Seraphic Secret | Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Religious Zionist. Republican. Movie fanatic. Gun owner. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Succot 2018

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 23, 2018

A Yemenite Jew named Yehia holding a lulav and etrog—the four species— in a succah, Jerusalem, 1939.

A Yemenite Jew named Yehia holding a lulav and etrog—the four species—in a Sukkah, Jerusalem, 1939.

As Jews all over the world make last minute preparations for the holiday of Sukkot, which begins this evening, here are a few wonderfully evocative pictures of Jews celebrating this joyous holiday in Israel — and a rare photo of Jews in Samarkand.

You will dwell in booths for seven days; all natives of Israel shall dwell in booths.

—Leviticus 23:42

On the first day, you will take for yourselves a fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches, twigs of a braided tree and brook willows, and you will rejoice before the L-RD your G-d for seven days.

—Leviticus 23:40

Posted in Jerusalem, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Photography, Judaism, Succos | Tagged Judaism, Succah, Succot, Torah Judaism | 2 Responses

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 20, 2018

“I turned my hair dark and have received much better parts ever since… I was sometimes greeted as Miss Lamarr in dimly lit restaurants. Personally, I liked the idea of escaping from all that bland, blonde innocence and thought the whole thing was very funny, but I don’t think Hedy found the comparisons very amusing.“
—Joan Bennett

Posted in Art, Art Deco, Brigitte Bardot, Design, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Jean Seberg, Joan Bennett, Judaica, Judaism, María Félix, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Tippi Hedren, True Hollywood Confessions | Tagged art, Brice Marden, Edward Steichen, Georges Dambier, Gordon Parks, Hans Holbein the Younger, Irving Penn, Jean Seberg, Jerzy Flisak, Joan Bennett, Ma'ayan Ariel, María Félix, Painting, Rick McGinnis, Succos, Suzy Parker, Tippi Hedren, Verner Panton, Wristwatches | 3 Responses

What is Hezbollah?

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 20, 2018

When listing the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations, why is it that Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram so quickly spring to mind, while Hezbollah is frequently forgotten? In this video, Tony Badran, Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, explains how the backing of Iran has served to legitimize Hezbollah on the world stage, while simultaneously making the group all the more dangerous.

Posted in Hizbullah, Iran, Islamic Terror, IslamoNazi Kidnappings, IslamoNazis, Israel, Jew-haters, Jew-hatred, Lebanon, Prager University, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism | Tagged Beirut, Drug Dealers, Hezbollah, Islam, IslamoNazis, Lebanon, Prager University, Tony Badran | Leave a comment

Yom Kippur 2018

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 18, 2018

“Kotel” by Robert J. Avrech

…In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work … For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the L-RD.

—Leviticus 16:29-30

Posted in Jewish Holidays, Judaica, Judaism, Yom Kippur | Tagged Little Western Wall, Yom Kippur | Leave a comment

Friend Ari Fuld Z’L Murdered by IslamoNazi

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 17, 2018

Ari Fuld z’l smiles for Karen at Rachel’s Tomb, 2018.

Yesterday, Ari Fuld, 45, beloved husband and father to four children, was murdered by an IslamoNazi.

Though stabbed in the back, Ari courageously drew his weapon, and using his fast waning strength, pursued his attacker, and managed to shoot and wound the cowardly IslamoNazi before collapsing from his wounds. (CCTV of the incident here)

Ari was rushed to Shaarei Tzedek hospital where tragically he passed away.

Ari Fuld was an amazing man.

My wife Karen spent time with him on her last visit to Israel.

Posted in Ari Fuld, Efrat, Islamic Terror, IslamoNazis, Israel, Israel Defense Forces | Tagged Ari Fuld, Efrat, IDF, Israel, Karen Singer Avrech, Kever Rochel, Miriam Fuld, MiriamFuld, Rachel's Tomb, Standing Together, Tamar Fuld | 3 Responses

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 14, 2018

“The trouble with Hollywood is that the producers and agents are the aristocrats… which made actors who make their living in Hollywood usually feel they are some sort of scum. They looked for other means of showing off and were great on rallies for political candidates.”
—James Mason

Posted in Art, Brigitte Bardot, Burt Reynolds, Costume Design, Design, Dovima, Greta Garbo, Hollywood, Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Irving Penn, James Mason, Jean Seberg, Judaica, Judaism, Kim Novak, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Photography, True Hollywood Confessions, Vintage Cars | Tagged Adrian, Art Deco, Babe Paley, Boris Grinsson, Brenda Marshall, Brigitte Bardot, Burt Reynolds, Dovima, Greta Garbo, Hamilton Watches, Henryk Ross, Irving Penn, James Mason, Jean Seberg, Kim Novak, Lodz Ghetto, Richard Avedon, Robert Delaunay, Vintage Cars | 4 Responses

What is Net Neutrality?

