth Paltrow. As Shakespeare’s love interest, she was sublime; as JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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Pepper Potts in Iron Man, she’s unstoppable; and as a wife to Chris Martin, she’s breaking her mother’s heart by marrying outside of the faith. Jennifer Connelly also continues to push the boundaries of what an Oscar-winning actress can get away with — especially in films like Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream.

At this point, we probably should mention Babs. Barbra Streisand is one of a select few to Do The Rounds (win an Oscar, a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony), and she is no stranger to the kibitzers9 at shul. From her beginnings as a singer to career turns in film and as a Broadway Belter (Remember Funny Girl?), she has long been a proud proponent of her faith and cultural upbringing.

Also proud of her culture and Jewish heritage is Goldie Hawn, who has passed this wonderful trait on to her daughter, Kate Hudson.

Hudson is a classic beauty who, after graduating from the prestigious Crossroads Prep School in Santa Monica, turned down a spot at New York University in favor of an acting career. While Goldie may not have approved at the time (what Jewish mom would?), Kate’s Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win for Almost Famous show she made the right choice — at least for us fans.

Then there’s Winona Ryder, a heartthrob for any red-blooded male who grew up in the ’80s. Technically, she’s only Jewish on her father’s side, but she self-describes as a member of the tribe so we’ll bring her home for Seder10, no questions asked. And if she’s unavailable, Mila Kunis would make a suitable substitute. And we know she’s available: She recently accepted the invitation of a leatherneck stationed in Afghanistan to be his date to the Marine Ball. She just might accept your invitation to a Yom Kippur Break Fast.

Sarah Michelle Gellar would also make a fine culinary companion. The former vampire slayer (also known for playing the shiksa11 goddess Daphne in the Scooby-Doo films) claims a long Jewish lineage and some serious pop culture credibility — and that’s not bupkis12!

Then you have the exotic, beautiful Selma Blair, who hangs out with demons like Ron Perlman (also Jewish — hmmm, starting to sense a theme here) in the film Hellboy and its sequel.

If killing vampires or hanging with demons isn’t your thing, don’t worry. You’re still covered. Rachel Weisz is a proud member of the community and she knows how to save you from a Mummy attack. And if we know anything about Jewish men, it’s that we need someone to get between our mummy and us.

Thanks to Fast Times at Ridgemont High we were introduced to Phoebe Cates and Jennifer Jason Leigh. They’re mentioned in the same breath because not only were they introduced in the same film, not only are they Jewish by culture and heritage and not only are they both still incredibly gorgeous — they are also BFFs. In fact, Cates (married to fellow Jew Kevin Kline — one of the few Hollywood couplings to really last) made her last film appearance as a favor to Leigh, in her directorial debut The Anniversary Party.

Since we’re just kibitzing13 here, are you noticing interesting connections? Scarlett Johansson, whose mother was raised in an Ashkenazi family in the Bronx, was in Iron Man 2 with Gwyneth Paltrow. Not to mention she won a Tony in 2010 for her performance in A View from the Bridge by Jewish playwright Arthur Miller (who was married to Marilyn Monroe — see below).

Lisa Bonet, famous as a Cosby girl on TV and as the personification of sex in the Mickey Rourke film Angel Heart, is among those whose mixed parentage results in a beautiful, exotic-looking (nobody expects her to be Jewish) woman. In this same category is Rashida Jones, daughter of music mogul Quincy Jones and (Jewish) supermodel Peggy Lipton. Showing, once again, the importance of education, Rashida has a 50

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religion and philosophy degree from Harvard (class of ’97).

And who else would feel at home sharing a bagel, lox and some schmear14? Amanda Peet, the stunner from the Bruce Willis vehicle The Whole Nine Yards (and, really, the only reason to watch it on DVD); Alicia Silverstone, who first popped up on our radar playing a rich Beverly Hills brat in Clueless; and Sarah Jessica Parker, who taught all us guys the importance of knowing the difference between Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik. Debra Winger showed us Jewish ladies like to be carried out of their workplace (and that nothing is sexier than a man in uniform), and Maggie Gyllenhaal let us know a proper Secretary knows a lot more than how to take dictation.

