Rabbi Irwin Kula, the mediagenic head of CLAL, inaugurated last week’s Schmooze conference on Jewish arts and culture with what he called a “thought experiment.” Bypassing a ritual obeisance to the current renaissance in Jewish culture and the importance of Jewish art and artists, he posed big-picture questions about both the medium and the message. Decades ago, in his student days, Kula was struck by an offhand remark by Billy Crystal on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” Show. Carson had mentioned that he had gone hunting and Crystal retorted, “Hunting! Jews don’t hunt, we’re furriers.” With that joke, reflected Rabbi Kula, Crystal had taught more Americans about Jewish values than all the rabbis in the United States. He also pointed to movies like Barry Levinson’s “Liberty … Continue Reading