Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish culture. Here, you’ll learn about the latest (and sometimes earliest) in Jewish art, music, film, theater, books as well as the secret Jewish history of everything and everyone from The Rolling Stones to…
Culture
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I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
San Wei, which serves pastrami sandwiches along with churros and biang biang noodles, represents an immigrant's fulfillment of the American dream
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In a small Arab village, a marriage isn’t consummated. Neither is anything else.
Eran Kolirin’s new film, “Let It Be Morning” (“Vayehi Boker”) begins with a wedding in a small Arab village. We know little about the couple — and they seem to know little about each other — but their marriage seems doomed. First, because the celebratory doves, released at the ceremony as a symbol of love…
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Planter of forests, uprooter of a population — the tangled legacy of Israel’s Yosef Weitz
“Blue Box” is a documentary about an Israeli hero who planted the country’s trees but who is also, perhaps, a villain for uprooting three quarters of a million Arabs from their villages. Because Yosef Weitz — known both as “Father of the Forests” and “Architect of Transfer” — was in charge of the Jewish National…
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Think you know Torah? Try to beat this impossible Hebrew Bible quiz.
Can you tell your Abrahams from your Absaloms from your Amnons? Can you read the word of God and know who’s being addressed? Then you might have a chance at acing the hilariously difficult excerpt we have from this year’s Chidon — the Hebrew Bible knowledge contest organized by the World Zionist Organization and the…
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Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Stewart ate hummus here — the forgotten Middle Eastern history of a comedy legend
The most important table in stand-up comedy can be found in the back corner of the Olive Tree Cafe, a dark Greenwich Village restaurant. The two slate tables pushed together serve as a makeshift green room for comedians who perform downstairs at the legendary New York club, the Comedy Cellar. Both “The Cellar” and the…
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I went 26 years without watching ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ My first viewing was underwhelming — until it wasn’t
Editor’s Note: Fifty years ago, on Nov. 3, 1971, the movie adaptation of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ premiered. In honor of that anniversary, this week we are publishing a series of article about the impact of ‘Fiddler’ and its legacy. You can read more of the stories here When the Forward’s culture desk met earlier…
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Books Former NY congressman Steve Israel breaks into the book business
In the five years since Steve Israel retired from Congress, he’s written his second novel, been considered for ambassador to Israel, helped recruit Democratic candidates and launched a think tank at Cornell University. But nothing seems to excite him as much as opening his own bookstore — one that will reflect his interests, including his…
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Jews are under siege on campuses and in college towns — where’s the outrage? Where are the intellectuals?
Anyone remotely affiliated with universities should be chilled by the news that a Torah was destroyed at a fraternity house at George Washington University. The image of a replica Torah scroll — ripped apart and doused in laundry detergent, its pages on the floor — is the very latest in a series of increasingly disturbing…
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How ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ convinced me to convert to Judaism — really.
Editor’s Note: Fifty years ago, on Nov. 3, 1971, the movie adaptation of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ premiered. In honor of that anniversary, this week we are publishing a series of article about the impact of ‘Fiddler’ and its legacy. You can read more of the stories here It was the afternoon before we opened….
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When Jews and Mormons swap lives, it’s as awkward as you’d expect
Ava DuVernay is best known for hard-hitting films that take on race in America, whether that’s “Selma,” a historical drama about the M.L.K.-led voting rights march, or “13,” a documentary about mass incarceration. Her newest work, “Home Sweet Home,” grapples with race and diversity as well, but does so more in the mold of the…
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Why just 850 books? Texas should investigate ‘Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ too
Dear Representative Matt Krause, As a fellow Texan, I am writing to thank you for the letter you sent to the Texas Education Authority, as well as several school districts, requiring them to reveal whether our children are a library card away from bringing home any of 850 books of dubious or dangerous content. Can…
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How Leonard Bernstein embraced his Jewishness — and changed the world
It is hard to imagine a more charismatic subject than the composer and conductor
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