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 12, 2018

For months, it seemed nearly every media figure was in hysterics over the impending repeal of net neutrality. Then, net neutrality was repealed… and nothing much changed. So what exactly is net neutrality, and why do so many people have such strong opinions about something they don’t understand? Jon Gabriel, editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com cuts through the hysteria to bring you the facts.

Posted in Big Government, Net Neutrality, Prager University | Tagged Jon Gabriel, Net Neutrality, Prager University | Leave a comment

Rosh Hashanah 2018

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 9, 2018

Tonight the holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins. Seraphic Secret will be offline until Wednesday. Lielle, Maayan and Livia hope that all our friends and relatives be inscribed and sealed for a good year. שנה טובה.

Posted in Jewish Holidays, Judaism, Rosh Hashanah | Tagged Jewish Holidays, Judaism, Rosh Hashanah | Leave a comment

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 7, 2018

“There’s a fine line between acting and not acting at all. And not acting is what a lot of actors are guilty of. It amazes me how some of these little numbers with dreamy looks and dead pan are getting by with it. I’ve seen a couple of them – I won’t mention names – with Oscars in their hands. I’d hate to see them on stage with a dog act.”
– Joan Blondell (1906-1979)

Posted in Art, Audrey Hepburn, Automobiles, Capucine, Carole Lombard, Design, Dovima, Fashion, Friday Fashion, Friday Fotos, Glamour, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Irving Penn, Jean Seberg, Joan Blondell, Judaica, Judaism, Maayan Ariel, Montgomery Clift, Movies, Myrna Loy, Painting, Quotes, Screenwriting, True Hollywood Confessions, Vintage Cars | Tagged Bettina, Bugatti, Capucine, Carole Lombard, Ernest Lehman, Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, Jacques Fath, Jean Philippe Charbonnier, Jean Seberg, Jean Simmons, Joan Blondell, Montgomery Clift, Myrna Loy, North by Northwest, Richard Avedon, Sorella Fontana, William Merritt Chase | 5 Responses

Hidden Hollywood: David O. Selznick and the Goy

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 5, 2018

David O. Selznick

The most commonly used Hebrew or Yiddish word for a non-Jew is goy. The word “goy” means nation, and refers to the fact that goyim are members of other nations, that is, nations other than the Children of Israel. There is nothing inherently insulting about the word “goy”. In fact, the Bible occasionally refers to the Jewish people using the term “goy”. Most notably, in Exodus 19,6, God says that the Children of Israel will be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”, that is, a goy kadosh. Because Jews have had so many bad experiences with anti-Semitic non-Jews over the centuries, the term “goy” has taken on some negative connotations, but in general the term is no more insulting than the word “Gentile”.

Source

In 1958 David O. Selznick (1902-1965) producer of Gone With the Wind, was desperately seeking a starring role for actress Jennifer Jones (1919-2009), to whom he was was married after divorcing Irene Mayer Selznick.

Posted in David O. Selznick, Hidden Hollywood, Hollywood, Judaica, Judaism, Language | Tagged David O. Selznick, David Thomson, Goy, Ivan Moffat, Jennifer Jones, Yiddish | 3 Responses

Left or Liberal?

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: September 3, 2018

Tell the average American you’re a liberal and they’ll assume you’re on the political left. Yet, leftists and liberals hold very different positions on key issues. In this video, Dennis Prager explains how the tenets of liberalism – like a belief in capitalism and free speech – have more in common with conservatism than with the identity politics and racial resentment preached by the left.

Posted in America, Big Government, Capitalism, Free Speech, Liberal Fascism, Prager University, Rascism | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Alan Dershowitz, Borders, Capitalism, Dennis Prager, Free Speech, Hate Speech, Identity Politics, Judeo/Christian Civilization, Left, Liberal, Nationalism, Open Borders, Patriotism, Prager University, Racial Segragation, Socialism, Superman, Tech Companies, Western Civilization | 3 Responses

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 31, 2018

“My mother wisely made very sure when I was young that I wouldn’t get big-headed about my looks. She said, “You have nice eyes, but they’re only nice as long as the expression in back of them is nice. And that depends solely on what you are as a person inside. You are not beautiful, but you can be attractive when you’re nice inside.”
—Elizabeth Taylor

