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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‘Who Is a Taoist?’ Principal’s Job Hinged on Definition
Academic politics are often esoteric and never pretty. But in what appears to be a first, the fate of a middle-school principal in West Orange, N.J., was determined by a rabbinic debate over the definition of “who is a Taoist.” For months, Aaron Kriegel, a pulpit rabbi in West Essex, N.J., has urged officials at…
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June 10, 2005
100 YEARS AGO • As is well known, the Bund is the most active Jewish self-defense organization that works to protect the Jews during the wave of pogroms that has recently engulfed the Pale of Settlement. It is our duty to help the Bund arm Jews so that they can protect themselves. The Bund’s Central…
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A Buried Treasure, Unearthed by Chance
In 2000, Time Magazine asked its Israel photographer, David Rubinger, to help the magazine put together its “Century” issue, dedicated to great images of the 20th century. Rubinger — himself an Israel Prize-winning photojournalist, famed for his image of Israeli paratroopers at the Western Wall during the 1967 War — began working on the project….
The Latest
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Tango: Not Jewish, But Not 100% Not Jewish
‘I’m not Jewish — but I’m not 100% not Jewish,” jokes innovative tango musician and sometime klezmer bassist Pablo Aslan. Much the same might be said of the tango itself. The origins of the tango aren’t entirely clear. Some believe that the dance form, born in the slums of Buenos Aires in the 1880s, derived…
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Judaism, Meditation and The B-Word
Mindful Jewish Living: Compassionate Practice By Jonathan P. Slater Aviv Press, 300 pages, $24.95. * * *| Meditation and Judaism: Exploring the Jewish Meditative Paths By DovBer Pinson Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 304 pages, $35. * * *| Beside Still Waters: Jews, Christians, and the Way of the Buddha Edited by Harold Kasimow, John…
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Much Ado About Something
Judy Frankel rushes into the Hillel cafeteria, late to campus as usual after her weekly volunteer work at the AIDS hospice downtown. How good to engage in tikkun olam, repairing the world — keeping patients company during dinner, holding this hand and that, eliciting memories of healthier times. But afterward, she needs the comfort of…
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Conservative Jews In Israel Splitting With Top Leader
The Israeli branch of the Conservative movement is set to part ways with its longtime president, Rabbi Ehud Bandel, the Forward has learned. Movement insiders familiar with the situation say that the Israeli branch, known as Masorti, faces a severe budget crisis. In an effort to close the gap, one source said, Bandel is being…
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Study’s Claim On Intelligence Of Ashkenazim Spurs a Debate
The biological distinctiveness of ethnic groups is fraught scientific territory, but a new study plunges into the debate by theorizing that the high intelligence of Ashkenazic Jews is in the genes. The study, which will be published in the upcoming issue of Journal of Biosocial Science, argues that natural selection favored more intelligent Jews during…
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Iran Sanction Bill Loses Momentum As Administration Presses Diplomacy
WASHINGTON — The pro-Israel lobby’s top legislative priority — a bill aimed at tightening sanctions on Iran — is losing momentum in Congress now that the Bush administration is urging congressional leaders to hold off in favor of diplomatic efforts to quell Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Two weeks ago, at the annual policy conference of the…
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Restore the American Dream By Addressing the State of Unions
My grandfather came to the United States from Austria in the early 1900s and found work as a butcher. Back then, this was a country where if you worked hard, you had a reasonable chance of achieving the American dream. Immigrant workers built a strong union movement that raised living standards — not just for…
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June 3, 2005
100 YEARS AGO • A wild episode occurred this week in Max Solomon’s 19th Street skirt factory, located in New York City. The factory employs 400 workers. One of them, a presser, walked into the boss’s office to ask for his paycheck. When the boss said he didn’t have it, the presser demanded his pay….
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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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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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News Why do some people think Mike Lawler is Jewish?
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Art At the Venice Biennale, protests, self-mutilation and rage against Israel and Russia. Is anyone left to talk about the art?