Mervyn Rothstein
By Mervyn Rothstein
-
Culture How a poor Jewish immigrant made a fortune as a madam — and why we’re still uncomfortable talking about it
On Dec. 10, 1913, a 13-year-old Yidishe meydl arrived alone and almost penniless at Ellis Island. She was to have traveled to America from Eastern Europe with a cousin, who decided to abandon the journey. The new immigrant’s name was Pearl Adler. The oldest of at the time eight siblings, she hailed from Yanow, a…
-
Culture How Tony Kushner changed ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Change’ itself
The Broadway musical “Caroline, or Change” is set in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1963, in the early years of the civil rights movement, in the home of a Jewish family with an 8-year-old son, Noah and a Black maid, Caroline Thibodeaux. The Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, who wrote the musical’s book…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Indiana University removed its Jewish studies director. His replacement has ignited a firestorm over Israel.
- 2
Culture Is the movie ‘Nuremberg’ about the wrong psychiatrist?
- 3
Fast Forward Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA shows no Jewish ancestry — but finds a genetic disorder
- 4
Opinion Israel deported me for helping West Bank Palestinians. I won’t give up on a peaceful future for the country I love
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion At long last, a TV show captures the experience of multi-racial Jewish families like mine
-
Fast Forward Mamdani: Israel immigration event at NY synagogue misused ‘sacred space’
-
Culture A shocking true story of Mexico’s Jewish community comes to Netflix
-
Fast Forward National Book Award in nonfiction goes to Gaza polemic ‘One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
