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
-
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
-
Meet the Ben & Jerry’s franchisee pushing back against boycott — and his customers, who just want to cool off
It’s a high of 90 in New York, but the southeast corner of 104th and Broadway is shady with scaffolding seating. It helps that there’s ice cream nearby. Joel Gasman’s Ben & Jerry’s store, a handsome scoop shop with a mosaic pillar at the entrance, is supplying the usual bonanza of flavors and, beginning this…
-
Jackie Mason’s racist remarks are also a part of his legacy
Jackie Mason, who died on Saturday at age 93, will forever hold a storied place in American comedy for helping introduce to the mainstream a brand of humor that was fearlessly, unapologetically Jewish. But the late comedian’s brazen style of commentary also carries a dark legacy in his history of racist remarks. In 1989, Jewish…
The Latest
-
How Jackie Mason remade the world of Jewish stand-up comedy
In the middle of the last century, American stand-up comedy became a subsidiary of the Jewish cultural-industrial complex. But the secret of its extraordinary success was that while its practitioners were obviously Jewish, their material was never too overtly Jewish. Except for Jackie Mason. The great names of the stand-up scene — Joan Rivers, Woody…
-
Confronting America’s ugly history of forced sterilization
Peabody and Emmy award-winning documentarian Erika Cohn has been an activist-artist for a long time. Her film “The Judge” detailed the unprecedented experiences of the first woman judge appointed in the Middle East’s Shari’a courts, and “In Football We Trust” she explored the struggles of young Pacific Islander men determined to play professional football. Her…
-
For 50 years of Greenpeace, inspiration from Jewish values and visionaries
This year, as Greenpeace celebrates 50 years of environmental activism, it’s a good time for a look at the powerful Jewish inspirations that have helped to inspire the non-governmental organization throughout its history. With the stated goal of ensuring the ability of the Earth to “nurture life in all its diversity,” Greenpeace campaigns on issues…
-
A young man, an old man and the secrets of clamming
Sammy held the dark, odd-shaped, deep brown clump of stuff in his hand, showed it to me and said, ”Grandpa, is this doo-doo?” “NO-NO, no doo- doo, absolutely not,” I said. “It’s pure, clean, good mud. And that’s where the clams live.” “”Yuck, mud’s not clean; how can mud be clean?” Sammy and I had…
-
Isaac Bashevis Singer’s return to Ellis Island, in never-before-seen photos
The day Isaac Bashevis Singer returned to Ellis Island was “a beautiful, cold day,” said the photographer Robert A. Cumins. Singer, who was born in Poland, had first set foot there in 1935 as a refugee fleeing antisemitism. Nearly half a century later, in 1979, he returned with a delegation of international Jewish leaders brought…
-
The most phenomenally successful Jewish author you’ve probably never heard of
In a suburban Boston retirement community resides one of the most successful living Jewish American authors, the 94-year-old Noah Gordon. His book sales are over 25 million and his name is often mentioned in the same breath as Ken Follett’s. He’s a household name, just not in the United States. Though his first novel, “The…
-
On Emma Lazarus’ birthday, how the poet inspired Laurie Anderson
Editpr’s Note: A version of this piece was published by the Forward in 2019; we’re revisiting it on the occasion of Emma Lazarus’ birthday. Lazarus was born on July 22, 1849. This tale features feminist heroes not normally paired: the 19th-century poet Emma Lazarus and the (very alive) avant-garde musician and artist Laurie Anderson. Of…
-
In the West Bank, confronting pain and oppression with humor and absurdity
“Let It Be Morning,” the latest film from Eran Kolirin, the Israeli director best-known for his 2007 comedy “The Band’s Visit,” is another gently absurd comedy with a majority Arab cast. The film, which had its world premiere in Un Certain Régard at the Cannes Film Festival, is about Sami, a Palestinian telecom executive, who…
-
A life with (and now without) Ronit Elkabetz
Israeli cinema had a banner year at the recently-concluded Cannes Film Festival — three films were featured in the official selection. Taken together, the Israeli entries formed a powerful triptych of the country’s society and culture. Nadav Lapid’s Jury-Prize-winning “Ahed’s Knee” was an incendiary critique of life as an artist. Eran Kolorin’s “Let It Be…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 4
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward A Jewish city attorney is going after pro-Palestinian protesters. Her Oct. 7 tweets are making it complicated.
-
Fast Forward Kehlani responds to Cornell concert cancellation: ‘I am not antisemitic’
-
Fast Forward David Horowitz, ’60s radical turned right-wing firebrand and critic of Islam, dies at 86
-
News Pro-Nazi singer sells out Zagreb arena as Croatia’s collaborationist past sheds its taboo
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
