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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Methuselah’s Children
‘It’s important to be calm, not to get excited. It’s not good for the heart,” centenarian Fred Feuerberg said. “And I never ate much. I never overate.” Feuerberg, who turned 100 in May, was sitting in his spacious apartment in Fort Lee, N.J., explaining what has allowed him to reach such a ripe old age…
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Milder Canavan Strain Opens New Possibilities
When Carly White was an infant, her parents, Jim and Dolores, noticed that she had trouble controlling the movement of her eyes. Three years later, a ballet teacher observed that Carly did not have much control over her legs. Trips to the pediatrician yielded no answers, but a visit to a neurologist ended in a…
The Latest
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Bearing Jacob’s Ladder, Author Climbs the Double Helix
Jacob’s Legacy: A Genetic View of Jewish History By David B. Goldstein Yale University Press, 176 pages, $26. News articles in recent years have brought a steady stream of revelations about genetic studies of Jewish ancestry. The new data indicate that Kohanim (the “priests” among the Jews) are largely descended from a single ancient ancestor;…
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Web Site Gives Golf Fans the Chance To Caddy for Charity
Last March, after placing a successful bid on the Web site caddyforacure.com, golf lover Jon Huzarsky, a senior vice president of a Manhattan investment bank, was able to spend a day caddying for professional golfer Steve Stricker at the World Golf Championships. The caddying opportunity, which Huzarsky heard about from a friend, was “by far,…
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Documentary Offers New Breast Cancer Treatment: Sensitivity
Joanna Rudnick’s poignant new documentary, “In the Family,” opens to soft, sad music and an unlikely story. Joanna, a dark-haired young woman with expressive eyes, is laughing somewhat nervously as she confides in her boyfriend, Jimmy. “I wasn’t exactly going to tell you I had a genetic mutation and I’m making a film about it…
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Doctors Look To Raise Tay-Sachs Awareness Among Louisiana’s Cajuns
Tay-Sachs disease has been significantly curbed in the Ashkenazic Jewish community, thanks to increased awareness and a comprehensive screening process — which is especially popular in Hasidic communities. The same cannot be said for the Cajun community in Louisiana, which also suffers from a high disposition to Tay-Sachs; the community is not fully aware of…
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September Named Tay-Sachs Awareness Month
The Senate this July voted unanimously to name September National Tay-Sach’s Awareness Month. The resolution was introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and co-sponsored by Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana. At this point, Tay-Sachs, a hereditary degenerative neurological disease, has no cure. The National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association, Inc., the oldest genetic disease…
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Consortium Maps 21 New Crohn’s Genes
One of the largest collaborative research teams ever assembled has concluded a decade-long study that may unlock the secrets behind Crohn’s disease. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases IBD Genetics Consortium and collaborating centers have identified 21 new genes that play a role in the appearance of Crohn’s. Crohn’s is an…
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Author Squares Jewish and Medical Ethics
In an article she wrote this past spring for the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, bioethicist Laurie Zoloth approached from a Jewish perspective the moral choices posed by advances in genetic and medical research. While acknowledging the public sense of “moral panic” at the thought of genetic enhancement, she argues that the commandment to…
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Doctors Unveil Two Gaucher Studies
A broad screening program in Israel for Type 1 Gaucher disease, the most common of the Jewish genetic diseases, is proving controversial, Israeli researchers noted in a September 2007 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Screening programs are encouraged for severe diseases where couples at risk could be identified before giving birth…
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Annual Guide to Jewish Genetic Diseases
The Forward presents this section to provide information on some of the more serious Jewish genetic diseases. There are about 20 “Ashkenazic diseases,” not counting the higher rates of at least four cancer-related genes. The diseases are more prevalent in the Eastern European Jewish population because of centuries of endogamy — literally, “marrying within.” Bloom’s…
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News An Alabama millionaire offered Jews $50,000 to move to his town. 16 years later, what’s left?
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Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
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News As Israel attacks, what is life like for Jews in Iran?
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News ‘Very misguided’: ADL regional board member resigns over organization’s approach to antisemitism and civil rights
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