To be fair, a number of the beautiful ladies mentioned above are either no longer with us or aren’t currently in front of the camera, much to our detriment. Not to worry, though. There are a whole lot of shayna punims15 out there to watch out for in the future. Haifa-born Moran Atias, who has been appearing on Israeli television since the age of 15, has recently made the jump to American TV, with regular roles on Crash and White Collar. Also from Israel, Alona Tal has been making her presence felt on American TV since 2004, guest starring all over the dial.

For the younger set, 25-year-old Kat Dennings, who recently starred in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, is poised to become the next Jewish pin-up. Evan Rachel Wood, whose mother converted to Judaism and raised her daughter appropriately, at 24 is already a seasoned performer, having started on the stage as an infant. Recently split from long-time boyfriend Marilyn Manson, she came out as bisexual in an Esquire interview earlier this year. If that doesn’t get your motor running, nothing will. And we would be rather remiss if we didn’t mention Mr. Sandler’s ode to Israeli secret service, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, not for Sandler but for Emmanuelle Chriqui, who played Dahlia, his love interest. We are given to understand that the number of Americans volunteering to go to Israel jumped 1000 percent upon the film’s release.

In the honorable mentions category, we must cite Marilyn Monroe, who converted to Judaism in 1956 and remained faithful for the final years of her life, as well as Cote De Pablo who, while not being Jewish herself, plays Ziva David, a former Israeli Mossad officer on the TV hit NCIS. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention four words designed to send every boy, Jewish or not, into immediate heart palpitations. For the best example of what these words will do to a nice boychik16, think of Ross on Friends: Princess Leia’s GoldBikini. Thank you, Carrie Fisher. For all of that and for being Jewish.

Yiddish to English 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

Type of sausage.

The Sabbath.

Countryman.

Grandmother.

Crazy.

Gentile.

Family.

Audacity.

Someone that gives unwanted advice.

Passover meal.

Non-Jewish girl.

Nothing.

The act of giving unwanted advice.

Flavored cream cheese spread.

Pretty faces.

Nice boy.

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Mazik.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

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By Allison Calhoun

T

he name sounds modest when compared to the man’s accomplishments. From MC to fashion, hip-hop to directing, Mazik has been kicking ass and taking names for some time.

What started as a hip-hop career in the ‘90s has blossomed into a full-fledged run as a music video director. But in case you’re wondering, he doesn’t plan to stop there.

You might know him as MC Mazik from Blood of Abraham, or from the sneaker shop that Fred Segal once housed, or the director behind music videos from Matisyahu, J.Dilla, Will.i.am, Cee Lo Green, T.I and (most recently) Rebecca Black. No matter which iteration you know, one thing’s for sure: Mazik has the ability to transform visuals and transport viewers to alternate worlds.

His success as a music video director is largely the product of his background in music; it’s obvious he values the ideas of the artist.

After all, it’s the song he understands first and foremost. Only then is he able to collaborate on the visual.

“I see and talk with the artist about what they are conveying through the song, the album, their branding – the whole campaign,” says Mazik.

He reserves his biggest complaint for “people who don’t say shit” or lack passion for what they do – not surprising for a guy who’s speaks freely and clearly, with a purpose. He sees the whole picture.

Mazik’s passion for images has driven him higher and higher up the directorial ladder and onto our screens. And this is just the middle of his ascent.

Born in Santa Monica at St. John’s Hospital, he spent the first eight years of his life moving around Southern California with his mom. In 1979, they came to Las Vegas and settled into a fourbedroom condominium on the north side.

“It was an all-black neighborhood, and when I say all-black – I mean all-black,” he says. “That was a huge inspiration to me and major part of my life.” Mazik’s mom worked nights as a waitress at the Fremont hotel, leaving her son to his own creative devices.

