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
-
November 14, 2008
100 Years Ago in the Forward In response to a query about the religious views of president-in-waiting William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, the outgoing president, has declared that a president’s religious orientation should not play a role in his ability to perform his duties. The query noted that Taft is a Unitarian and alleged that…
-
The Goldblum Variations: Star Turn Charts a Troubled Survivor’s Journey From Hell to Health
Nearly 15 years after the release of “Schindler’s List” the Holocaust continues to figure prominently as a subject for the movies. The latest one, which had its official premiere at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, after a sneak peek at the prestigious Telluride film festival, is “Adam Resurrected.” The film, a drama set in…
-
When Pushke Came To Shove
Let’s give credit where credit is due. American Jews happen to be an unusually inventive lot, especially when it comes to thinking up new forms of charitable giving. From the Kol Nidre appeal to UJA’s Super Sunday and from bingo nights at the local temple to online auctions, they have managed to redefine and contemporize…
The Latest
-
Hiding from Helsinki: An Action Thriller About a Writer of Thrillers
Captives by Todd Hasak-Lowy New York, Spiegel & Grau, 381pp, $24.95 Daniel Bloom, the protagonist of Todd Hasak-Lowy’s first novel, “Captives,” is a screenwriter who helps create specimens of an enjoyable, but frustrating genre of movie: the big-budget somewhat-better-than-average action thriller. Exhibit A, for Bloom: His most ambitious screenplay to date — also called “Captives”…
-
Seeking Pizzazz in the Talmud
Mrs. C. Fletcher wastes no words. She writes, in an e-mail entitled “Pizzazz”: “My husband mentioned a passage from the Talmud, now forgotten, that included a similar word with a similar meaning. And dictionaries cite a (Jewish?) fashion designer of the 1930s as its inventor. What do you say?”I say, firstly, that if Mr. Fletcher…
-
November 7, 2008
100 Years Ago in the foward In the wake of the horrific murder-suicide of wealthy Jewish banker Julius Nelson White and his mother, questions have arisen as to who will take possession of White’s half-million dollar estate. Will it be his Christian widow or his family? The exact reason that White stabbed his mother to…
-
Rally!
Compiled by actual interviews with real live participants. Protesting Ahmadinejad: The United Nations, September 22, 2008. Click thumbnail for a full-size cartoon 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.
-
Bargaining With the Devil: Documentary Focuses on Rudolf Kasztner, Shoa Traitor — Or Hero
It’s the controversy that won’t go away. Toward the end of World War II, the Nazi killing machine turned its attention to the Jews of Hungary, Europe’s largest surviving Jewish community. Journalist Rudolf (Rezso) Kasztner, a member of the community’s Aid and Rescue Committee, opened negotiations with Adolf Eichmann, the SS officer in charge of…
-
When France Embraced a Jewish Avenger
‘Vive la France, Vive la France!” Some 81 years ago this month, a person in Warsaw would have enjoyed the odd spectacle of a mob of Jews surrounding France’s Polish embassy, wildly proclaiming the greatness of the French Republic. The occasion: Jews everywhere were celebrating France because, after a sensational eight-day trial (which even made…
-
October 31, 2008
100 Years Ago in the forward Antisemites made up a lie about Jews: that they… are a frightened people who fear both the receiving and giving end of punches. Such people are simply going to have to apologize and will have to admit that they don’t really know the Jews very well at all. In…
-
Putting a Campaign Spotlight on the (Hebrew) Character Issue
Who will get the Hebrew vote November 4? There must be a big one, since I can’t imagine why else the Obama and McCain campaigns and their supporters would be putting out so many Hebrew buttons, stickers, T-shirts, shopping bags, hats, mugs, mouse pads and other paraphernalia. Will it be a close race? If it’s…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Books In ‘Something We Said,’ Richard Pryor’s daughter finds words to discuss the unspeakable
- 2
Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
- 3
Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
- 4
Opinion Israeli and diaspora Jews live in different realities. The Israel Day parade proved it
In Case You Missed It
-
News In Congress, a measure to tighten U.S.-Israel military ties sparks backlash on both sides of the aisle
-
Yiddish World Israel names a street after renowned Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever
-
Sports At the dawn of the World Cup, the story of the Jews who helped bring soccer to America
-
Opinion ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’