Film Review: Wadjda
Originally published in The Forward. www.forward.com The Muslim Film Every Bat Mitzvah Girl Should See By Daniel S. Brenner “Wadjda,” the first feature film shot in Saudi Arabia, seems an unlikely fit for a b’nai mitzvah curriculum. Haifaa al-Mansour’s film about a plucky Muslim tween girl in Riyadh whose greatest desire is to buy a bicycle has no reference to Jews and no coming-of-age celebration to speak of. The film’s one connection to issues widely discussed in Jewish circles? A…
Newsweek
One of the wonderful and truly random things about being on this list is that I am listed right behind the rabbi who officiated at my wedding. You can access the list with the following link: http://www.newsweek.com/50-influential-rabbis-77133
Address to Adath Jeshurun, Minnetonka, Minnesota
Shabbat Shalom. First off, I want to express my gratitude to three men who made it possible for me to wake up in Minnesota. Lon Rosenfeld, who called me in my office in New York and said that I had to come. Rabbi Kravitz, who welcomed me to the bima and to Minnetonka with open arms, and my friend from college Donovan Hart, who let me crash on his sofa. Donovan is not Jewish – but he and his wife…
Questioning Darwin
I’ve got a new essay running up on the Huffington Post. You can find it here if you’d like to read it and all the bizarre commentaries that follow it. Or for the text, see below… “If I started talking about science from the pulpit,” a seasoned Methodist minister sitting to my left said, “my wife would shoot a spitball from the choir!” As Anthony Thomas’ new documentary about the rise of creationism entitled Questioning Darwin is about to air…
America’s Kewlest Rabbi
I am the kewlest. I am really really kewl guys. That is all.
Believer, Beware now available as an E-Book!
I was fortunate to be part of this fantastic anthology of writers. And now…for those of you who tire of ink on sliced trees…we are entering cyberspace. Kindlers and nookers and ipaders rejoice! Visit http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HS27GDW #newbooks FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Killing the Buddha Publishes “Exhilarating” E-Book Believer, Beware: First-Person Dispatches from the Margins of Faith Selected by Jeff Sharlet, Peter Manseau and the editors of Killing the Buddha e-book edited by Gordon Haber and Brook Wilensky-Lanford Cover art by Danica Novgorodoff…
Minor Holiday
Smell the Ham
“Smell the Ham” is an excerpt from the one man show “Faster, Rabbi, Drill! Drill!” performed at the Goldman Theater, 14Y in New York City.
The New York Jewish Week
NEW YORK JEWISH WEEK (12/20/2001) Rabbi Daniel Brenner sanctifies the simple gifts of Judaism & America. Jonathan Mark – Associate Editor Did Reb Nachman, back in 18th century Europe, ever notice the sky was Tarheel Blue? Maybe not, but God always knew of North Carolina and that rebbes can come from the Piedmont as surely as from Poland. Rabbi Daniel Brenner, native son of Charlotte, N.C., is a storyteller, as surely from the Southern tradition as from the Jewish one….