by NATE BLOOM

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER

Well, two weeks ago we reported that Jewish conductor and Metropolitan Opera artistic director JAMES LEVINE was one of five who will receive the prestigious Kennedy Center honors award this December. However, just as last week's column went to press, PAUL MCCARTNEY announced that he would be unable to accept the award this year because of a scheduling conflict. The board met and decided to name PAUL SIMON to the group of honorees. Simon, who is of Hungarian Jewish background, is one of the great songwriters of our time and his award is richly deserved.

Simon, by the way, was one of the first rock songwriters to be elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which limited its membership to Tin Pan Alley and Broadway songwriters until the early 1980s. In 1992, there was a near battle of two generations of Jewish songwriters at the Hall of Fame awards banquet. BILLY JOEL was being inducted that year. The late IRVING GORDON, (his best known tune is "Unforgettable") got up and denounced the fact that the Hall was letting in rock musicians like Joel. Whereupon the late SAMMY CAHN, approaching 80 and a four-time Oscar winner for best song, got on the stage and defended Joel. He and Gordon almost came to blows.

Paul Simon stood up -- and like a bridge over troubled water -- calmed everybody down by saying, "Each generation has a hard time understanding what the next generation is talking about. What is extraordinary about the Songwriters Hall of Fame is that it connects these generations."

KEEP ON TREKKIN'

WILLIAM SHATNER, now 71, apparently has no problem relating to younger generations. He is now hosting the VH-1 music series "One Hit Wonders," and the program has been a hit with young VH-1 viewers. Shatner, best known as Captain Kirk of "Star Trek," is in remarkable shape for his age and shows no signs of slowing down. He regularly appears on TV shows and in films, he just completed writing another book in the "Star Trek" fiction series, and he launched a Web site late last year -- www.williamshatner.com -- that he regularly contributes to. Our favorite (if grossly exaggerated) Shatner quote: "We were all Jewish on 'Star Trek,' except for [show creator] GENE RODDENBERRY. We wouldn't let him in."

"CROWN HEIGHTS"

Canadian Jewish comedian HOWIE MANDEL, best known for his co-starring role in the hit '80s series "St. Elsewhere," takes a serious role in the upcoming (2003) "Showtime" telefilm "Crown Heights." The film is based on events following the 1991 death of an African-American child in a traffic accident in which the driver was a Chassidic Jew. The accident provoked several days of rioting in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, rioting that some called "a pogrom." The most shocking event was the stabbing death of rabbinical student YANKEL ROSENBAUM. African-American actor MARIO VAN PEBBLES co-stars in the film.

MORE BRIDGES

In the midst of the Arab-Israeli conflict, one sign of hope is often lost. There is a long history of American Jewish actors and other entertainment figures working closely with Arab-American entertainers, most of whom are of Christian Lebanese descent. A case in point is the new hit detective series "Monk," now airing on both the USA cable network and ABC. The program stars TONY SHALHOUB, who is of Lebanese Christian background. His co-stars include Jewish actors BITTY SCHRAM, TED LEVINE and STANLEY KAMEL. Before the series, Schram was probably best known for a supporting role in the film "A League of Their Own," based on the history of the 1940s professional women's baseball league. Schram's character is most remembered for a scene in which she breaks down and cries in front of her manager, played by TOM HANKS. He responds with the oft-quoted lines: "Are you crying? There is no crying in baseball."

The writer is the Oakland-based editor of www.jewhoo.com