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
-
For Dystonia Sufferers, New Film Hits a Nerve
When she was 10, Miriam Kimmelman began to lose control of her body; it would twist into a variety of abnormal postures. The symptoms progressed fast. Before long, she could walk only backward. After seeing about 100 doctors in two years, she was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological disorder that affects more than 300,000 Americans….
-
Crocodiling in Esperanto On the Streets of Hanoi
Hanoi, Vietnam – A few weeks ago, on a sultry day in the western reaches of Hanoi, I crocodiled with an Australian. I also alligatored with a Nepalese and, with a charming young woman from Madagascar, I caymaned — in French. Most of the time, however, I was trying hard to speak Esperanto, the most…
-
Yid Vid: Was Moses a Satmar?
Ever wonder whether Moses was a Hasid or a Misnagid? Herewith, the answer: Hat tip: Der Royter Rov
The Latest
-
Revising Revisionist History
The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy By Adam Tooze Viking, 832 pages, $32.95. A Shadow of Red: Communism and the Blacklist in Radio and Television By David Everitt Ivan R. Dee, 432 pages, $27.50. A cursory search of the Internet, which is the latest and perhaps most perplexing form…
-
The Unintended Consequences Of Promoting Democracy
Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy By Amitai Etzioni Yale University Press, 336 pages, $27.00 In the eyes of Amitai Etzioni, the Soviet Union’s relegation to the dustbin of history hasn’t changed the fact that what is left of the former empire remains the greatest threat to international security on the world stage….
-
Host and Hosted
Noreen Jacks asks: “Can you please tell me if the Hebrew word for hospitality means the same as does the Greek philozenía or ‘love of strangers’? Is there a word for hospitality with the root of the Hebrew word nokhri, ‘stranger,’ in it?” No, there isn’t. The Hebrew word for hospitality is hakhnasat-orh.im. If we…
-
One Big, Happy Family
Historically speaking, Jews have hardly been strangers to the art of drawing sharp distinctions among themselves. But according to a mounting body of scientific evidence, Jews — genetically speaking, at least — may have more in common than anyone previously suspected. A year ago, Michael Seldin, a geneticist at the University of California Davis School…
-
Philanthropist Puts Genetic Diseases to The Test
As someone who has lost two daughters to familial dysautonomia, Lois Victor knows all too well the pain that can be wrought by genetic disease. But rather than wallow in her suffering, Victor decided to take action. She has been the driving force behind two major new centers specializing in Jewish genetic diseases, and by…
-
Ashkenazim Prove Central in Pancreatic Cancer Study
Pancreatic cancer, an often fatal disorder affecting about 1% of the American population, is not usually considered a “Jewish” genetic disease, but researchers at the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry at Johns Hopkins University would beg to differ. The NFPTR operates a special sub-registry to specifically track pancreatic cancer patients and their relatives among the…
-
Experts: Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancers Still Lags
When Wendy Mailman’s mother, Eloyce, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last February, her concerned daughter immediately began scouring the Internet for information. Through medical sites and an ovarian cancer listserv, Mailman learned that women of Eastern European Jewish descent were at an increased risk for inheriting a predisposition for both breast and ovarian cancer. One…
-
Author Enters Debate Over Jews and I.Q.
The Rev. William Sanchez of Albuquerque, N.M., has more than just the standard priest’s cross hanging from his neck. After a genetic test showed that some of his ancestors from Spain were Jewish, he took to wearing a Star of David, as well. Such is the “mystique of Judaism,” writes Jon Entine, author of the…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
- 2
Books In ‘Something We Said,’ Richard Pryor’s daughter finds words to discuss the unspeakable
- 3
Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
- 4
Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Trump announces deal with Iran is ‘now complete’
-
Fast Forward Jane Yolen, children’s book author whose ‘The Devil’s Arithmetic’ became a Holocaust classic, dies at 87
-
Fast Forward Hebrew Union College claims Ohio’s charity-law suit violates its First Amendment rights
-
Fast Forward 6 months after her father was killed at Bondi Beach, Sheina Gutnick has become a leading antisemitism advocate in Australia