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
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That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
It was a normal summer internship at the Yiddish Book Center ... until the Jedi invaded our turf
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Prayers From China
Born and bred in China, Yiyun Li writes in English and has a deep affinity for Jewish writers because “they always write about the lowest, most tragic events in life, but they’re always very funny.” She isn’t sure how to explain it, but that combination of tragedy and comedy, best exemplified by her Russian-Jewish hero,…
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The Funniest Man You Never Heard Of
Some people have greatness thrust upon them, others thrust it upon themselves. When Irving Brecher was ready for greatness, he just took out an ad. In 1933, 19-year-old Brecher was ushering at a movie theater in midtown Manhattan. For kicks, he mailed jokes to New York columnists; once in a while he had the thrill…
The Latest
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The Old New Vision of Israeli-German Photograph
The work of Liselotte Grschebina provides a glimpse into a golden era of photography, when artists and advertisers were starting to recognize the medium’s potential. It also gives valuable insights into life in Weimar Germany and the British Mandate of Palestine. But until now, hardly anybody has seen Grschebina’s work. This is because until eight…
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Borges’s Zionist Bent: Newly Translated Poems
Jorge Luis Borges visited Israel twice. The first trip came at the invitation of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. It was in recognition of his philo-Semitism, and, in particular, his positive views on Israel. Borges had been active in Casa Argentina en Israel-Tierra Santa, a project that sought to build an Argentine cultural center in Jerusalem….
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Whose Masters Of The Universe?
Gloom is certainly widespread as the city’s masters of the universe bump down to earth,” wrote the International Herald Tribune’s Roger Cohen from London on December 17. That phrase has been getting a lot of mileage recently. In a dispatch beginning “Have the Masters of the Universe lost their super powers?” Reuters correspondent Daniel Trotta…
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Third Night Yid Vid: Chabad Channels Will.i.am
Yes, Chabad of Malibu can light your menorah. Like will.i.am’s pro-Obama video upon which it is based, the Chabad video features a woman saying “Yes we can” in Hebrew. Unlike the will.i.am video, Chabad doesn’t have Jewish/Danish-American actress Scarlett Johansson — or any other women for that matter — singing along. For which, of course,…
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Music Second Night Yid Vid: Hip-Hop Hooray for Hanukkah
Be forewarned, it’s a little crude, a little rude, but then again, what would you expect from a hip-hop defense of Hanukkah: The question is: How do M.C. Jew C and Lil’ Mitzvah stack up against Miriam and Shoshana, the geniuses featured in last year’s second-night Yid Vid?
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Music First Night Yid Vid: Mamas, Don’t Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Play With Dreidels
Last December, the Bintel Blog marked the Festival of Lights and Latkes with eight crazy nights of offbeat Hanukkah-themed videos for your viewing enjoyment. We watched intergalactic, interfaith warfare; dancing Israeli donuts; Aussie punk rockers; manic terrorists; soulful (and not as soulful) holiday songs; NBA stars playing defense, (faux) O.G. hip-hop straight outta Pico-Robertson; and…
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Evolution of an Icon: Matisyahu’s Musical and Spiritual Journey
Matisyahu, born Matthew Paul Miller, is well known as a genre-busting Hasidic reggae artist who performs in tzitzit. But with his new EP, ”Shattered,” and current tour, he shows a new, bold eclecticism that demonstrates a simultaneous evolution in his music and religious attitudes. He’s taken true steps — away from Chabad in his religious…
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Simple, Offensive and Out There
Cartoons and Extremism: Israel and the Jews in Arab and Western Media By Joel Kotek Vallentine Mitchell, 201 pages, $26.95. Joel Kotek’s “Cartoons and Extremism: Israel and the Jews in Arab and Western Media” is overwhelming. A portable gallery of some of the most revolting antisemitic cartoons and images available, the book traces popular antisemitic…
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Latuff: Cartoonist in Conversation
Although Kotek (whose book “Cartoons and Extremism” is reviewed above) thanks the cartoonists whose work he has published for their “friendly collaboration,” he never contacted Latuff. With such a heavy presence in “Cartoons and Extremism,” and without a response from any of the cartoonists exhibited, it seemed of value to try and make contact with…
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