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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At the Cloisters, an oddly-shaped window reveals hints of Jewish life in medieval Spain
Sometime in the 900s, a Spanish monk named Maius painted his version of Jerusalem. Rendered on vellum in precise detail and luminous color, the painting tells a very Christian story, imagining the harmonious city that might emerge after the Day of Judgment. But with its horseshoe arches, distinctive crenellations and tall flying buttresses, this ideal…
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How a Brooklyn music teacher, the Lone Ranger and two temples changed my life
When did I discover that I could sing, that I could harmonize? Was it a special gift? I remember singing in elementary school. I tried out for the role of Nanki-Poo in “The Mikado” and wound up in the chorus. And, in “I Hear America Singing.” I played the lead role — Walt Whitman. Mrs….
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February 7: Jonathan Greenblatt in conversation with Jodi Rudoren
This discussion will take place on Monday, February 7 at 7 p.m. ET./ 4 p.m. PT. Register here. As CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Jonathan Greenblatt has made it his mission to demonstrate how antisemitism, racism, and other insidious forms of intolerance can destroy a society, taking root as quiet prejudices but mutating over…
The Latest
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In Tammy Faye Starlite’s Israeli chanteuse, a remembrance of Judaism — and pop culture — past
It’s unclear what circumstances brought Tamar, the mononymous Israeli chanteuse, to the dining room of Pangea in the East Village this October, but it is her feeling that the venue is quite lucky to have her. “Normally I play great concert halls,” Tamar told the crowd Thursday, “Like Leonard’s of Great Neck.” Decked out with…
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Despite her ‘15 minutes of shame,’ Monica Lewinsky didn’t learn much about cancel culture
Monica Lewinsky knows a little something about public shame. “I was patient zero of having a reputation completely destroyed worldwide because of the internet,” she says in the introduction to her new documentary, “15 Minutes of Shame.” That’s why Lewinsky seems as if she would be the perfect guide to take viewers through the minefield…
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Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ came at the right time in the Jewish calendar
This article contains spoilers if you’ve still somehow avoided seeing “Squid Game.” “Squid Game,” a Korean-language Netflix series, was a surprise hit; while executives expected it to be a major success with its native audience, it’s currently on track to become the platform’s most-viewed series ever, with interest still building, according to Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s…
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Why attending the Brookyn Bagelfest made us hate bagels
Immediately upon walking into the Brooklyn Bagelfest, you passed a photo booth featuring a kiddie pool filled with real bagels. A steady stream of eager Instagrammers stepped into the pool to take pictures with oversized inflatable props, like fried eggs, bacon and palm trees — bagels are, after all, traditionally a tropical food. “These Bagels…
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Is the death of the McDonald’s McBagel good for the Jews?
After a 22-year run, the bagel as a staple of McDonald’s is no more. At the start of the pandemic, the fast-food chain pivoted to focus on drive-thru and takeout service, removing over 100 menu items. As dining rooms in the United States reopened in the summer of 2020, many items returned. The bagel, however,…
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In Russia, a Jewish couple dubbed ‘Spartacus.’ In Israel, they’re doing phone sex and voicing air-raid alerts.
When the Iron Curtain fell and Soviet refuseniks were finally allowed to settle in Israel, many found some novel worries, and some familiar ones, waiting on the other side. While they looked for work, these Jews found themselves navigating a new country and a new language. But, amid the stress of assimilation they still had…
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‘It was not hunger. Fear was all I tasted.’
Qian Julie Wang’s memoir, “Beautiful Country,” tells of her childhood as an undocumented Chinese immigrant in New York. Now a lawyer and the founder of the Jews of Color group at Central Synagogue, Wang says she encounters immigrant children today who remind her of her upbringing tempered by persistent hunger and the fear of being…
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An immigrant child’s trauma in a ‘Beautiful Country’
Qian Julie Wang is the author of The New York Times bestseller “Beautiful Country,” a moving memoir of her childhood as an undocumented Chinese immigrant in New York, written on her iPhone during her subway commute to her job as a lawyer. She is the founder and leader of the Jews of Color group at…
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