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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Berlin Wrestles With the Jewish Culture it Banished
Out of the rubble of the First World War emerged a mythic culture in Berlin: modern and erotic, brimming with arts and ideas; a city that attracted writers, actors, painters and musicians to its aura of progress and creativity. That’s half the picture. The other half is the Depression, National Socialism and antisemitism that hung…
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From ‘The World To Come’
Each month, in coordination with our reading series in New York, the Forward publishes an excerpt from the work of that month’s series guest or guests. This month, we will feature readings by Dara Horn and Aviya Kushner (for full details, please see sidebar). Below, please find an excerpt from Horn’s new novel, “The World…
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The Sacred and the Profane
Like her prize-winning debut novel, “In the Image” (W. W. Norton & Company, 2002), Dara Horn’s remarkable second work spans generations, continents and languages. “The World To Come,” which will be published in January 2006 by W.W. Norton, centers on former child prodigy Ben Ziskind and his twin sister, Sara, who live, love, mourn and…
The Latest
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Writing New Texts in an Ancient Land
A number of years ago, when I was still an aimless, lovesick student, I traveled to Israel for the first time — not so much to fulfill a great Zionist dream that had suddenly surfaced from the depths of my subconscious, but to escape the drab reality of my bar-hopping downtown existence, to escape a…
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Fragmented Memories
Throughout her childhood, Deborah Damast heard bits and pieces of stories about her father’s escape from Krakow, Poland, before the Nazi invasion. As a choreographer, she felt that there was an important statement in dance to be gleaned from that material, but she didn’t want to exploit anyone else’s experience. The brutal assault of 9/11…
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Like Father, Like Son
Dr. Haran: So, how are things? Jacob: It’s been a good week. Dr. Haran: Why do you say that? Jacob: I finally left my father-in-law’s house. It was a big step. Dr. Haran: How come? Jacob: What’s the big riddle? After two decades of letting Laban walk all over me, I finally let him have…
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The Myth of Jewish Guilt
What is it about Jewish guilt? One woman says she forever diets because of her Jewish guilt, while another blames Jewish guilt for her constant overeating. Jewish guilt is the culprit for why you are so tidy, or so messy, date too much, or too little, indulge your children or discipline them. Jewish guilt explains…
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So Mike Leigh Is Jewish After All. But Is It Good for the Jews?
Mike Leigh is responsible for some of the best British drama of the past 30 years — both theater and film, including “Abigail’s Party,” “Nuts in May,” Career Girls,” “Naked,” “Life Is Sweet,” “Secrets and Lies,” “Topsy-Turvy,” “All or Nothing,” and last year’s Oscar-nominated “Vera Drake.” But even for a “national treasure” (a tag that…
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Rehearsing for Reconciliation
Two men approach each other from across a field. You would be surprised to learn they are twins, so different are they now. But even before their paths diverged, they were not alike. One strides purposefully forward with the confidence in his own element, at home. Well he might, as he is surrounded by 400…
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December 2, 2005
100 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD Manhattan’s Lower East Side residents Rebecca Sadowsky, Sarah Leshinsky, Beka Rosenberg and Otto Levsky, who range in age from 9 to 14, appeared this week in the Essex Market Court, accompanied by their parents. All four children had been arrested for truancy, and records indicated that they had not…
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One Man Chronicles Centuries of Synagogue Music
Appearances can be deceiving, especially online. For example, one would never guess from its plain vanilla Web site that Google is a hyper-capitalized behemoth worth more than General Motors and Ford put together. Conversely, the Web site of the Jewish Music Heritage Project gives the impression of a lavishly funded institutional undertaking. Dedicated to providing…
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