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 Oliver North
In selecting Oliver North to lead the powerful pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is getting more than just the mastermind of the Iran-Contra Affair and a convicted felon who lied to Congress. They’re also getting a rabidly pro-Israel Christian evangelist who for decades has been outing what he claims are anti-Semites in the…
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Music John Zorn’s Done With His Masada Project. So, What’s Next?
In 1993, John Zorn began composing music based on Jewish themes for a new group, Masada Quartet. Now, 25 years and 613 tunes later, Zorn is closing the book — literally and figuratively — on what evolved into a sprawling, genre-defying series of hundreds of compositions written for dozens of different ensembles, all united by…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of William Shakespeare
Had William Shakespeare never died, he would be turning 454 years old this month, which would put him in biblical territory for longevity. As it turns out, that’s not necessarily such an unusual place for him to be. While little is known about the historical Shakespeare, there is much to suggest in his work and…
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Culture Natalie Portman Just Made A Really Big Mistake
Natalie Portman has announced that she will not travel to Israel to accept the Genesis Prize, informally known as “the Jewish Nobel,” an award in the past given to the likes of artist Anish Kapoor, violinist Itzhak Perlman, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and actor-director Michael Douglas. By taking this public stance at…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of Tax Day
Like it or not — and who among us actually likes it — come April 17 (website crashes notwithstanding), you will need to have filed your income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. Perhaps one way to feel better about the painful and often inconvenient process is to recognize that it has roots in…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Baseball’s Opening Day
Like a New Year celebration, Major League Baseball’s annual opening day brings with it an opportunity to start afresh: to leave the past behind and to begin anew with a clean slate. Every team begins the new season as a reborn entity: The reigning World Champions and last year’s losers are equal going into the…
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Film & TV The Secret Jewish History Of Cynthia Nixon
If longshot candidate for New York State governor Cynthia Nixon pulls off a surprise win in November, she won’t join the rarefied club of Jewish governors of New York like Herbert Lehman and Eliot Spitzer. The one-time child actress and star of “Sex and the City” would, however, bring to her office a deep and…
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Culture No, The Beatles Weren’t Jewish — But Their Hairdresser Certainly Was
It was early June 1967, and Leslie Cavendish faced a rare dilemma: War had broken out in the Middle East, and the very survival of Israel seemed at stake. For Cavendish and his friends in London, the possibility that Israel might be destroyed touched something deep inside their Jewish hearts, and they all felt the…
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