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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Meet the greatest Jewish sportscasters of all time
On July 2, 1921, one hundred years ago, 100,000 fans elbowed their way into Boyle’s Thirty Acres in Jersey City, New Jersey to see the highly anticipated heavyweight championship fight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier. Dempsey retained the title with a fourth-round knockout of the Frenchman. The Dempsey-Carpentier fight marked the first time fans…
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The Jewish character on ‘Succession’ is reading Dostoevsky — what should we read into that?
Never place a loaded pistol onstage in the first act of a play, if it is not going to go off in a later act, Anton Chekhov famously declared. But what about placing a loaded book in a character’s hand in a television series if it is not going to go off by season’s end?…
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On his 121st birthday, four reasons to love Aaron Copland
On Aaron Copland’s birthday, I find myself wanting to listen to the opening minute of the composer’s sonata for violin and piano on a loop. Not that I don’t love the rest of the work, but the opening encapsulates just what I love about the best of his music: a simplicity and sincerity that carries…
The Latest
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With the unveiling of a Jewish veteran’s headstone, another rare act of bravery
Last Sunday, I attended an extraordinary Zoom ceremony in Manchester, England, that marked the placement of a Star of David headstone in remembrance of a Jewish WWII veteran, Kurt Goldschlager, who had been buried under a cross. The military ceremony was led by Rabbi David Lewis and included a range of Jewish veterans in full…
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Paul Rudd is the Sexiest Man Alive. Take that, former winner Mel Gibson.
It’s a banner day for embarrassing Jewish dads everywhere. Paul Rudd, the eternally young and irrepressibly charming star of “Ant-Man” is People’s Sexiest Man Alive. As someone who has hosted a Rudd-O-Ween party (picture below), has intimate knowledge of Rudd’s contributions to the oeuvre of Tim and Eric and keeps a private ranking of the…
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‘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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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