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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Dating Tefillin
‘Behold,” this week’s portion, Re’eh, begins, “I set before you this day a blessing and a curse.…” Not “or” but “and,” and we, of course, get to choose. It is the doubleness of the portion that speaks to me, for most of what we read in Re’eh is an iteration of the laws of kashrut…
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September 2, 2005
100 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD A letter from Lublin, Poland, has arrived in the offices of the Forward, describing a horrific pogrom that occurred a few weeks ago on the night of Tisha B’av. As Jews sat on the floor of the synagogue reciting kinot (elegies) in memory of the destruction of the Temples…
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Gornick’s ‘Attachments,’ Still Fierce
This month, Farrar, Straus and Giroux will republish “Fierce Attachments.” Vivian Gornick’s 1987 memoir. Couldn’t I just say that you must read it? That I am here to insist this book become a banner in the wide world, as it is a banner already in my mind, one I march behind? Gornick’s memoir has that…
The Latest
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A Little off the Top: The Controversy About Circumcision
Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision From Ancient Judea to Modern America By Leonard B. Glick Oxford University Press, 384 pages, $30. * * *| To put it mildly, circumcision is a delicate subject. It’s almost impossible to discuss the matter without cracking a joke, probably because the ritual makes at least 49% of the population…
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Individuality, Indelibly Expressed
The Tattoo Artist By Jill Ciment Pantheon Books, 224 pages, $23. * * *| The earliest recorded use of the word “tattoo” is found in descriptions of a Tahitian ritual, written by British explorer Captain James Cook during a 1769 voyage through the South Pacific. Imported into English vocabularies to describe the indelible body art…
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SAT Tutor Raises Scores by Singing a Silly Song
Renee Mazer is trying to help high school students get into good colleges — by teaching them silly songs and cheesy poems. Mazer is the creator of “Not Too Scary Vocabulary!: For the SAT and Other Standardized Tests and Success in Life,” a boxed set of CDs (or audio tapes) aimed at beefing up students’…
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Day School Innovates Curriculum With Help From Corporate Donor
As Jewish day schools strive to attract a new generation of computer-savvy students and their very discriminating parents, private funding from secular sources may be the key to the future. This fall, South Area Solomon Schechter Day School, located in Stoughton, Mass., will launch an integrated math and science program with a cutting-edge curriculum designed…
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Living With Asperger’s: Education Is a Struggle
College is a struggle no matter what your mental status is. For me, it was particularly challenging, because I have Asperger’s syndrome, which was diagnosed when I was 18. It’s a “hot” disorder in popular culture: Characters with this form of high-functioning autism have turned up in several recent novels, including the best-selling “The Curious…
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Kids With Special Needs Find Increasing Opportunities
Educational programs for students with special needs in Boston-area Jewish day schools got a significant financial boost this summer. In June, Combined Jewish Philanthropies announced a $2 million investment to enhance and expand the schools’ special education programs. The money comes from the Peerless Excellence Project, a CJP initiative funded through a $45 million donation…
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Pilot Program Focuses on Teacher Retention
The largest North American organization for Jewish educators is taking on the greatest challenge facing Jewish schools: employing and retaining quality teachers. The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education recently released its third semiannual progress report on Project Kavod, a three-year pilot project designed to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers working in…
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Congregational Schools Seek New Vision
Congregational Hebrew schools aren’t easy to love. Students are expected to give up their Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons — and, often, soccer practice, ballet rehearsal or any number of after-school activities — to memorize ancient history, learn basic Hebrew and study their prayers. Is it any wonder that, according to some, less than 50%…
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