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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Peace Plan Linguistics
The “Saudi peace plan” is back again. Officially known as the “Arab Peace Initiative,” and first formulated at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002, it is now being aggressively pushed by the Palestinian Authority, with the support of other Arab states. Last month, the P.A. published full-page ads in Israel’s daily Hebrew newspapers, colorfully…
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Colors and Cultures Happily Married in India
Three weeks after Mumbai’s terror attacks, one of the most abiding images is of the golden-haired toddler orphaned by the siege at the local Jewish center. His plight haunted me. I have a son almost exactly the same age. During the early months of my pregnancy with him, I was in India researching a book…
The Latest
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Knesset Eliyahu Synagogue, Mumbai
the incongruity of the sky-blue synagogue set against the filthy Mumbai sky screams of the innocence of another time when dark skinned Jews in saris and long kurtas streamed through the great blue doors to worship their one God who dwelt among them in this land of many gods. Those Jews are long gone now,…
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December 26, 2008
100 Years Ago in the forward One of the most active members of the Jewish community of Boston’s South End was a young Mr. Kadelsky, who not only belonged to a number of different Jewish organizations, but also was given the honor of reading from the Torah this past Yom Kippur and led the circuits…
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Music Faux Hasidim, Real Hasid Unite on Network TV…
…to sing a dreidel song on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.” The real Hasid is Bostoner Hasid/rapper Y-Love. The fellows in the fake beards are Erran Baron Cohen (brother of “Borat” comic Sacha) and his band. The song is from Erran’s new album “Songs in the Key of Hanukkah.” The motley crew’s performance can be…
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The Borrowers Aloft: The Strange Case of Rembrandt, Picasso, Schama, and Cohen
In Paris, art gazers have been lining up in droves for “Picasso and the Masters,” this season’s blockbuster show at the Grand Palais. There’s also “Picasso and Manet” at the Orsay and “Picasso and Delacroix” at the Louvre. Never before has the mighty Spaniard’s communing with — and cribbing from — great artists of the…
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Every Word of Oscar-winning Oscar
**The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II ** By Oscar Hammerstein II Edited by Amy Asch Alfred A. Knopf, 448 pages, $65. Strange as it is, “The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II” is, like its subject — and unlike its hero — a musical in its own right. Physically Broadway-sized (11.6 by 10.8 and…
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Girls Just Want to Have Fun (And Do Their Duty)
Over the years, much has been made of American Jewry’s child-centeredness, of its determination to transform ancient holidays like Hanukkah into fun-filled occasions designed to appeal to the most youthful members of the community. But what of its teenagers? Has American Jewry effectively reckoned with that element of the population? Has it successfully integrated its…
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No Fear For Veil: France’s Newest Academician
On November 20, when the French-Jewish politician Simone Veil (pronounced Vay), 81, was elected to the prestigious Académie Française, her family took the news with typical self-deflating humor. Her husband, Antoine, exclaimed: “First she’s in the Grévin wax museum and now the French Academy. I hope all this isn’t leading to the Panthéon!” Veil, known…
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Lazarus Tongues in Israel and Ireland
Kevin Barry, a graduate student in history at the University of Delaware, has sent me a paper he has written that compares the successful revival of Hebrew as a spoken language in 20th-century Palestine/Israel to the failed attempt to revive Gaelic in 20th-century Ireland. Although I once touched on this subject years ago, I did…
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December 19, 2008
100 Years Ago in the forward An unusual case is currently being heard in the courtroom of Judge Hendrick in the New York State Supreme Court, where a blind Jewish sweatshop worker is suing his boss for $100,000 in damages for stealing his wife and getting her pregnant. Fabric company owner Simon Schultz stands accused…
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Opinion Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians
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Fast Forward Maccabiah Games postponed to 2026, as Israel-Iran war disruptions start to pile up
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