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
-
That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
It was a normal summer internship at the Yiddish Book Center ... until the Jedi invaded our turf
-
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…
The Latest
-
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…
-
Hitler wanted his 1936 Olympics to wow the world. The Forward highlighted protest games instead.
The modern Olympic games, first held in Athens in the summer of 1896, predate the Forward’s founding by less than one year. In the 52 winter and summer games to take place since, the Jewish stories have ranged from tales of perseverance and success, as in the victories of Jewish athletes like Mark Spitz and…
-
How a Yiddish theater mecca became ‘the church of rock ‘n’ roll’
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Fillmore East, the iconic theater that early on was dubbed by a member of the Grateful Dead as “The Church of Rock n Roll.” And while the Fillmore is best known for the way it mainstreamed youth music, this rock ‘n’ roll church also has…
-
We’ll always have Paris (even if Paris can never be the same)
The pandemic had me fearing I might die without getting to use my miles. Soon after it was announced that France was reopening, our son, whose wife grew up there, said, “We’re taking the baby to Paris. Want to come?” Since I’m a Jewish mother and now the grandmother of an adorable 20-month-old, he had…
-
From Israel, an anguished cry of rage, pain and love
Two years after he won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival with his existential and diasporic parable “Synonyms,” Israeli auteur Nadav Lapid traded the marshes of Prussia for the beaches of Southern France, where his latest film, “Ahed’s Knee” picked up the Prix de la Jury at the 74th Cannes Film Festival. Lapid,…
-
In Lakewood, New Jersey, a garden blooms — and so does a community
Wearing a broadbrimmed straw garden hat, Tova Herskovitz looked over the raised beds and smiled. The first carrot tops were poking through the chocolate-colored soil, the purple kale was already looking hearty, and so was the mint. “Everybody should take some mint home with them,” she said. As a longtime organizer, Herskovitz loves it when…
-
With #MyOrthodoxLife, religious women say Netflix doesn’t speak for them
It looked like a pretty ordinary Instagram post: a smiling woman in a trendy periwinkle dress, posed against a background of roses. But Alex Fleksher, the woman in the picture, was on a mission. She wanted people to know that plenty of women “are leading happy, healthy, and fulfilled Orthodox lives,” she wrote. “I’m a…
-
Ben & Jerry’s is leaving Israeli settlements and people online are taking it very seriously
Ben & Jerry’s has historically been a very vocal advocate of social justice and environmental issues. At the top of the company’s Twitter page, a thread condemning the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is pinned. On 4/20, instead of making jokes about stoners eating ice cream, the company bought billboards to criticize racial bias…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaida in address to Republican officials
- 2
Opinion Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians
- 3
Culture I ranked the NYC mayoral candidates exclusively based on their bagel orders
- 4
News How Jewish can you be in a Boca country club? Wrapping tefillin got a family suspended, lawsuit says
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Trump’s latest move makes Mahmoud Khalil a Joseph for our times
-
Opinion Israel’s strike on Iran was necessary. But for real change, the US must join the fray
-
Fast Forward Trump administration refuses to release Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil, despite judge’s order
-
Fast Forward Dozens wounded as Iran’s missiles hit Tel Aviv area in response to Israeli attacks
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
