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
-
Books
An oral history of the most epic Jewish summer camp prank ever
The summer before 10th grade, some friends of mine pulled off what I have long thought had to be the most outrageous prank of all time: spoiling the biggest twist in the Harry Potter series for an entire sleepaway camp. It happened at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., on July 18, 2005, two days after…
-
The secret Jewish history of Frankenstein
Author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born on this day, Aug. 30, in 1797 in London. Shelley is best known as the author of the Gothic novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” and as the wife of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary Shelley was something of a radical in her time: a believer in…
-
Ed Asner’s very righteous (and very Jewish) journey
The American actor Ed Asner, who died on Aug. 29 at age 91, showed that Jewish identity can mean defending a range of minority groups, not just fellow Jews. Asner had little opportunity to express this viewpoint as the editor Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” a character he described to Jewish journalist…
The Latest
-
How a Jewish photographer found his true calling in Chinatown
The life’s-work of the bespectacled, bow-tie wearing photojournalist Emile Bocian might have been lost forever if not for the foresight of actress Mae Wong. After Bocian died in 1990, Wong, his close friend, discovered over 120,000 photographs, negatives and contact sheets stuffed into cigarette and shoeboxes in his apartment. Knowing he had no children, and…
-
Why playing baseball on Yom Kippur matters
Yom Kippur has many particularities — repeating “Kol Nidre” three times; Leonard Cohen’s take on “Una Taneh Tokef”; bagels for breakfast. A fourth feature — more cultural, perhaps, but a Jewish practice — is wondering whether Jewish major leaguers will play on the Holy Day and how they will do. In 2019, Tablet’s Armin Rosen…
-
Remembering a visit with the late Ed Asner, star of ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ and ‘Lou Grant’
Editor’s Note: Ed Asner, who starred in ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and ‘Lou Grant’ died Sunday at age 91. Today, we look back on a 2012 interview with Simi Horwitz in which he spoke about Judaism, journalism and his final wishes. Ed Asner was seated in a makeshift living room in a large, garishly…
-
Here’s one big reason why online antisemitism and extremism are so hard to stop
TikTok is no stranger to antisemitic trends, from teens pretending to be Holocaust victims arriving at the gates of heaven to videos of face-distorting filters set to “Hava Nagila.” Some comments on posts by or about Jews make light of the Holocaust or say that Hitler “missed one.” But antisemitism is only one form of…
-
November 15: Antisemitism in America: Stories from the front lines
This conversation will take place on Monday, November 15 at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. Register here. We’re excited to partner with the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan for an investigation into the roots and manifestations of antisemitism in America. When antisemitism is on the rise, who are the most vulnerable targets? The “visibly…
-
Film & TV I built the ‘Seinfeld’ apartment from Lego — it nearly broke me
I grew up in a house with a framed cocktail napkin signed by Jerry Seinfeld and every episode of his sitcom taped on VHS. All this is to say that I have a long history of welcoming the man into my home and am pretty familiar with the layout of the “Seinfeld” apartment. That said,…
-
Will Spike Lee’s 9/11 series feature a conspiracy theorist who welcomes antisemitic canards?
Spike Lee’s searching curiosity makes him one of our best and most eclectic filmmakers. But sometimes he may be asking the wrong questions of the wrong people. As Jeremy Stahl reported Tuesday in Slate, in an advanced cut of the final episode of Lee’s new documentary miniseries on HBO, “NYC Epicenters 9/11–2021½,” the director devoted…
-
In Thailand, a rich and complicated Jewish history
Thailand is usually mentioned in world media in terms of Jews when local students or rock performers use Nazi imagery frivolously, unaware of its meaning. Apologies are then duly rendered to the Embassy of Israel in Thailand, which are graciously accepted by the ambassador, and everyone moves on, although the major focus of Thai national…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Netanyahu says ‘tragic mishap’ fueled Gaza hospital strikes that killed 20, including 5 journalists
-
Fast Forward Kneecap cancels sold-out US tour, one day after clash with Jewish protesters in Paris
-
News How the online knitting world unraveled over Israel and Gaza
-
Culture The Trump administration says it’s posting ‘banger memes’ — here’s why that’s a problem for Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