Posted in Art, Clara Bow, Design, Donald O'Connor, Dovima, Elizabeth Taylor, Fashion, Fred Astaire, Friday Fashion, Friday Fotos, Ginger Rogers, Hollywood, June Havoc, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Talmud | Tagged Anita Ekberg, Carlos Perez Siquier, Donald O'Connor, Dovima, Elizabeth Taylor, Eyes Without a Face, Fred Astaire, Gerald Murphy, Ginger Rogers, Heinrich Ehmsen, Henri Matisse, Jerry Plucer Sarna, Johnny Weissmuller, June Havoc, Maureen O'Sullivan, Morgan Auto, Nina Leen, Nomos, Regina Relang, Richard Avedon, Roger Evert, Tarzan, This Gun for Hire, Vincent van Gogh, Yale Joel | 3 Responses

Ofra Haza: Israel’s Greatest and Most Tragic Star

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 29, 2018

Ofra Haza

By Jake Novak

Scene 1: Munich, Germany July 1983

Music has always been an integral part of the State of Israel. It seems like every year, every war, and every major event in the tiny nation’s history has produced its own special song.

That’s one reason why the annual Eurovision song contest has meant so much to the Israeli people. The annual competition allows dozens of countries to enter a short song, performed by native singers before a panel of judges. Winning is always a longshot given the crowded competition, but Israel achieved its stunning first win in the contest in 1978 followed by an equally stunning victory the following year.

Four years after that repeat victory, the competition was set in the emotionally charged city of Munich where eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team had been murdered by Palestinian terrorists just 11 years earlier.

Posted in Israel, Jake Novak, Judaism, Ofra Haza, Yemen | Tagged AIDS, Eurovision, Israel, Jake Novak, Jews of Yemen, Montreaux Jazz Festival, Music, Ofra Haza, Schunat Hatikva, Sephardim | 3 Responses

The Dark Secret Behind Obama’s Iran Deal

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 27, 2018

Ami Horowitz breaks down the details of Iran’s nuclear secrets in the aftermath of America’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Posted in America, Iran | Tagged Ami Horowitz, Iran, Iran Nuclear Deal, Obama, Trump | Leave a comment

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 24, 2018

“Everything about me is a contradiction, and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There’s a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don’t reconcile the poles. You just recognize them.”
—Orson Welles

Posted in Art, Friday Fashion, Friday Fotos, Glamour, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Photography, Screenwriting | Tagged Anna May Wong, Ben Hecht, Clara Driscoll, Dovima, Edmund Charles Tarbell, Elliott Erwitt, Gerald Murphy, Gigi, Guy Pene du Bois, Henry Clarke, Laszlo Willinger, Marilyn Monroe, Myrna Loy, Niagra, Norman Parkinson, Orson Welles, Richard Estes, Ruth Orkin, Stout Scarab, Tiffany, Vintage Cars | 5 Responses

Hidden Hollywood: Marilyn Monroe’s Secret Note

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 22, 2018

On April 28, 1952, the medical staff at Cedars of Lebanon, L.A. wheeled Marilyn Monroe into surgery to have her appendix removed. The doctors pulled back her gown to find the following note taped to her stomach:
Dear Dr. Rabwin,
cut as little as possible I know it seems vain but that doesn’t really enter in to it. The fact I’m a woman is important and means much to me.
Save please (I can’t ask enough) what you can – I’m in your hands. You have children and you must know what it means – please Dr Rabwin – I know somehow you will!
thank you – thank you – thank you – For God’s sakes Dear Doctor no ovaries removed – please again do whatever you can to prevent large scars.
Thanking you with all my heart.
Marilyn Monroe

Posted in Hidden Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe | Tagged Abortion, Appendectomy, Hidden Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe, Medical Hollywood | 1 Response

A Nation of Immigrants

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 20, 2018

The common narrative today is that after decades of globalism, hard-hearted Americans now seek to close the nation’s borders to new immigrants. But the truth is that the United States maintains the most generous immigration policies in the world. However, as CRTV host and author of “Invasion” and “Sold Out” Michelle Malkin explains, a few ill-conceived immigration policies are threatening to destroy the American Dream for Americans and aspiring Americans alike.

Posted in America, Illegal Immigration, Immigration, Prager University | Tagged Borders, chain migration, Diversity Visa Lottery, eVerify, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Immigration, Immigration, Lady Liberty, Michelle Malkin, Prager University | Leave a comment

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 17, 2018

“While we’re looking at people, let’s look at Betty. She and Bogie seemed to have the most enormous opinion of each other’s charms, and when they fought it was with the utter confidence of two cats locked deliciously in the same cage.”
—Katharine Hepburn