Half-Jewish, half-Irish, Mazik was the only white kid in the neighborhood. It didn’t faze him for a second. “I never had a problem with anything racial. Ever. The only time I even felt anything was from other white people.”

“I knew my mom and I were Jewish. We would light candles and we had a Chanukah bush. But I never really knew what any of it meant until I moved back to California with my grandmother.”

Neither he nor his mom let their heritage divide or separate them.

When talking with Mazik, it’s clear that Judaism had its place in his family and his upbringing, but he and his mom also were just part of a diverse community.

Mazik was much more focused on music and the hip-hop blowing up around him. “Rap music, soul music, Afrika Bambaataa. I was listening to all that shit when it happened,” he says.

“By the time I was eleven, I was already breakdancing,” he says.

Hanging out in the park on Sundays, he was exposed to the freshest DJs and music like Zap and the Gap Band. “I was the illest white kid around, because that’s the way I grew up. I didn’t know anything different.” He spent his Vegas childhood immersed in nascent hiphop – vinyl imported from New York and L.A. Hip-hop and black music artists had taken root in his head from the get-go.

By the time he was 14 Mazik was “running around the Las Vegas Strip getting into all sorts of trouble.” He recalls stealing car rims, breaking into schools, hustling. But, he points out, “I was a good kid. I never really touched drugs. I was ‘scared straight’ because I

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saw the damage that it could do firsthand on the people around me.”

Eventually, it did catch up with him. He got busted for breaking into his high school and stealing art supplies, of all things. With no priors on his record, he skated by with a few nights in juvenile hall and expulsion from the school district. That’s right – the entire school district! (It was a legal wrist slap compared to what his cohorts got.)

After stints in vo-tech, juvenile school and opportunity school, Mazik asked for permission to move back to California to live with his grandmother. (“Unconsciously, I knew it was time to see something different.”) Fortunately, his probation officer agreed. Mazik may not have realized it, but it was a seminal moment in the 11th-grader’s life.

Things changed. He went from living with his mom in an all-black neighborhood in Vegas to settling in with his grandmother in a predominantly Jewish enclave in L.A. “My grandmother is a major influence in my life,” he says.

She instilled Jewish traditions in him and laid the groundwork for his spirituality. Through her he was able to see the relevance that being born Jewish held in his life. “She never told me what not to

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Mazik and his Grandmother

do. I think at most she said, ‘Can’t you get a job at a grocery store where you could have health insurance?’”

He and his buddy, Ben Mor, found common ground with religion and music and formed the band Blood of Abraham. “We were frying everyone’s brain with knowledge, spirituality, emotion and politics,” Mazik recalls. “We were young, hungry MCs, and there was nothing like us.”

Eazy-E, the gangsta rap pioneer and record producer born Eric Lynn Wright, recognized their talent almost immediately. Blood of Abraham was invited to a do a show at the venerable and venerated Gazzarri’s (now The Key Club in Hollywood). It was a Bloods and Crips truce night. BOA figured that out once they got there. They played the show, terrifying as it was, managed to win over a hostile audience and were signed the next day to E’s Ruthless Records label. Mazik went from running the streets to Eazy-E street, taking up residence in his new employer’s Calabasas mansion, in a neighborhood populated by some of hip-hop’s biggest players.

Against his grandmother’s wishes, Mazik eventually left college

to tour with Eazy-E. To this day, he acknowledges the importance of education. “Any kid coming up that can … afford (college), and has the discipline to be able to do it … I would always tell them to do that, and also pursue your dreams at the same time. But get that under your belt because people look at those pieces of paper.”

Mazik did his learning from those around him, picking up skills on an as-needed basis. For him, there’s no right or wrong way to pursue a career. “At the end of the day, as long as your ideas are there and you execute them in the right way, no one can say shit to you,’’ he says.

BOA was killing it in the business when Eazy-E died at age 31 on March 26, 1995, from complications related to pneumonia.

