Benjamin Ivry is a frequent Forward contributor.
Benjamin Ivry
By Benjamin Ivry
-
Culture Does Goliath deserve his bad reputation? A new spin on an old villain
Does Goliath, the giant notorious for his biblical confrontation with David, deserve sympathy? The latest book by Jonathan Friedmann, professor of Jewish music history at the Academy for Jewish Religion California, explains why he may be getting some. “Goliath as Gentle Giant” examines the recent phenomenon of humanizing depictions in popular culture of David’s opponent….
-
Culture How Madeleine Albright downplayed then came to embrace her Jewish heritage
Albright eventually came to terms with her Jewish past past, while remaining an observant Episcopalian
-
Culture The surprisingly Jewish history of the Rorschach inkblot test
April 2 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Hermann Rorschach, the Swiss psychoanalyst who propounded the Rorschach inkblot test, still used as a means of evaluating mental conditions. The Rorschach test immediately attracted strong support from Jewish clinicians. These included Françoise Minkowska-Brokman, of Polish ancestry, who introduced the test in France as well…
-
Culture In Venice, why the oldest Jewish ghetto in the world still matters
A new book on the Venetian Ghetto, formed by the municipal government of Venice in the early 1500s to confine Italian Jews, explores the ongoing cultural impact of this first-ever such space. Initially intended to segregate and control Jewish people, centuries later during the Second World War, over 1,000 Nazi ghettos were established across Europe…
-
Culture How a Yiddish encyclopedia became a document of the Holocaust and Jewish culture
“The General Encyclopedia” (Di Algemeyne Entsiklopedye) was a Yiddish language publishing project created in Berlin, Paris, and New York from 1932 to 1966. It was begun optimistically in Berlin to celebrate the 70th birthday of the Russian-Jewish historian Simon Dubnow, who would be murdered in the street by Nazis in Latvia just over a decade…
-
Culture In Ukraine, a long history of Russian crimes against Jews
Tragic events now unfolding in Ukraine echo a history of Russian human rights offenses against Jews in that country. Just over a century ago, between 1918 and 1921, tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews were murdered, tortured and raped in hundreds of pogroms by marauders, some of them Russian. Historians place the number of people…
-
Culture In painting a survivor of the Holocaust, a feeling of overwhelming and indescribable privilege
“Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust,” an exhibition of paintings commissioned by Charles, Prince of Wales was previously shown in Buckingham Palace and soon may be visited at The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland, until June 6, 2022. In the catalogue, portraits of Holocaust survivors now living in the…
-
Culture Despite 70 years as a monarch, Queen Elizabeth has had precious little time for the Jews
In this Platinum Jubilee year, should we care that the monarch has betrayed little interest in Jewish history or culture?
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Rep. Max Miller says driver called him a ‘dirty Jew’ and threatened to kill his family. A local doctor turned himself in.
- 2
News As Israel attacks, what is life like for Jews in Iran?
- 3
Opinion Bombing Iran, Donald Trump is triggering a tragedy that Thucydides foretold long ago
- 4
Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
In Case You Missed It
-
Yiddish די ייִדישע קרעטשמע אין דער פּוילישער קולטורThe Jewish tavern in Polish culture
„יאַנקעל דער ייִדישער קרעטשמער“ איז די סאַמע פּאָפּולערסטע ייִדישע געשטאַלט אין דער פּױלישער ליטעראַטור.
-
Fast Forward Trump announces ‘complete and total ceasefire’ between Israel and Iran
-
Fast Forward Why Israel, rarely a fan of regime change, now contemplates an Iran without ayatollahs
-
Opinion Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No — but he tried with Obama
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
