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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October 10, 2008
*100 Years Ago in the forward** Tragic economic circumstances struck the First Roumanian-American Congregation on Rivington Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and as a result, the synagogue was forced to begin selling off its Torahs this week in an auction that was open to the public. The scene was intense. Men cried and women…
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If Ben-Yehuda Had Made Time the Way He Remade Hebrew
For those of you interested in the life of the celebrated Hebrew journalist and lexicographer Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858-1922), the most dominant single figure in the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language in late 19th- and early 20th-century Palestine, a new book purporting to be about him, “Resurrecting Hebrew” by Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans,…
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Sacred Objects on Display
Jewish Museums of the World By Grace Cohen Grossman Universe Publishing, 416 pages, $50. ‘This wooden crate holds a tremendous soul, the soul of the Jewish people!” — with these words of Hebrew poet Chaim Nachman Bialik, Grace Cohen Grossman begins the first chapter of her magisterial, visually stunning new volume, a review and overview…
The Latest
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Healing Hands on a Keyboard
The classical music world is feting pianist Leon Fleisher with a yearlong celebration of his 80th birthday, featuring a much applauded series of concerts across America. The latest performances, at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on October 2, in Boston on October 3 and in Baltimore on October 5, are titled Leon Fleisher & Friends…
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Kohane Rocks Exotic and Hot
New Midlife Crisis Kohane of Newark Joodayah Records, 2008 The jacket cover of “New Midlife Crisis,” the debut CD by Kohane of Newark, scheduled for release in October, features an image of a larger-than-life bird’s eye view of a rumpled and stained velvet skullcap, doubtless donned at some Jewish function that took place around the…
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Spiritual Encounters of a Philosopher of Science
Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Life By Hilary Putnam Indiana University Press, 2008 Hilary Putnam is one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers, known worldwide for his many contributions to diverse areas of philosophy, from ethics to philosophy of mind to the relationship between science and the real world. Equally well known among…
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The Rest of ‘The Rest Is Commentary’
In the September 10 issue of The New York Times, the well-known journalist Jeffrey Goldberg (whose career got its start in these pages) published a long and grim op-ed column about the dangers of a terrorist nuclear attack on American soil. Compared with such a prospect, he wrote, “Everything else — Fannie Mae, health care…
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October 3, 2008
100 Years Ago in the forward An all-day shootout on the streets of Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood last Sunday was so violent that people were too frightened to come out of their apartments, so they stayed inside all day. The shootout, which began at around 9 a.m., was between former members of Kid Twist’s gang who…
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Books And the Emmy Goes to… Mr. Warmth
Legendary insult comedian Don Rickles took home an Emmy tonight for “Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program” for the documentary “Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project,” which is, of course, about him. “It’s a mistake,” Rickles said. “I’ve been in the business 55 years and the biggest award I got was an…
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Pow! Take That, Old Superhero Clichés!
JEWS AND AMERICAN COMICS Edited by Paul Buhle New Press, 2008 A review in comic strip form by Eli Valley. Click on the thumbnail below for a larger version: Eli Valley is finishing his first novel. His comics, which are frequently published in Jewcy, can be seen at his Web site at www.evcomics.com.
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Answers in the Seekers’ Language
For the Love of God and People: A Philosophy of Jewish Law By Elliot Dorff Jewish Publication Society, 296 pages, $35. Why care about Jewish observance? Growing up some years back in the world of Conservative Judaism, I rarely heard an answer to the question. The few explanations that were provided usually presupposed a belief…
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