The Jews, we well know, run Hollywood. But even the most unreconstructed anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist probably would never had anticipated a year like this: Three Jewish-themed films vying for the Best Picture nod on Sunday, and an Israeli contender up for Best Foreign Language Film.

True, the Oscars this year expanded the field of Best Picture hopefuls to 10. But thanks in part to that change, Sunday’s 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony will offer considerable fodder for Semitic speculation.

Topping the Jewish favorites list is “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino’s brutal counterfactual fantasy in which the Jews get all sadistic and the Nazis get scalped.

Eleanor Smoler

A celebration of the life of artist Eleanor Smoler will be held on Sunday, March 14, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Art School at Old Church in Demarest. Smoler, who died in October at nearly 100, was a generous supporter of Israel and brought shards and artifacts from Israel to incorporate into her artwork. She was was known for her ability to work with diverse media to produced a cohesive body of art.

A longtime resident of Leonia and Cliffside Park, her work was exhibited in museums and galleries throughout New Jersey, New York, and Florida, including the Newark Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the New Jersey State Museum. Her artwork is also in collections in Mexico, Finland, Italy, and the United States.

For information, call Biata Doyle at (973) 633-1248 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Samuel Menahem

Samuel Menahem, a psychologist in Fort Lee, will discuss his book “When Therapy Isn’t Enough: The Healing Power of Prayer and Psychotherapy” at the Teaneck General Store on Sunday, March 14, at 11 a.m. Copies will be available for signing. For information, call (201) 530-5046 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

If you want to get even more depressed about the prospects for peace in the Middle East, check out a Web page maintained by the Anti-Defamation League that offers excerpts from the Hamas charter.

One of the remarkable things about the document is how it fuses three originally separate varieties of Jew-hatred.

The first comes from the Koran, in which Jews are represented as opponents of Muhammad and thus as eternal enemies of Islam: “The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: ‘The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him.’”

Bob Levine

Bob Levine of Teaneck, chair of the Israeli Dance Institute and a member of its board for 15 years, will be honored at the group’s 59th annual Israel Folk Dance Festival and Festival of the Arts on Sunday, March 21, at Queens College in New York City.

Levine danced with the Intercollegiate Zionist Federation of America in the first festival in 1952 arranged by the youth department of the Jewish National Fund. Locally he has been active with his shul, Cong. Beth Sholom in Teaneck, and is vice president of education of Jewish National Fund of America. He has been involved with State of Israel Bonds, the World Council of Synagogues, and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. For information, call (212) 983-4806, ext. 143 or visit www.israelidanceinstitute.org.

“Conversations,” by Deborah Ugoretz, an art installation that seeks to engage viewers in an interaction between Arab and Hebrew language.

Deborah Ugoretz, a ketubah and master paper cut artist from Teaneck and an organizer of the award-winning Artist Beit Midrash program at Cong. Beth Sholom in Teaneck, is among the artists displaying at “Pulp—Artworks Made of Paper,” at the Arts Guild of New Jersey in Rahway. The show with guest curator Rachel Leibman, will run from March 19 to April 16, with an opening reception on Sunday, March 21 from 1 to 4 p.m.

For information, call (732) 381-7511 or visit www.rahwayartsguild.org.

The Thurnauer Chamber Music Society

The Thurnauer Chamber Music Society at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades will perform music by Handel, Schubert, and Bliss and honor Lilo Thurnauer at a concert on Saturday at 8 p.m. The event concludes the society’s season and celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Thurnauer School of Music. The award-winning performers and recording artists — violinists Sharon Roffman and Annaliesa Place, cellist Yari Bond, clarinetist Richard Goldsmith, and pianist Jon Klibonoff — teach at the school.

Lilo Thurnauer is being honored for continuing the legacy of Bill and Maria Thurnauer and supporting the Chamber Music Society.

Tickets are $16 for JCC members, and $20 for non-members. The concerts are made possible by a contribution from Eva Holzer and the Dr. Zalman “Tiny” Konikow Chamber Music Endowment Fund.

For information, call (201) 408-1465 or visit www.jccotp.org/thurnauer.