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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Picturing the ‘Problem From Hell’
When you look at a photograph that depicts an act of violence — or, in the case of Lane H. Montgomery’s new photography book, “Never Again, Again, Again” (Ruder Finn), an act of genocide — you might assume that the photographer took a substantial amount of time to frame, say, a heap of murdered Tutsis…
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Isaac Meyers, a Promising Young Voice, Stilled at 29
The Forward mourns the passing of Isaac Meyers, our friend and contributor, who was hit by a truck and killed on March 18 in Cambridge, Mass., at the age of 29. He was studying for a PhD in Classics at Harvard, where his work focused on the translation of sacred Hebrew texts into Greek and…
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March 28, 2008
** 100 Years Ago in the forward** For the first time in its history, the Forward has printed an English editorial on its front page. It has to do with the story of Lazarus Averbuch, a young Jewish immigrant from Russia who was shot to death by Chicago Chief of Police George M. Shippy. According…
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Books Did Tolkien Take a Page From Purim?
Jewschool’s Ben Dreyfus notes a striking similarity between J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece “The Lord of the Rings” and the Purim story: Haftarat Zachor (which is read twice this year here in Jerusalem) + Megillat Esther = The Lord of the Rings. One of them is totally plagiarized. After winning the war with Sauron, Isildur is…
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Yid Vid: ‘Jewno’
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Unterzakhn, Part 3
Read this week’s installment of Leela Corman’s new graphic novel, “Unterzakhn,” which is being serialized in the Forward. (Or, to start at the very beginning, click here). CLICK FOR LARGER VIEW
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Haredi Life, Too Purely Rendered
The Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, don’t go to the movies. This is partly on account of the silver screen’s abundant displays of what is known among these communities as pritsus — that is, sex and general profanity — but it is also because any such frivolous entertainment is considered “bittul-Torah,” a prohibited waste of precious…
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A New Play Lifts Veil on Insular Syrian-Jewish Community
David Adjmi’s newest play terrifies him. It’s provocative and unflinching in its representation of a specific Jewish community as materialistic, close-minded, insular to a fault. Granted, among Adjmi’s other produced works — “The Evildoers,” which packed up a run at Yale Repertory Theatre this past month, and “Elective Affinities,” his meditation following the attacks of…
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A Place Called Ashkenaz
On March 20, Purim will be celebrated in Ashkenaz. This Ashkenaz, however, refers not to the Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe but to a performance space in Berkeley, Calif., named Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center. This year, the festival of Esther and Mordechai will be celebrated there with a party featuring Shivat…
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A Melody of Jewish Meditation
When I asked composer Daniel David Feinsmith what his former life as a Zen monk had entailed, he had a ready answer. “Well,” he told me by phone from San Francisco, “it involved celibacy. It involved meditation — hours facing a blank wall. And it involved frugality.” Normally, the word “celibacy” would be the showstopper…
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David Yazbek’s Other, Unnoticed Career
David Yazbek, the acclaimed composer and pianist, is no stranger to accolades and notoriety. His work on the Broadway musicals “The Full Monty” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” has earned him two Tony nominations (“Two Time Tony Award Loser!” his Web site proclaims); he’s won an Emmy for his comedy writing on “Late Show With David…
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