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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‘Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel’
Mickey Langsfeld has a collection that will make your head spin. The retired dentist from Merion, Pa., has been collecting those lovable, four-sided Hanukkah toys that delight children and adults alike: dreidels. Menorahs tend to get the lion’s share of attention during the Festival of Lights, which this year begins at sunset on December 1….
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November 26, 2010
100 Years Ago in the forward Two Jewish businessmen, Morris Taub and Louis Brown, were sent up to Sing Sing Prison six months ago after they were convicted of cooking the books of their cotton goods company so that they could get more money out of their creditors. After being found guilty of perjury in…
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Books Making a Mess of Comedy
Comedy, explained Aristotle, has a vague history, because at first no one took it seriously. We cannot know for certain if Aristotle was deadpanning, but his observation would amuse Saul Austerlitz. According to Austerlitz, American film comedy has not been taken seriously, either. In fact, the author quips, it is American film’s “bastard stepchild.” With…
The Latest
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Purposes to All in Tents
The Other Israel Film Festival, which runs from November 11 to November 21, offers a self-proclaimed “fresh take on Israel’s diverse communities.” Its films are meant to explore less-traveled narrative roads, specifically those dealing with minority populations in Israel, with a focus on Arabs and Palestinians. The festival encompasses a wide range of material, some…
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In Vitro Meat
Virtual Words: Language on the Edge of Science and Technology By Jonathon Keats Oxford University Press (2010), $19.95 According to the eminent seventeenth-century botanist John Parkinson, one of the plants that grew in the Garden of Eden was the vegetable lamb. Also known as the borametz, this creature resembled a young sheep in every important…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: ‘Preparing for the Sabbath’
In celebration of Jewish Book Month, The Arty Semite is partnering with the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) and the Jewish Book Council to present “30 Days, 30 Texts,” a series of reflections by community leaders on the books that influenced their Jewish journeys. Today, Shifra Bronznick writes about “Preparing for the Sabbath”…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: The Talmud
In celebration of Jewish Book Month, The Arty Semite is partnering with the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) and the Jewish Book Council to present “30 Days, 30 Texts,” a series of reflections by community leaders on the books that influenced their Jewish journeys. Today, Adam Stein writes about the Talmud. Is it…
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Books Remembering How to Be a Jew
Earlier this week, Lavie Tidhar wrote about Jewish vampires and Hebrew punks and searching for Osama. His new novel, “An Occupation of Angels,” is now available. 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…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: Gerard Manley Hopkins
In celebration of Jewish Book Month, The Arty Semite is partnering with the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) and the Jewish Book Council to present “30 Days, 30 Texts,” a series of reflections by community leaders on the books that influenced their Jewish journeys. Today, Dan Friedman writes about the poetry of Gerard…
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Books 30 Days, 30 Texts: ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’
In celebration of Jewish Book Month, The Arty Semite is partnering with the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA) and the Jewish Book Council to present “30 Days, 30 Texts,” a series of reflections by community leaders on the books that influenced their Jewish journeys. Today, Elise Bernhardt writes about “A Tale of Love…
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A ‘Child of Daumier’ Confronts the 1990s
Jack Levine died at his home on Monday, November 8, aged 95. An American Social Realist painter who disliked the expressionism and abstract painting he saw become popular during his lifetime, Levine depicted, with visceral force, the social interactions between people. Often these skewered the powerful, as described in this 1997 profile and studio visit…
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Theater They helped elect Los Angeles’ first Black mayor; but to him, they were just Bob and Shirley
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Film & TV A Hasidic wedding entertainer tries to keep up with the times — if his ego will let him