This is the Forward’s coverage of Jewish culture where you’ll learn about the latest (and sometimes earliest) in Jewish art, music (including of course Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen), film, theater, books as well as the secret Jewish history of…
Culture
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Could Kashrut Be Partly To Blame for Crohn’s Disease?
Here’s a question that has puzzled scientists for decades: Why is Crohn’s disease — an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with the highest incidence among Caucasians — about two to four times more prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews than among non-Jewish whites? As some researchers continue to look for the answer in our genes, others are proposing…
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Chasidism Without Romanticism
Originally published in the Forward March 31, 2000. As the packed houses for the recent Israeli film “Kadosh” testify, the Chasidim these days are a big draw and an even bigger drag. The dark world and mysterious culture of the chasidim simultaneously fascinate and repel modern Jews. Unfortunately, both the fascination and repulsion are often…
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From Mussolini’s Estate to Shoah Memorial
In August, the city of Rome is expected to give its final approval to plans for Italy’s new Holocaust museum, the Museo Nazionale della Shoah. Designed by Rome-based architect Luca Zevi, son of famed architecture critic Bruno Zevi, together with co-designer Giorgio Tamburini, the museum will be built on the historically resonant site of the…
The Latest
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Was There Anything Jewish About Lucian Freud?
British artist Lucian Freud died July 20 at 88, after a long and successful but also contentious career. Born in Berlin, where his father, Ernst, was an architect, Freud came to Britain with his parents in 1933 to escape Nazi Germany. Five years later, as the Nazi noose tightened, his grandfather, Sigmund Freud, left Vienna…
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Books Improving Moral Vocabulary
Eric Greitens is the author of “The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL.” His 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: In…
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How Israel Became the Promised Land of Eggplant
Forward reader Mike Benn writes: “A distinct childhood memory of visits to my maternal grandmother’s home is of eating bronjenas. This was an eggplant dish made by grilling the eggplant over a naked flame and then scooping out the cooked contents. Recently, I’ve been wondering about the word. “My grandmother was born in Palestine in…
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August 5, 2011
100 Years Ago in The Forward It’s never a good idea to fall asleep on the train. Just ask Charles Cohen, a fish peddler on New York City’s Essex Street. Recently, Cohen zonked out on the Second Avenue Elevated Line and got a lesson he’ll never forget. After a hard day of selling fish on…
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In the Occupied Territories, Order Trumps Law
The audience was remarkably quiet during a screening of “The Law in These Parts” at the Jerusalem Film Festival. My fellow Israelis, who usually have no qualms about exchanging opinions during a movie, or even about answering an occasional cell phone call, sat absolutely still. Even after the movie ended, there was a moment of…
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Books How the Eldridge Street Synagogue Was Saved
Crossposted From Samuel Guber’s Jewish Art & Monuments Beyond the Facade: A Synagogue, A Restoration, A Legacy: The Museum at Eldridge Street By Roberta Brandes Gratz, Larry Bortniker and Bonnie Dimun Museum at Eldridge Street and Scala Publishers, 176 pages, $45.00 In “Beyond the Facade,” a history of the almost 30-year effort to restore New…
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Books The Strength of Judaism and the Courage of Social Justice
Eric Greitens‘s most recent book, “The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL,” is now available. His 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…
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Henri Raczymow Takes Readers on Journeys Imbued With Jewish History
When Aby Wieviorka, the eminent Paris-based Yiddish translator, sought a collaborator for French versions of Mendele Moykher Sforim’s 1888 novella “Fishke der Krumer” (“Fishke the Lame”) and Oyzer Warshavsky’s 1920 novel “Shmuglars” (“Smugglers”), he turned to an ideal colleague. As French readers have long noted, Henri Raczymow combines literary refinement with a deep emotional understanding…
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