Suddenly, their friend, mentor and record producer was gone. At a crossroads, Mazik and bandmate Mor decided to leave the label.

They threw all their money into a recording studio and began scoring and composing music for commercials. (A group called The Black Eyed Peas would do its first album in that studio.)

One thing led to another and Mazik found himself helping out on a handful of sets. “I spoke the language of a lot of the artists,” JANUARY 2012 DAVID

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he says, “so people would have me come in, because my ideas were solid, and I was good at talking about them.”

Mazik found himself storyboarding, pulling gags and working with effects fairly effortlessly. He was starting to “direct” without knowing it. It wasn’t until the group Self Scientific asked Mazik to come up with their next concept that the idea of being a director ever crossed his mind.

“I remember the first meeting was with the owner of the record label in a club on top of a hotel,” Mazik says. “They had both drank that ‘syzurp’ shit and were fucked up on cough syrup. And I had a whole layout with pictures and a treatment and the whole nine. I showed it to them, and they were both tripping out on me and they looked at me and were like, ‘We’re so fucked up, but, dude, you’re killing it. We want you to do it.’”

Mazik booked the gig and quickly formed his crew. With the aid of Mor and Brian Belatic, he assembled a ridiculous team that helped make his first and favorite videos. “It was one of my most beautiful and most natural, but I didn’t really feel like a director yet. I really didn’t truly feel like a director until my fourth video, a remake of ‘Folsom Prison Blues.’ We met with Johnny Cash Jr to pitch the idea and he loved it.” Then came the shoot: “I remember being on set, hearing myself talking to people, looking around and being, like, ‘Damn. I love this shit.’”

“The things that I do – I feel it. I don’t fuck with shit that I don’t,” he says. He’s down to earth, and he cares about what he puts out there and the people he works with.

One of those people was Matisyahu, until recently the Hasidic reggae-inspired rapper who burst on to the scene in 2004.

“We became really good friends after working on four projects together,” Mazik says. “He hired me to go on the road with him.”

Mazik filmed the series of shorts titled “Road to Light,” a tour diary of their life on the road. “I lived on the tour bus for two weeks. We had to barbecue kosher meat outside when we were in between stops. Eating kosher is hard to do on the road.” The common thread of Jewish hip-hop may have brought them together, but Matisyahu and Mazik also collaborated on epic visuals.

“I’ve been lucky enough that the artists who understand my work and my concept are usually the ones I like, because we understand where each other are coming from,” Mazik says.

He soon founded the production company Self Aviary. “I chose a name and a logo that I knew could stand the test of time.” He also took on a new project: T.I.’s music video, “No Matter What.”

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Mazik with Cee Lo Green

“It was right when T.I. was about to go to jail,” Mazik says. “The video had to be filmed in Atlanta because of his probation. No one on set or (within) a 200-yard radius was allowed a gun or weed.

The whole shoot was pretty clean-cut.” It ended up being one of his favorite videos and was a huge success. With his fifth shoot Mazik found himself up for a Video Music Award. He joined the nomination party crowd in New York City.

“That night, that freaking night, I leave (the party) on fire, walking down Third Street. And an orange adidas suit is walking across the street in front of me. I yelled, ‘Cee Lo!’ And he was like, ‘What’s up, Mazik? Come eat with me.’” Over dinner, they talked about making a film and laid the groundwork for Cee Lo’s “I Want You.” Mazik is a master at letting each opportunity lead seamlessly to the next. “Gangster shit. That’s how I roll,” he exults.

As a director, “I’m a psychedelic kid,” he says. He lists auteurs Terry Gilliam, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonez, Pedro Almodovar and JeanPierre Jeunet among his influences. He has an awareness of foreign film. He compares his storyboard references to fashion editorials: “I like wild shit – anything that feels like an alternate universe. I guess it’s an escapist way of me dealing with issues all around me.”

His trademark symbol is an owl. “I chose the owl because it’s nocturnal,” he explains. “It can see in light and darkness.”

