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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Securing a Father’s Place In American Social History
Abraham Epstein: The Forgotten Father of Social Security By Pierre Epstein University of Missouri Press, 344 pages, $39.95. Throughout the 1930s, the home of Abraham and Henriette Epstein, at 389 Bleecker Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, was a salon where political reformers ate, drank and argued about how to provide social insurance for older Americans….
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Darfur Activist Takes a Turn on the Silver Screen
The first time that Adam Sterling was in charge of organizing anything was his freshman year of college, when he sent a busload of underage students down to Tijuana, where they could drink legally. The only investment decision he had made up to that point was whether to purchase an Xbox 360 or wait until…
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An Epistolary Glimpse Into Wartime Holland
How does one understand the incomprehensible human tragedy of the Holocaust? The answer: One story at a time. In “Hidden Letters” (Star Bright Books), Deborah Slier and Ian Shine have edited a treasure trove of letters that Philip “Flip” Slier, a Dutch Jew, wrote during 1942 at the Dutch forced labor camp Molengoot. The translations…
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Viral Philanthropy Starts To Spread
Hoping to raise money for a three-day bike ride over Labor Day to benefit the Jewish environmental organization Hazon, Ariela Pelaia turned to her blog. Pelaia, 26, thought she could find donors by raffling off books on her personal Web site, www.bakingandbooks.com, which draws up to 2,000 viewers each day. She was right: Pelaia received…
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Agencies Lobby To Make Tax Incentive Permanent
With one of the most significant tax incentives for charitable giving set to expire by the end of the year, philanthropies and foundations are pushing lawmakers to make the tax relief permanent, allowing senior citizens to continue to transfer to charitable causes, tax free, funds from their individual retirement accounts. The temporary measure, called the…
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New Fund Gives Young Jews a Place at the Table
When a group of 20-somethings formed a fund to give money to innovative Jewish not-for-profit groups, their project itself was, in an ironic twist, an innovation in Jewish philanthropy. It’s no secret that Jewish donor circles are, for the most part, dominated by wealthy individuals — predominantly men — who are well beyond the half-century…
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Grant Rewards Innovation in Seattle
The Jewish community of Seattle is tapping into the city’s entrepreneurial spirit by taking a risk on innovative programs designed to transform local Jewish life. For the past three years, the Levitan Innovation Award has given $10,000 to a local organization with a creative program designed to increase Jewish engagement around Washington State’s Puget Sound….
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Fellowships Aim To Boost Jewish Studies Programs
The Foundation for Jewish Culture, in partnership with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, recently announced the launch of the Jewish Studies Expansion Project, a pioneering program aimed at improving and diversifying Jewish studies course offerings at colleges and universities across the nation. The Schusterman Family Foundation has earmarked $1 million for a pilot…
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Students Donate Time and Money on ‘Alternative Breaks’
Winter vacations and spring breaks afford college students a chance to catch up on lost sleep or to work on their tans. But this year, growing numbers of Jewish students will donate some of their vacation time — as well as their money — to perform community service. A study conducted by the Charles and…
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Program Helps Families Write New Chapter in Jewish Literacy
When country music legend Dolly Parton created the Imagination Library program 11 years ago, she began sending free books to young families in Tennessee to promote literacy. The program has grown enormously over the past decade, shipping books and educational materials to more than 330,000 children who otherwise might not have the opportunity to cultivate…
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After Bar Mitzvahs, Teens Keep Giving
Rebecca Schwartz was featured in the Forward’s Giving section three years ago, around the time of her bat mitzvah. Back then, she was one of the first to participate in Give a Mitzvah — Do a Mitzvah, a program that helps teenagers use their coming-of-age ceremony to help others. The program is still going strong:…
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Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
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Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
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Culture An Israeli genocide scholar looks to Israel’s history to understand ‘what went wrong’
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News Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s selection as JTS commencement speaker roils graduating class
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News Remembering Abe Foxman, the longtime ADL leader known as the ‘Jewish pope,’ who always answered my calls
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Fast Forward Michael Jackson biopic revives legend of Jewish music mogul who battled MTV’s ‘color barrier’
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Fast Forward DOGE’s cuts to Jewish humanities grants were unconstitutional, judge rules
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Fast Forward As anti-LGBTQ laws spread, these two Jewish nonprofits are funding moves to safer states