Seth Rogovoy is a contributing editor at the Forward. He is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet (Scribner, 2009) and the forthcoming Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison (Oxford University Press).
Seth Rogovoy
By Seth Rogovoy
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Culture The secret Jewish history of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra was arguably the most famous Italian-American Catholic of the 20th century. The skinny kid from Hoboken, N.J. — who was born 105 years ago, Dec. 12, 1915 — grew up to become synonymous with the so-called Great American Songbook. That songbook, however, was largely written by Jewish-Americans, including immigrants and children of immigrants….
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Culture Remembering the time John Lennon sang ‘Hava Nagilah’
Had he not been gunned down on Dec. 8, 1980 by a deranged “fan” lying in wait for him outside of his Upper West Side residence in Manhattan, John Lennon may well have been a well-preserved 80 years old right now, still happily married to Yoko Ono and living in the Dakota. The ostensible founder…
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Culture Your Jewish guide to the Grammy nominations
Music is not like baseball. With the latter, you choose a favorite team and stick with it through its ups and downs over the years. (Believe me, as a lifelong, beleaguered fan of the New York Met, I know of what I speak.) With the former, however, if the diverse and all-encompassing Grammy Award nominations…
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Culture How Leonard Cohen’s messianic childhood prepared him for a sort of priesthood
Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years. by Michael Posner Simon & Schuster, 496 pages, $30 We already know that rock poet Leonard Cohen was a profoundly Jewish songwriter and a deeply spiritual man. But a new oral biography, “Leonard Cohen — Untold Stories: The Early Years” (Simon & Schuster), by Michael Posner, recounts in…
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Culture The secret Jewish history of Elvis Costello
The first words Elvis Costello sings on his new album, “Hey Clockface” (Concord Records), are “I got no religion, I got no philosophy.” While the 66-year-old self-described “lapsed Catholic” might not adhere to any doctrine or creed, he has — like his father before him — enjoyed a storied career collaborating with Jewish artists. And…
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Film & TV Remembering Sean Connery with the secret Jewish history of James Bond
James Bond's Jewish roots are evident everywhere from "Dr. No" to "Skyfall"
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Culture On his new album, Bruce Springsteen plays the rock ‘n’ roll rebbe
There is a point in “Letter to You,” the new film documenting the making of the new album by the same name, when Bruce Springsteen dons his prophetic cloak and declares: I dwell in a house of a thousand dreams…. We’re not been made perfect by God, but here I try to speak in the…
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Culture Trump should know better than to mess with Lesley Stahl
As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, President Donald Trump reportedly stormed out of a room at the White House after “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl asked him some questions he thought were mean. As one White House staffer told the Washington Post, “The interview was not that bad…. She just had a tone he didn’t…
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