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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That time ‘I Love Lucy’ confronted antisemitism in front of millions of Americans
A nice thing about being alive in this current moment in history is that one can say things like, “television is the great American art form” and people will actually take you seriously. And if television is the great American art form, Lucille Ball is one of its most important founders. If you haven’t seen…
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In a notorious French internment camp, harrowing reminders of the consequences of extremism
“When the artist finds himself,” Max Ernst famously remarked, “he is lost.” That he had never found himself, Ernst added, was “his only lasting achievement.” And yet, Ernst had indeed once found himself in, well, surreal circumstances. In 1939, the 50-year old German painter who had lived in Paris since the early 1920s was caught…
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Aaron Sorkin has done his homework on ‘I Love Lucy’ — does that mean we have to do ours?
The films Aaron Sorkin writes and directs — so far those would be “Molly’s Game” (2017), about the real-life poker organizer Molly Bloom; “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (2020), about the real-life trial following the 1968 DNC riots; and now “Being the Ricardos,” about the real-life marriage of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the…
The Latest
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‘Holocoste’ sweatshirt taken down by Ukrainian Jewish group
Thousands of stores sell knockoff brand merchandise. But one decided to take it a step further by bringing antisemitism into it with a “Holocoste” sweatshirt, featuring a crocodile like the Lacoste brand’s logo. Elina Katz, a program coordinator for Project Kesher in Ukraine, noticed the sweatshirt for sale on a major e-commerce site called Prom,…
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The most powerful Jewish artist you’ve never heard of
A massive exhibit at one of Miami’s leading art museums is reclaiming a place in art history for an iconoclastic but little-known Jewish artist and Holocaust survivor. . The show, “My Name Is Maryan”, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami, explores the legacy of the Polish-born artist Maryan, who survived an…
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Books From a Budapest attic to the New York Knicks: A Holocaust survivor’s family journey
For the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, the irony of Dan Grunfeld’s first contract offer to play professional basketball was a bit on-the-nose. It was not just that it came from Germany. The team that wanted him was from Oldenburg — the first state to put the Nazi party in power. Grunfeld’s new book, By…
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The ‘Lehman Trilogy’ cast had questions about Jews and money — and a rabbi to answer them
Not long before the debut of Lehman Trilogy at London’s National Theatre, Rabbi Daniel Epstein was teaching the cast about kaddish. In a play dense with Jewish references, the prayer for the dead is a symbolic lodestar, and Epstein wanted the actors to know what it meant. Only three actors have lines in Lehman, which…
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What got lost when Oskar Schindler’s story became ‘Schindler’s List’
Editor’s Note: The director Steven Spielberg turns 75 on Dec. 18. To mark that momentous occasion, the Forward is running a series of essays reassessing his films. Read more of our “Spielberg at 75” series here. We’ve all seen this movie. Most likely, more than once. Most likely, in tears. So you already know the…
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Books Steven ‘Shmuel’ Spielberg’s epic contribution to Yiddish culture
On December 18, iconic film director Steven Spielberg, will turn 75. No doubt, admirers of his work round the world will mark the event by watching some of his greatest movies, including “The Color Purple”, “Jaws” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”. Others will return to movie theatres after a long plague-driven break, to catch his newest…
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The 12 best Jewish and Jew-ish TV series of 2021
It’s been a long year – again. The pandemic that kept us locked inside last winter is rearing its ugly head again, people are still protesting vaccines while wearing yellow Stars of David and now, just to make sure we have no small pleasures left, there’s a cream cheese shortage. Thankfully, though, it’s been a…
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How Steven Spielberg mentored a whole generation of filmmakers
Editor’s Note: The director Steven Spielberg turns 75 on Dec. 18. To mark that momentous occasion, the Forward is running a series of essays reassessing his films. Read more of our “Spielberg at 75” series here. Let’s say you were to time travel to 1968 on a mission to keep a short film called “Amblin’”…
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