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    Amnon Weinstein, Who Restored Violins From the Holocaust, Dies at 84

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    Many had been left behind by victims of the gas chambers. He let the instruments be heard again in melodic tributes through his organization, Violins of Hope.Amnon Weinstein, an Israeli luthier who restored violins belonging to Jews during the Holocaust so that musicians around the world could play them in hopeful, melodic tributes to those silenced in Nazi death camps, died on March 4 in Tel Aviv. He was 84.His death, at a hospital, was confirmed by his son Avshalom Weinstein.Mr. Weinstein was the founder of Violins of Hope, an organization that provides the violins he restored to orchestras for concerts and educational programs commemorating the Holocaust. The instruments have been played in dozens of cities worldwide, including Berlin, at an event marking the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.“Violins of Hope, it’s like a huge forest of sounds,” he said in a 2016 PBS documentary. “Each sound is standing for a boy, a girl and men and women that will never talk again. But the violins, when they are played on, will speak for them.”There are more than 60 Holocaust-era violins in his collection.Some belonged to Jews who carried them in suitcases to concentration camps, and who were then forced to play them in orchestras as prisoners marched to the gas chambers. Others were played to pass the time in Jewish ghettos. One was tossed from a train to a railway worker by a man who knew his fate.“In the place where I now go, I don’t need a violin,” the man told the worker, in Mr. Weinstein’s telling. “Here, take my violin so it may live.”Mr. Weinstein in his Tel Aviv workshop. He himself was the son of a violin repairman.Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Television

      In 'Hit & Run,' the 'Fauda' Creators Move the Action to New York

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      Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, who created that Israeli hit, are back with “Hit & Run,” a new geopolitical thriller that swoops from Tel Aviv to the back alleys of New York City.One afternoon in 2015, shortly after their gripping terrorism drama“Fauda” debuted in Israel, Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz met for lunch in Tel Aviv. More

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      in Movies

      ‘Sublet’ Review: A Less-Than-Intrepid Traveler

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      A strait-laced fictional New York Times writer meets a freewheeling younger man in this low-key gay romance from Israel.An understated gay romance, “Sublet” follows a fictional middle-aged New York Times travel writer assigned to discover what’s what in Tel Aviv over the course of five days. Michael (played by John Benjamin Hickey with guarded propriety and bristling vulnerability) seems at odds with the city’s madcap energy. When he arrives at his temporary abode in a particularly hip part of town, he’s caught off guard by Tomer (Niv Nissim), his chaotically free-spirited “landlord,” who rents his home out to tourists for extra cash.The film doesn’t exactly subvert its clichéd “when two worlds meet” premise, and its bubbly but lame music cues are no help. The Israeli director Eytan Fox offers insights into two generations of gay men that at times can seem superficial. Nevertheless, he creates a pleasurably low-key double character study.With Tomer as his guide, the stiff, bespectacled Michael, who is quietly reeling from a personal loss, sees the “real” Tel Aviv — that is, the Tel Aviv of a bohemian 20-something who has never been persecuted for his sexual orientation. The two enjoy local restaurants, see an avant-garde dance performance and visit a disco, though Michael calls it a night when Tomer offers him MDMA.Fox’s critique runs both ways. Tomer is a broke, commitment-phobic wild child, while Michael, insulated by his privilege and shaped by the AIDS epidemic, comes off as woefully out of touch, when, for example, he attempts to weigh in on the Israeli government’s efforts to silence artists.At the same time, the film is never interested in political proselytizing; neither does it depict a life-upending love story. Though far from the gold standard of “brief encounter” dramas like Andrew Haigh’s “Weekend,” “Sublet” nevertheless wins you over with its subtle charm and its mellow depiction of two men forging an unexpected connection.SubletNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes. In theaters. More