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, Art, Barbara Stanwyck, Baseball, Brigitte Bardot, Carole Lombard, Design, Fashion, Glamour, Henry Fonda, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Hollywood Still Photography, Humphrey Bogart, Israel, Jean Harlow, Jewish Photography, Judaica, Judaism, Katherine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Livia Yarden, Movie Posters, Movies, Painting, Photography, Rick McGinnis, Rock Hudson, Silent Movies, True Hollywood Confessions, William Powell | Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Art Deco Radios, Barbara Stanwyck, Baseball Hall of Fame, Brigitte Bardot, Carole Lombard, Dashiel Hammett, Edouard Boubat, Erwin Blumenfeld, Fred Herzog, Gerald Murphy, Hell's Angels, Henry Fonda, Howard Hughes, Jean Harlow, Joes McCrea, John Thomas Peele, Livia, Norma Talmadge, Photography, Photoplay Magazine, Polish Posters, Rick McGinnis, Rock Hudson, Ruth Orkin, William Powell | 12 Responses

Hidden Hollywood: Casting Call for Tzar Nicholas

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 15, 2018

David O. Selznick at MGM with a photograph of his father Lewis J. Selznick. Photograph by Clarence Sinclair Bull.

David O. Selznick, producer of Gone With the Wind, probably the most profitable movie ever made, was the son of industry pioneer Lewis J. Selznick.

The elder Selznick had been an independent producer in the early days of Hollywood who pioneered a new age of Wall Street investment in the motion picture business.

Posted in David O. Selznick, Hidden Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood Stars, Judaism, Movie Posters, Movies | Tagged David O. Selznick, Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, Howard Selznick, Josef von Sternberg, Lewis J. Selznick, Myron Selznick, Nicholas Romanoff, Russia, The Last Command | 4 Responses

What Was the Cold War?

By Robert J. Avrech | Published: August 13, 2018

The decades-long “Cold War” (1947-1989) between the United States and the Soviet Union was so named because the two global powers never came to direct blows. Yet, the war was not without its victims. In fact, millions of Cubans, Koreans and Vietnamese suffered under Communist tyranny. In this video, Renowned British historian Andrew Roberts explains why “The Cold War” could just as easily be called “The Third World War.”

Posted in America, Politics, Prager University, Soviet Union | Tagged Andrew Roberts, Cold War, Cuba, Korea, Prager University, Vietnam | Leave a comment

How I Married Karen

The new book
by Robert J. Avrech

Available in All Major Book Stores

Adobe Digital Edition's version is available through the Lulu store!
About Me
Robert J. Avrech
Los Angeles, California
I'm an Emmy Award winning screenwriter. I'm also an observant Jew, a religious Zionist, a conservative Republican, and a member of the NRA. I've been writing and producing in Hollywood for over twenty-five years. But the focus of my life is my family: my radiant wife, Karen—with whom I have been in love with since I was nine years-old—and my two daughters, who, thankfully, look like Karen. Not too long ago, we had three children. But our son, Ariel, died at the age of twenty-two from cancer. We miss him terribly. We think about him practically every minute of every day. People tell us that time heals, but Karen and I know this is not true. Time grinds away doing its terrible work. Ariel is gone. Yet absence becomes presence.

Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
Search
Annual Ariel Avrech
Memorial Lectures
Young Israel of Century City
NOTE: Click on video titles inside the thumbnail images, below, to open that video in YouTube

Fifteenth: June 10, 2018
Jackie Danicki: “Confessions of a Convert: A Humbling, Joyful Journey to Judaism.”

Blog Post | Audio: (94 MB)

Fourteenth: June 11, 2017
Daniel Greenfield: “Fighting Anti-Semitism and Defending Israel in the Age of BDS.”

Blog Post | Audio: (100 MB)

Thirteenth: May 22, 2016Ben Shapiro: “How You Can Save Israel”

Blog Post | Audio: (70 MB)

Twelfth: June 7, 2015
Larry Elder: “The New Black Anti-Semitism”

Blog Post | Audio: (100 MB)

Eleventh: June 8, 2014
Michael Medved: “Shifting Alliances: Why Liberals No Longer Reliably Support Israel — And Conservatives Do.”

Blog Post | Audio: (97MB)

Tenth: June 9, 2013
David Horowitz: “The War Against Judaism on the University Campus.”

Blog Post | Audio: (16MB)

Ninth: June 3, 2012
Joel B. Pollak: “The Mainstream Media’s Betrayal of Israel.”

Blog Post | Audio: (15MB)

Eighth: June 5, 2011
Yossi Klein Halevi: “What is Expected of a Survivor People: Lessons My Father Taught Me.”

Blog Post | Audio: (18MB)

Seventh: June 13, 2010
Dennis Prager: “Happiness is a Mitzvah, Not an Emotion.”

Blog Post | Audio: (80MB)

Sixth: June 21, 2009
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky: “Conformity in Jewish Life: Vice, Virtue or Affectation?”

Blog Post | Audio: (64MB)

Fifth: June 15, 2008
Rabbi Dr. Gil S. Perl: “What Was the Rosh Yeshiva Reading: Intellectual Openness in 19th Century Lithuania.”

Blog Post | Audio: (70MB)
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