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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Music Why a 17-year-old Israeli virtuoso is already winning comparisons to the greatest pianists of all time
Born in 2004, the Israeli pianist Yoav Levanon has just signed an exclusive contract with Warner Classics. This is only the latest achievement in a career that already includes winning the National Piano Competition in Israel at age five, followed by a debut with the Israel Chamber Orchestra at age seven. Levanon is a native…
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Francine Prose would like to return to eavesdropping on strangers
Francine Prose has written 22 novels. But a few minutes into our interview, we were talking about a very different accomplishment. Every morning, she does the New York Times Spelling Bee. And every morning (OK, almost every morning), she reaches the coveted “Genius” level. “This is going to be my one big boast of our…
The Latest
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How to feel the staggering awesomeness of the Days of Awe (a little German philosophy can help)
A few years ago, a colleague asked me what makes the High Holidays so high. “Well,” I replied, “they are awesome days.” “Sounds like a slacker’s line in a Linklater film,” she laughed. “You know, D-A-Z-E of Awe.” I smiled, but uneasily. During the one Jewish holiday that, above all others, demands reverence, the joke…
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Does ‘Hallelujah’ explain Leonard Cohen? A new movie thinks so.
'Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song,' explains Leonard Cohen's life through his most famous work.
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What would Louis Brandeis do about Texas?
Nearly a century ago, the Supreme Court ruled that warrantless wiretapping, because a physical trespass did not occur, was not an unwarranted violation of an individual’s rights. The majority opinion, however, proved less influential than one of the dissenting ones. The framers of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, this associate justice affirmed, “sought to protect…
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November 8: Daniel Sokatch in conversation with Jodi Rudoren
This event is in partnership with Sixth & I. It will take place on Monday, November 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT. Register here. As an expert who understands both sides of one of the world’s most complex and controversial conflicts, New Israel Fund CEO Daniel Sokatch dives into why so many…
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The sound of thunder on a beautiful, cloudless day — a reporter’s memories of 9/11
‘An Ordinary Day’ It was nearly 11 p.m. when my plane landed on the runway at JFK. We’d left San Francisco an hour late and circled the airport in New York 45 minutes before finally touching down. And then, after coming to a stop, the plane sat and we waited. By the time I finally…
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‘After Rosh Hashanah dine and dance at Black Cat Club’: The High Holiday ads of yesteryear
For me, Rosh Hashanah has always served as the informal start to fall fashion. And so last year, as I facilitated Rosh Hashanah services on Zoom, I found myself oddly missing the smells of the synagogue sanctuary on Rosh Hashanah — a combination of new suits and musty tallises. So when I stumbled on a…
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Why no one wants to talk about Monica Lewinsky’s Jewishness — and why that matters
Midway through the trailer for the new FX series “Impeachment,” about the presidential sex scandal of the late-90s, the name of one of the show’s producers flashes conspicuously on screen. It’s the name you’d anticipate in connection with this story, but as a subject, not an architect. “MONICA LEWINSKY,” the text reads, highlighted briefly in…
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The secret Jewish history of Foo Fighters
Last month, Dave Grohl invited 11-year-old drummer Nandi Bushell onstage at the Los Angeles Forum to play along on his group Foo Fighters’ signature tune, “Everlong.” For the past year or so, the two have been challenging each other in YouTube videos to see who is the better drummer. Grohl, who long ago won for…
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With its abortion bill and new gun laws, Texas is a blacklisted Jewish screenwriter’s Hollywood nightmare
A marshal learns that a group of murderous gunslingers, led by a killer he had sent to jail, is heading to his town. After waiting in vain for volunteers at his office, he strides to the saloon and even the church to ask for deputies. Met with scornful jibes at the first and mournful gazes…
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
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Fast Forward A Jewish city attorney is going after pro-Palestinian protesters. Her Oct. 7 tweets are making it complicated.
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Fast Forward Kehlani responds to Cornell concert cancellation: ‘I am not antisemitic’
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Fast Forward David Horowitz, ’60s radical turned right-wing firebrand and critic of Islam, dies at 86
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News Pro-Nazi singer sells out Zagreb arena as Croatia’s collaborationist past sheds its taboo
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