Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.
Talya ZaxOpinion Editor
By Talya Zax
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Culture 8 Of The Most Moving Responses To Leonard Cohen’s Death
Following Leonard Cohen’s death on November 7th, news of which spread this past Friday, artists, critics, and plain old fans have sprung forward to pay homage to the great singer-songwriter. Many have recalled Cohen’s famous lyric from “Anthem:” “There is a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in.” Even as we mourn Cohen, the…
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A Year of Curses and Many Blessings Daveed Diggs
Meet ‘Hamilton’s’ Original Thomas Jefferson (and Marquis de Lafayette) If you dig far enough back in Daveed Diggs’s Instagram feed, you’ll find a blurry picture of a framed white poster on a yellowing wall. The poster, filled with a dense list of names, is topped with a brief, triumphant title: “Hamilton.” He took that photo…
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Culture Such a Beautiful Holocaust Novel — Maybe Too Beautiful
Affinity Konar was still a bit starstruck, there in a lounge at Manhattan’s Warwick Hotel. She’d just met Lucette Lagnado, one of the authors of “Children of the Flames,” a book about the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele and the twins who survived his Auschwitz laboratory. Konar said the book was one she had been “obsessed…
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The Schmooze Amy Schumer, Jon Stewart Said They’d Move If Trump Won — Where Are They Now?
As Donald Trump campaigned for the presidency, scores of celebrities — among them Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Chelsea Handler, Jon Stewart and Barbra Streisand — stepped forward to say they’d leave the country if he won. In the days since he did, their responses have varied from silence to a renewed determination to stay and…
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The Schmooze A History Of Jon Stewart And 6 Other Things To Read, Watch, And Do This Week
Whether you love or hate the result, the election is over, and it’s time to find comfort and re-focus. A historical festival in New York, talk with Masha Gessen in San Francisco, and Israeli film festival in Chicago might prove just the ticket; if you’d rather stay home (we don’t blame you), unwind with the…
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Life My Mother Dreamed Of Being President, And JFK Responded
When my mom was eight years old, in 1963, her older brother wanted to be the President of the United States, and her boyfriend — also eight — told her she couldn’t be. She fiercely believed she deserved the same opportunities as both, so she decided she would be one day be Commander in Chief….
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News This Ultra-Orthodox Jew Dedicated His Vote to Slain Muslim Soldier Humayun Khan
At the end of an election filled with divisiveness, Yosef Rapaport didn’t know what to expect when he tweeted that he had dedicated his vote to the American Muslim soldier Captain Humayun Khan — the American Muslim soldier killed in combat whose father Khizr spoke movingly about his sacrifice at the Democratic National Convention. That…
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The Schmooze Get Ready For “The Hamilton Mixtape” — With A Jewish Note!
This morning, Lin-Manuel Miranda announced his long-promised “Hamilton Mixtape” is available to preorder, and will be out December 2nd. It will include new takes on songs from “Hamilton” by a diverse array of artists, as well as previously-unheard material. And one of its songs — “Dear Theodosia” — will be performed by beloved Jewish songstress…
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