PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.
PJ Grisar
By PJ Grisar
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Culture Sketches of Emile Zola and Alfred Dreyfus’ trials open a window to a scandalous past
History fated Emile Zola and Alfred Dreyfus to forever be footnotes in each other’s stories. Dreyfus, a military officer wrongly convicted of treason, sparked an antisemitism scandal that split French society into factions. Zola, the celebrated writer who penned the famed pro-Dreyfus open letter “J’Accuse,” would face legal trouble of his own for doing so….
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Culture Pfizer’s CEO tells his parents’ Holocaust story
The modern miracle of the Pfizer vaccine has an equally remarkable backstory. Dr. Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer who shepherded the vaccine’s development, spoke about the “fantastic luck” of his family history on Thursday. It’s a tale of defying the odds and one whose lessons he keeps with him. In a Zoom discussion for…
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Culture Forget ‘Cruella,’ meet young Fruma-Sarah. The Jewish character origin stories you definitely don’t need.
In answer to the question no one asked, Disney will soon make us privy to how exactly Cruella de Vil became so cruel and devilish. Sadly, it appears that it has less to do with a Dalmatian bite and a wasting smoking addiction than the‘70s, Sex Pistols London, Manic Panic hair dye and the stifling…
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Culture Masks, musicals and mixology — your guide to virtual Purim
Purim 2021 will be a tamer affair than what we’re used to. While 2020’s festival was the last dangerous gasp of the old normal — replete with mixed drinks and droplets for many — we now know what we’re dealing with. COVID is determined to put a damper on our typical revels. But then, we’ve…
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Culture A Jewish veteran’s apparel line celebrates the Maccabees’ fighting spirit — and space lasers
Jack Perez makes clothes for Jewish soldiers. In a way, Mel Gibson is to blame. In 2011, a few years after spouting that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” during a DUI arrest, the filmmaker announced that he was making a biopic of one of our most celebrated warriors, Judah Maccabee….
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Culture In his impeachment defense, David Schoen picked a really weird hill to die on
David Schoen’s faith, from his phantom yarmulke to his Shabbat observance, has played no small role in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. And yet, it was his take on another religion that raised eyebrows on Friday. Observers think he picked a super strange hill to die on. While Schoen eschewed his kippah in a public…
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Culture Stan Lee was his own favorite superhero – that was his downfall
True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee By Abraham Riesman Crown, 416 pages, $28 Where exactly did Stan Lee, the character and the person, come from? It depends what part of the man you’re looking for. One of Lee’s oft-repeated founding myths, evidence of the extreme self-love that made him the godhead of…
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Culture Gina Carano should watch ‘The Mandalorian’ before she makes Holocaust analogies
Lucasfilm sacked actress Gina Carano from the “Star Wars” universe over a post likening hatred directed at people with differing politics to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The question naturally follows: Has she been paying any attention to the show that just canned her? To begin with, Carano, an outspoken Republican and featured…
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