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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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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What Hannah Arendt is telling us about Kyle Rittenhouse and Kenosha
In her account of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the SS officer who oversaw the transportation of European Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II, Hannah Arendt noted a divergence between the goals of the prosecution and judges. The former, conceived by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and carried out by the chief prosecutor…
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The best Hanukkah gifts for literally everyone you know
It’s a cursed calendar configuration: First Thanksgiving and then, just three days later, Hanukkah. Who can get their gifts lined up while plotting the perfect apple pie? Personally, I think it should be illegal. But the lunar calendar pays no heed to minor American feast days or my needs. Hanukkah approacheth, whether or not you’re…
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From Lamb Chop to Lou Reed, 7 shows and movies to watch for Thanksgivukkah
As Nicole Kidman regularly informs me on my visits to AMC theaters, the movies are back. That is, if you’re vaccinated and feel comfortable in a dark room with strangers during an ongoing pandemic. Your mileage may vary. But, with Thanksgiving and Hanukkah soon to be upon us, we’ll need to fill the idle hours…
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Art Haunted by ‘monsters,’ a Jewish artist sees the Dark Ages in modern times
Even as Karen Kassap cocooned with her family while the world shut down last March, the world insisted on intruding — the pandemic, racial strife, politics. And so, with no particular project in mind, the multimedia collage artist began snipping, gluing, and painting her way through her feelings. Slowly, a canvas depicting two ruby-red monsters…
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Why Green Lantern is one of the most Jewish superheroes of all
Wait, Green Lantern is Jewish too? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. Sort of. That most superheroes were created by Jews is nothing new. During the Depression, young Jewish New Yorkers, mostly first-generation Americans, couldn’t get work in creative industries like advertising and book publishing that were closed off to them. So they invented their own…
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Why ‘Checkout’ may be the Israeli show that we need to see right now
Americans seem to have a growing obsession with shows about Haredi Jews, whether that’s “Shtisel,” “Unorthodox,” or “My Unorthodox Life,” all on Netflix. Meanwhile, Israeli shows such as “Fauda,” which delves into the violence and drama of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Mossad spies and Hamas bombs, have also been hits. But will that same interest…
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How an Arab Schindler saved Jews during the Holocaust but still eludes recognition
Ronen Steinke, a German Jewish lawyer and journalist at the Süddeutsche Zeitung, has worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. His books include a study of the political function of war crimes tribunals since 1945 and a biography of Fritz Bauer, the German Jewish judge and prosecutor instrumental in the postwar capture…
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In the rise and fall of a Jewish politician named Mandel, a cautionary tale for Josh Mandel
Though he was Jewish, he won fame as an archly conservative nationalist; while he graduated from a state, not an elite university, he believed he was destined for high political office; though his fellow party members disliked him, they also acknowledged his determination; caught more than once in telling lies, he confused his brashness with…
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He drew Leonard Cohen’s life, death and underwear
What did Leonard Cohen see at the moment of his death? No one can say for sure. But it’s possible he was thinking about the time he found his childhood dog dead beneath a neighbor’s porch. Or his cameo on “Miami Vice.” Or his final recording session with his son, Adam. There was a lot…
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