JERUSALEM — David Ben-Gurion must be spinning in his grave. The handful of charedi to whom he gave indemnity from military service has grown to a million. Israeli presidents and cabinet ministers have landed themselves in jail on charges ranging from nepotism to rape. The Knesset and the Supreme Court are locked in a battle to the death, and the Knesset is winning. Israel has lost Turkey as an ally. And hardly anyone has moved to the Negev. If he was not already dead, Ben-Gurion would resign.

The more I read “Ben-Gurion: A Political Life” by Shimon Peres (Schocken, $25.95), the more I liked to play “What Would the Old Man Do Now?” One thing is for certain: If Israel’s first prime minister held the post today, he would cut an incongruous and confused figure amid all the bling and bang of Israel’s current politicians.

Kehinde Wiley, Alios Itzhak (The World Stage: Israel), 2011, oil and gold enamel on canvas. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo courtesy Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California.

The Jewish Museum in Manhattan will present “Kehinde Wiley/The World Stage: Israel,” from March 9 through July 29. The exhibition features 14 large-scale paintings from the contemporary American painter Kehinde Wiley’s newest series exhibited for the first time in New York. The vibrant portraits of Israeli youths from diverse ethnic and religious affiliations are embedded in a unique background influenced by Jewish ceremonial art.

On Thursday, March 15, at 6:30 p.m., the museum will present Kehinde Wiley in conversation with Lola Ogunnaike, a leading pop culture authority and a “Today Show” contributor. Call (212) 423-3337 or www.TheJewishMuseum.org/wileyprograms.

The Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood has kicked off a new Young Friends of the Arts Program in an effort to expose children to the fine arts by offering a free ticket for a child with each full-paying adult ticket. Students also receive 50 percent off tickets with a student ID. Shows include March 15, Ramsey Lewis; March 19, Moscow Festival Ballet “Swan Lake;” April 28, NJ Ballet’s “Ballet with a Latin Beat II,” and on the 29th, NJ Ballet’s “Cinderella.” Call (201) 227-1030, Ticketmaster.com, or bergenPAC.org, and use the code Friends.

“Hush,” the debut novel by the pseudonymous Eishes Chayil, will be the topic at a meeting of the Bergen County YJCC Book Discussion Club (Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the YJCC in Washington Township). The book takes the reader into a dark side of Borough Park’s chasidic community, where the author was raised. She chose to write the book — which deals with a woman’s anger following the suicide of her friend, who had been abused — under a pseudonym in order to protect her family and friends from “community retribution.” However, in the wake of the abduction and murder of Leiby Kletzky, 8, last July, she revealed her true identity on the news website The Huffington Post. “I no longer want to be known only as Eishes Chayil, when my name is Judy Brown,” she wrote. “I must find the courage to stand with the victims who carry the burden of our silence for the rest of their lives.” Book discussion club meetings are free for YJCC members; $5 for non-members. Call Jill Brown, (201) 666-6610, ext. 5812, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Director Daniel Finkelman wants viewers of “Rainbow in the Night” to understand the conditions the Jews experienced in pre-war Europe and the treatment they endured as prisoners in the camps.

He also wants us to know, however, and to truly appreciate, that we are still here to remember.

With the slogan “The Last Survivor” as the main concept for his music video, Finkelman unveiled the film — taped in Krakow, New York, and the Majdanek concentration camp — on Jan. 27, designated by the United Nations as Holocaust Remembrance Day, releasing it on YouTube. He now wants it to go viral.

Readers of The Jewish Standard need no introduction to Shmuley Boteach. He writes a regular column for this newspaper and lives on a large corner property in Englewood that he would like to convert into synagogue-owned land, thereby saving himself $63,000 a year in property taxes. This comes despite his long-held opposition to the tax exemption granted to his neighbor, the Libyan government. Shmuley, as he likes to be called, is also being talked about as the next chief rabbi of the British Empire (he says he is not responsible for such talk), and is currently pondering a run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It is because of such hoopla that we find Boteach quite entertaining. He is a public personality who always has something interesting to say. He also has a talent for turning his opinions into books, television shows, lectures, and the like. In short, he is a successful entertainer.

Award-winning writer/director Joseph Cedar discusses His Oscar-nominated “Footnote” with The Jewish Standard’s film critic, Eric Goldman. The film is nominated for “Best Foreign Language Film” at Sunday’s Academy Awards. It won the Ophir Award in Israel for “Best Picture” and “Best Director,” and took “Best Screenplay” at the Cannes Film Festival.

“Footnote” tells the tale of a great rivalry between a father and son. Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik are eccentric professors who dedicated their lives to their work in talmudic studies. The father, Eliezer, is a stubborn purist who fears the establishment and has never been recognized for his work. His son, Uriel, is an up-and-coming star in the field, who appears to feed on accolades, endlessly seeking recognition.

Award-winning Polish-born director Agnieszka Holland discusses her Oscar-nominated “In Darkness” in this interview with The Jewish Standard film critic Eric Goldman. The film is nominated for “Best Foreign Language Film” at this year’s Academy Awards. It is one of two nominees with a Jewish theme.

Holland has tackled Jewish themes in many of her films. She wrote Andrzej Wajda’s film, “Korczak,” about Janusz Korczak, the celebrated educator and author of children’s books who was murdered by the Nazis.

Her films include “Angry Harvest” and “Europa, Europa,” which was nominated for a best screenplay Oscar. Holland’s family’s personal story could be a movie itself. She currently works largely in Hollywood.

“In Darkness” is a dramatization of the rescue in 1943 of Jews by Leopold Socha in the Lvov ghetto and their subsequent survival in the sewers where they hid. It is a powerful story, with superb performances.