Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish culture. Here, you’ll learn about the latest (and sometimes earliest) in Jewish art, music, film, theater, books as well as the secret Jewish history of everything and everyone from The Rolling Stones to…
Culture
-
I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
San Wei, which serves pastrami sandwiches along with churros and biang biang noodles, represents an immigrant's fulfillment of the American dream
-
February 18, 2011
100 Years Ago in the Forward The bodies of two girls were found in a tenement on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Both had been asphyxiated by gas. It is unknown how this tragedy transpired. The girls, 16-year-old cousins Clara and Toyve Gershovitch, shared a room in a boarding house. They had apparently gone to a…
-
Of Gourmands and Rhinos
Was Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman guilty of an oxymoron when, in January, he labeled fellow right-wing Cabinet members who opposed his proposal to investigate the funding of leftist Israeli nongovernmental organizations “faynshmekerim v’karnafim” — that is, “feinshmeckers and rhinoceroses”? An oxymoron — from Greek oxys and moros, which mean not “oxen” and “morons,” but…
The Latest
-
Absorbing Art of an Expressionist Poet
Else Lasker-Schüler was one of the most influential literary figures in early 20th-century Berlin. She was known for her literary Stammtisch, or get-togethers, at the Café des Westens and for her bohemian ways. But it was her Expressionist poetry, with its penchant for exotic imagery and neologism, that made her famous. Here in Germany, more…
-
Gay and Orthodox: And Cleaving Strongly to Both
In January, I went to a shabbaton with 140 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Orthodox Jews. Yes, Virginia, there are gay Orthodox Jews. There always have been. And while I have been working in the LGBT Jewish community for many years, I saw more courage, endurance and strength that weekend than I ever have before….
-
Manic Depression Is Touching My Soul
Ofir Trainin’s documentary “Wandering Eyes” implicitly commands the viewer to empathize with Gavriel Balachsan, Israel’s self-proclaimed “next big thing” in rock, as he loses big-thing status with his downward slide into the mire of manic depression. The inclusion of this documentary in the ReelAbilities: NY disabilities film festival (at the JCC in Manhattan through February…
-
Books The Ones That Missed the Cut
Earlier this week, Saul Austerlitz wrote about his recent author tour and five not-as-terrible-as-you-think movies. His blog posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog series. For more information on the series, please visit: One of the trickiest aspects of writing…
-
The Resegregation of the United States of America
MY LOS ANGELES IN BLACK AND (ALMOST) WHITE By Andrew Furman Syracuse University Press, 248 pages, $24.95 In California, they call us freeway flyers — adjunct college instructors who commute between far-flung schools. Thus, half the week I teach at El Camino College in Compton, one of the more disadvantaged neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The…
-
Storm-Tossed Hungary Gets a Schiff
Decades ago, I interviewed Hungarian-Jewish composer György Ligeti[ at a boutique hotel in the upscale Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris; Ligeti had just received, among many other honors, the Balzan Prize for, as stated on its website, “culture, as well as for endeavors for peace and the brotherhood of man.” I asked Ligeti whether that wasn’t…
-
An Interview With András Schiff
András Schiff, although rarely available for press interviews about his musical career, answered by e-mail the following questions from The Forward about growing anti-Semitism in Hungary: THE FORWARD: Is there any cause for optimism in the near or immediate future about the situation in Hungary? ANDRÁS SCHIFF: There is always hope, but not too soon….
-
In a Tel Aviv Attic, It’s a Case of Workman, Repair Thyself
Set in a cavelike workshop, in dimly lit rooms, in alleyways and under heavy cloud cover, “Restoration” (“Boker Tov, Adon Fidelman”) is almost entirely devoid of sunlight. It’s a surprising choice for a movie that takes place in Tel Aviv, a seaside city that is far more sunny than gray. And yet, the color palette…
-
Heebish Highlights of the Sundance Film Festival 2011
Many of the selections at the Sundance Film Festival, which ran January 20–30 in Park City, Utah, were the work of Jewish directors or about Jewish themes — the following films among them. • Prolific documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus was back at Sundance this year, premiering “Bobby Fischer Against the World.” The film tells the…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
News Why Zohran Mamdani believes he’ll win over Jewish voters, as Israel critic surges to second behind Cuomo in NYC mayoral race
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Israel adopts plan to conquer and occupy Gaza, in a shift for war’s goals
-
Fast Forward Netanyahu disputes report that Mike Waltz was fired for coordinating with him on Iran
-
Fast Forward Several airlines cancel Israel flights after Houthi missile strikes Ben-Gurion Airport
-
Fast Forward Sholom Lipskar, influential Chabad rabbi who reshaped Florida community, dies at 78
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
