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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That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
It was a normal summer internship at the Yiddish Book Center ... until the Jedi invaded our turf
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Stephen Sondheim wrote the soundtrack to all our lives
It’s a cliché to say that an artist has written the soundtrack of your life. When you think about it, every artist we grew up with — even the ones we despise — writes that soundtrack. But when I think about Stephen Sondheim, that cliché is actually true. Every key moment of my life, I…
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Why Jews are literally ‘the people of Thanksgiving’
Jews are linguistically rooted in gratitude; the word for Jew in Hebrew is directly tied to the word for thankfulness
The Latest
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Does a $676 million art sale mark the end of an era in Jewish art collecting?
The $676 million that Harry and Linda Macklowe’s art collection brought at auction was, according to a quote from Sotheby’s in The New York Times, “the most valuable single-owner auction ever staged.” Amid the jubilation, only one voice suggested something was off. Art collector and gallery owner Adam Lindemann sized up the collection, distinguished by…
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In Chile, where Jewish writers fought bigotry in search of a literary utopia
Cristián Opazo teaches literature and drama at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. In “Jewish Voices, Chilean Literature,” co-written with the Chilean Jewish author Marjorie Agosín, Opazo investigates how Jewish refugees in Latin America became literary heroes against all odds. Benjamin Ivry spoke to Professor Opazo about how these writers managed to achieve their lasting artistic…
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Do we seriously need ugly sweater-themed cookie kits for Hanukkah?
Just in time for Hanukkah, Manischewitz has debuted two new twists on what it claims is a festive tradition: Hanukkah-themed — wait for it — sugar cookies. The new kits, including one that is ugly sweater-themed, join the company’s longstanding Hanukkah dessert line, which also includes donut mix and do-it-yourself Chanukah Houses — because everyone…
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Looking for chill Jewish conversation online? Try r/Judaism
If there’s a path out of the polarization, shaming and judging among Jews, it would take us to the Promised Land, right? Sometimes it feels as if we’re already there on r/Judaism, a forum on the social media platform Reddit that’s by Jews, for Jews — and open to anyone curious. Compared to Jewish life…
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On HBO, basketball star Amar’e Stoudemire’s journey to Orthodox Judaism
When basketball star Amar’e Stoudemire was a child, his mother told him that they were from “the lost tribes of Israel.” While her reference was to a Hebrew Israelite group, her words planted the seed that would lead him to Orthodox Judaism. Stoudemire’s decade-long journey from a six-time all-star forward in the NBA to his…
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Remembering the most phenomenally successful Jewish author you’ve probably never heard of
Editor’s Note: According to his website, author Noah Gordon died Nov. 22 at the age of 95. Today we’re remembering his life and work by revisiting this story about Gordon that we published this summer. Though Noah Gordon’s first novel, “The Rabbi,” spent 26 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1965, he…
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Why Netflix’s ‘Blown Away’ Christmas special seemed a little too Christmas-y for its Jewish contestants
Christmas specials are part of the season on TV; tons of shows do special episodes or mini-seasons each year. Which makes sense — Christmas dominates the winter, and often causes family or relationship stress and drama; it would feel like a big omission to skip it. Unless, that is, the majority of the people on…
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On Rodney Dangerfield’s 100th birthday, remembering his legendary sandwich
Rodney Dangerfield has my respect — and continues to inspire my sandwiches. The comedian, who would have turned 100 today, and made a career playing a lovable schlub in films like “Caddyshack” (and once an animated dog version of himself) is not always my cup of tea. His signature jokes about his wife — a…
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Why the Jewish laureate of prose-poetry has more in common with Eminem than you might think
If he hadn’t learned to rap — quite the “if,” considering he was a white, midwestern teenager at the time — we might not be talking about him decades later. As it turned out, rap changed his life. More precisely, rap inspired him to find a way to make sense of his life: to take…
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Opinion I thought the Dyke March should be open to Zionists. So my fellow New York organizers kicked me out
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