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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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
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John Oliver draws praise and condemnation for his segment on conflict in Gaza
John Oliver is no stranger to upsetting people — I mean, he upset the city of Danbury so much they named a sewage plant after him. But on Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver took his own trademark Etonian anger to the Levant, accusing Israel of war crimes in their response to rocket fire…
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How a Holocaust survivor thrived in an art world that didn’t want her
Against all odds, Mila Gokhman has made a life full of flowers. “The main things in my life are flowers and trees,” the artist, 87, said in an interview. She was speaking from Los Angeles, where she lives today. But we were talking about an artistic journey that took place in another country entirely. Born…
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How Simone Weil taught us to confront a world poisoned with lies
In 1943, a staff member of the Free French completed yet another policy paper for her superiors. She was under no illusion that her reports were read, much less understood, by the leader of the Free French, Charles de Gaulle. Perhaps she had learned of his response— Mais, elle est folle! —upon reading her proposal…
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Has the IDF shifted its social media strategy?
Usually, government social media accounts stick to major announcements or instructions. But the Israeli Defense Forces are known, in times of peace, for their social media savvy, posting largely cheerful photos of young soldiers and triumphant remembrances of Israel’s victories, plus the occasional snarky meme poking fun at Hamas or Hezbollah. (There was a Valentine’s…
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In 21st century America, where arranged child marriages remain a scourge
Kate Ryan Brewer’s “Knots: A Forced Marriage Story” is one disturbing, though important, documentary, one that grows increasingly unsettling as three articulate and intelligent young women matter-of-factly recount their belittling, exploitive, and ultimately dehumanizing experiences in forced marriages. Mercifully each has escaped and forged successful, independent lives; one has become a recognized outspoken activist on…
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Why is late-night TV still a no-woman zone
CNN’s current series of documentaries about late-night television rekindled memories of working on the “Tonight Show” back when it was based in New York but shooting for three weeks in “beautiful Downtown Burbank,” as Johnny Carson joked. At 23 and new to the entertainment industry, I was taken aback to have the star appear at…
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The one story Norman Lloyd waited a lifetime to tell
There were countless memorable moments during the production of our documentary film “Who is Norman Lloyd?” Arriving at the Telluride Film Festival in a tiny prop plane for the premiere and encountering the 9000-foot altitude was merely one of the headier ones. Interviewing Karl Malden, an acting idol of mine, started out as a nervous…
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Computers can write Torah now — should we be excited or terrified?
The premise was mine. I typed: Once the CEO of Apple approached the Kotzker Rebbe and asked him why he should continue believing in God. The Kotzker answered: Yes, I wondered. What did he answer? I pressed Enter. On the screen, it appeared: ”I am a lamp. I give light to others. But I do…
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Meet the sociologist who left his Chabad community and wrote a pathbreaking study of ex-Hasidim
Read this article in Yiddish When Schneur Zalman Newfield studied at Chabad yeshivas, everyone thought he was a pious young man who had little knowledge of the outside world. They couldn’t have imagined that Newfield had secretly assembled a stash of contraband books – modern Yiddish literature, science and history texts and even Russian novels…
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Film & TV An Oscar winner gives new life to a classic story of exile
When Caroline Link reread “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit,” decades after she first read it for school, she underlined a passage where Swiss boys throw gravel at the young Jewish protagonist. She couldn’t wait to direct that scene. It’s a curious, if not quite startling moment in the chapter book, a 1971 semi-autobiographical novel of…
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Are Instagram infographics driving the narrative around the Israeli-Palestinian crisis?
Hashtag activism isn’t known for making a long-lasting impact, but it’s certainly a way to spread news and hot takes far and wide — the hotter the take, the more viral the post. While social media’s full impact on the evolving conflict in Gaza and Jerusalem is still emerging, blaring headlines and infographics have already…
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