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
-
‘The Eternals’ is Marvel’s most Jewish story — that may be the most interesting thing about it
The heroes of “Eternals,” Marvel Studio’s latest movie, are a band of immortals (genetically altered humans in the comics, something else in the film) sworn to protect humanity against the mutant Deviants. They answer to the Celestials, colossal space gods that create and tamper with life throughout the cosmos. It’s based on a comic created…
-
Film & TV How Dean Stockwell fought antisemitism and inspired Jewish moviegoers
Dean Stockwell, the Hollywood actor who died on Nov. 7 at age 85, is best remembered for appearances in such films as “Dune,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Married to the Mob,” in addition to the TV series “Quantum Leap” and “Battlestar Galactica.” Yet starting as a child actor at the beginning of his lengthy career, Stockwell…
-
Art In a Jewish Bestiary, lions, leviathans and bears — oh my!
Did you know frogs are scholars of Torah, the Leviathan was God’s favorite pet and gazelles were the carrier pigeons of ancient Judea? From the time Adam named the animals, the Jewish imagination has been preoccupied with creatures of the sea and creeping things of the land, referring to them in proverbs and deploying them…
The Latest
-
Walter Matthau wanted to play Tevye — and at least 9 other things you didn’t know about ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Editor’s Note: Fifty years ago, on Nov. 3, 1971, the movie adaptation of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ premiered. In honor of that anniversary, we are publishing a series of article about the impact of ‘Fiddler’ and its legacy. You can read more of the stories here. It’s been 50 years since the world premiere of…
-
The hardest Bible quiz in the world is not for the casual Jew
When I answered 10 qualifying questions for the world’s biggest Hebrew Bible test, I got exactly one right. But, despite the fact that this is statistically worse than guessing, I was eager to attend the U.S. finals of that same quiz. Chidon HaTanach, an annual competition that tests scholars on their Tanakh knowledge, hosts contestants…
-
Cheesy Hanukkah merch is everywhere now — um, that’s good for the Jews, right?
Jewishly speaking, Hanukkah is not a major holiday. Commercially speaking, it is probably the biggest one, falling near Christmas, the true pinnacle of consumerism. This year, with Hanukkah coming early, starting right at the end of Thanksgiving, it seems to actually be superseding Christmas in the corporate calendar; Hanukkah merch is everywhere and, at least…
-
A 94-year-old Holocaust survivor makes her feature film debut – and a new star is born
It is rare, I think, to leap from making matzoh balls to making movies. But it is even rarer, I imagine, to land the leap with élan. Yet this is the accomplishment of “Trop d’amour,” a film by a young French actress and filmmaker, Frankie Wallach, starring her grandmother Julia Wallach, the maker of kneidlach…
-
Why reading Elie Wiesel — and his posthumous new book — can offer us new hope
During Elie Wiesel’s lifetime, he wrote over 40 books, including seven collections of profiles of Jewish sages. “Filled With Fire and Light,” a posthumous eighth volume, was released this month. It is a treasury of previously unpublished lectures about the lives of biblical prophets, talmudists and leaders of the Hasidic world. Though it may sound…
-
How a Jewish woman from Baltimore found a new religion in Henri Matisse
Growing up in the tightly-knit Jewish community of Baltimore in the 1960s, I took special pride knowing that the dazzling paintings — by such modern masters as Picasso, Cezanne, Monet and especially Matisse — that lined the gallery walls of a special wing in the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) were all there thanks to…
-
From Brighton to Anatevka: 50 years later, a cast of ‘Fiddler’ remembers the show that changed their lives
Editor’s Note: Fifty years ago, on Nov. 3, 1971, the movie adaptation of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ premiered. In honor of that anniversary, we are publishing a series of article about the impact of ‘Fiddler’ and its legacy. You can read more of the stories here. A full spotlight comes up on Keith Parsky, center…
-
Fried chicken & waffles, a South L.A. tradition, goes kosher
Update, 3/18/22: Melrose Bite announced today it was no longer kosher in an Instagram post. It’s the dawn of Kosher Food 3.0, at least in Los Angeles. Out with pastrami on rye and matzo ball soup. In with chicken-and-waffles. Yes — kosher chicken-and-waffles. The arrival of Melrose Bite, a kosher fried chicken joint in the…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians
-
Fast Forward UK will recognize Palestinian state if Israel does not end ‘appalling situation’ in Gaza
-
Fast Forward UCLA settles antisemitism lawsuit with $6.13M payout, including donations to Jewish groups
-
Fast Forward 35 rabbis arrested in NYC and DC protests for Gaza food aid
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