His latest project is 14-year-old pop sensation Rebecca Black’s video, “Person of Interest,” an unexpected move for a guy synonymous with hip-hop. “It was definitely a challenge.” While working with the teenager, Mazik abandoned his “beautifully dark” style for something more fun, more upbeat.

“Curating your career is the most important lesson I’ve learned … the work you continue to get is only based off your past work,” he says.

“My spirituality is one of my biggest motivators,” he adds, “because it encourages me to make work that is uplifting, both visually and musically.”

He plans to take on projects at Self Aviary that are written, directed, produced and scored in house. “I want to get to a point (as a director) where every still from my films could be a still picture with beautiful composition,” he says.

With three or four films in the works (one with Matisyahu and another with Cee Lo Green), and music videos and fashion films on the way, he has plenty of “composing” to do. His personal approach to it all is simple: “I guess the ultimate goal is to dominate film, music and fashion. Yeah, basically just to dominate everything.”

“Joyfully participate in the sorrows of world” Joseph Campbell.

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grill Carolyn Goodman Mayor DAVID: The face of downtown is constantly changing. What are you doing to revitalize the area? What are your hopes for the future of downtown?

GOODMAN: Efforts to revitalize downtown started several years ago, and you can really see the changes starting to meld together in each of the areas of the city, with downtown becoming the place people really want to be.

The core of the city is a place of incredible energy from the 18B Arts District to the nightlife on the Fremont East Entertainment District. I really feel like we continue to gain great momentum downtown. And I think you will only see that grow as Zappos moves in, and with the 2012 openings of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the new City Hall, the Mob Museum, Neon Museum and Discovery Children’s Museum and the remodeling of some of the landmark hotels.

DAVID: Las Vegas is notorious for imploding its history. Why are sites like the Neon Museum so important for keeping a small piece of that history alive?

GOODMAN: The Neon Museum and the Mob Museum are both about preserving the history of Las Vegas. There is no place on earth like Las Vegas, and we want to make sure that we tell the stories of our past – warts and all. Las Vegas is forever reinventing itself, but that does not mean we can’t remember our history as it has been, and at the same time.

DAVID: Following in your husband’s footsteps must have been a difficult decision.

GOODMAN: I had no intention of running, but as I thought about the wonderful path and vision that my husband had set the city on over the last 12 years, I wanted to make sure that the city continued down that path.

I really wanted to ensure that the priorities he had set forth of bringing world-class medicine, medical research and medical tourism, establishing a strong cultural base and bringing in a major league sport were accomplished.

DAVID: How much of a role does the former 58

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mayor play in the decisions you make on a daily basis?

GOODMAN: My husband is a great resource. After all he did this job very well for 12 years, but we are both very different people. He is busy with his job as Las Vegas’ host for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and with a potential television show, a restaurant and a pending biography. Yet he is always there if I want to discuss something with him and get his input.

DAVID: Do you ever argue with your husband about policy?

GOODMAN: Not at all. When you’ve been married as long as we have, you get a good sense for where each other is at any given moment. As I mentioned, my husband is a great resource, but we don’t infringe on each other. The foundation of our marriage is really one of great respect for the other DAVID: What is a typical day like in the mayor’s office?

GOODMAN: Busy, in fact extremely busy!

Everyone who comes to Las Vegas wants to meet the mayor, so I have a lot of meetings and tours, am constantly on the speaking circuit with engagements in the city and out in the community, and then, of course, have ongoing appointments with members of the City Council and city staff. The city staff does an excellent job of briefing the City Council about issues that need to be addressed but they all take time. Sometimes I get home at night and my husband asks how my day has been, then I ask him how much time he has to listen.

DAVID: How involved are you and Oscar in the Jewish community?

GOODMAN: Time permitting, we have always been and will remain very involved.

We are proud of our heritage, devoted to our religion and have raised our children in the Jewish faith. They, in turn, are now raising our six grandchildren similarly. It has been grand seeing the Jewish community grow and participate in Las Vegas life.

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12/21/11 4:47 PM