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
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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
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God Bless Irving Berlin!
Editor’s Note; This article was originally published in the Forward on September 20, 2012. To some lovers of classical American song, it may seem paradoxical that the Tin Pan Alley genius who created such goyish holiday classics as “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade” was born Israel Isidore Beilin in Belarus, Russia, the son of a…
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Antisemitism may be the least of Van Morrison’s problems on his wretched new album
There is not one single moment of wit, humor or self-reflection on Van Morrison’s execrable new album, “Latest Recording Project Volume 1” (is that “Volume 1” a promise or a threat?). Morrison gives full voice to his inner Karen throughout the album, kvetching about everything from COVID lockdowns, bad reviews, Facebook, and, insidiously, Jews who…
The Latest
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Why Disraeli is the mensch England could use right now
Will the British prime minister who has been described as “an adventurer addicted to romance and careless about facts” please stand up? The same prime minister who had first made his reputation as a writer before becoming a politician, spices his parliamentary parlays with Latin phrases, and whose reputation as a chancer — a charlatan,…
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Does focusing on Van Morrison’s alleged antisemitism ignore a much bigger problem?
When does hypersensitivity about potential antisemitic slights promote or unnecessarily highlight Jew-hating tropes? If a septuagenarian Irish pop singer wrote a song claiming that “They are all rich” and “They are all stingy,” what sensible Jewish listeners would raise their hands and admit that the tune must be about Jews because, over the years, imbeciles…
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My mother’s survival story — Love and hope after the Holocaust
Miraculously, my mother did what almost no one else in her large family could: She survived WWII. She arrived at New York’s Ellis Island in 1946, still a teenager. Orphaned, dispossessed of everything and knowing no English, she lived first in Toronto with her older sister, Jean, who’d left Poland a decade before the war…
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Three Zabar’s dreams, one American nightmare, and other dispatches from more than nine decades on earth
Now that I’ve lived more than 90 years, at times I wonder what it would be like to be 100, or if I would want to live to be 100. I guess it would depend on what quality of life would accompany that age. Olivia De Havilland, the actress, lived to 104 and Kirk Douglas…
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Musician Yoke Lore thrives as a pandemic hermit. Here’s what he’s gotten done
The last real concert I attended, before the pandemic hit, was at the Sinclair in Cambridge. I was seeing a band called Yoke Lore — really just one guy, who plays electronic-inflected, danceable banjo music. I’d just gotten into the band, and was listening to a few songs on repeat, but I didn’t know much…
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Israeli Eurovision contestant Eden Alene doesn’t have time for pandemic hobbies
I began the interview with a question I ask almost everybody these days: “Do you have a pandemic hobby?” Eden Alene looked at me, politely confused. “What is a pandemic hobby?” “You know,” I said, thinking of all my failed sourdough starters. “A lot of people learned to do new things because they had so…
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A reply to Van Morrison’s totally sane song about media control
New antisemitic Van Morrison track dropped! At least it sure sounds like it. The Irish songster, after months of COVID denial and “Braveheart” talking points about the UK “taking our freedom” for wanting to curb the spread of a deadly virus, released the song “They Own the Media” on streaming platforms Thursday. And boy is…
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‘They Own The Media’: New Van Morrison song amplifies antisemitic trope
Legendary singer-songwriter Van Morrison released a new song on streaming platforms Thursday whose title espouses a classic antisemitic trope. The lyrics of the song, “They Own The Media,” never indicate who the pronoun in its title refers to. But Morrison, a two-time Grammy winner, was also accused of antisemitism for the 2005 track “They Sold…
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‘Jesus,’ ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ and more sign on to ‘Jewish Harper’s Letter’
Anyone who’s anyone, living or dead, vile criminal or ancient sage, can add their name to the “Jewish Harper’s Letter” — and they are. The initial letter from the newly-minted Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, which slammed “suppression of dissent” among Jews, was unveiled with such notable signatories as Bari Weiss, Bret Stephens and Rabbi…
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Fast Forward Zohran Mamdani gets photo-ops — and attacks — after meeting with Orthodox voters
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Fast Forward Israel adopts plan to conquer and occupy Gaza, in a shift for war’s goals
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Fast Forward Netanyahu disputes report that Mike Waltz was fired for coordinating with him on Iran
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Fast Forward Several airlines cancel Israel flights after Houthi missile strikes Ben-Gurion Airport
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