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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My life as the big cheese at Murray’s
In 1987, bankrupt and divorced, I washed up in Greenwich Village at my brother’s apartment in the John Adams on Sixth Avenue He’d left Wall Street to do tax law in the entertainment business in Los Angeles, and told me I could crash at his place until it sold. I’d left the family grocery business…
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Goin’ back to Zabar’s Zabar’s Zabar’s!
When did it really start? Was it when I made the appointment for my first COVID shot? Was it after I received the shot and heard Dr Fauci say that the first shot provided 85 percent immunity? Or was it after the next shot, the second shot, at which point 85 percent to 92 percent…
The Latest
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In a historical time-bomb, echoes of Kafka and portents of Hitchcock
The Passenger By Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz Translated from German by Philip Boehm Metropolitan Books, 288 pp, $24.99 Unable to remember the phone number of the “friend” who offered to buy his house for an extortionist trifle, Otto Silbermann reflects that: “All misfortune stems from forgetfulness.” In “The Passenger,” Silbermann, a wealthy Jewish businessman, attempts to…
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May 7: Forward archivist joins “Lot Talk”
This talk will take place on Friday, May 7 at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT. Click here to register. Join the Forward, Urban Archive, and the Municipal Art Society of New York for a “Lot Talk” — a short, fun, and informal talk on random and fascinating aspects of New York City history….
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‘Let him fade into the woodwork’ — Madoff’s victims respond to his passing
Bernie Madoff is survived by his wife, Ruth — and the thousands of people whose lives he upended. The effect of the disgraced financier’s machinations rippled. Jewish non-profits reeled when the Ponzi scheme came tumbling down. Fortunes and more modest savings were lost, and so were the jobs of many who worked for Jewish institutions. Victims…
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How an antisemite like Baudelaire influenced generations of Jewish writers
According to researcher Brett Bowles, Charles Baudelaire, who was born 200 years ago April 9, 1821, was a raging antisemite. In an article from 2000, Bowles noted that in “My Heart Laid Bare” (Mon cœur mis à nu), a posthumously published book of fragmentary observations, the author of the collection “The Flowers of Evil” declared:…
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WATCH: An exclusive trailer for ‘Upheaval,’ the story of Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin’s legacy beggars belief. The former Prime Minister of Israel survived the Shoah and Soviet Gulags. He headed the Irgun, leading the British to label him a terrorist. His critics, including Jimmy Carter, believed him to be a war monger. And yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize, with Carter, for the Camp David…
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Ady Barkan will not go quietly
I challenge you to see Nicholas Bruckman’s new movie about Ady Barkan and not cry. Actually, go ahead: watch and weep. The challenge was not yours, after all, but nominally mine as a reviewer of “Not Going Quietly.” A review assignment generally means trying to keep some critical distance from the cultural product so one…
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May 10: LGBTQ discrimination at Yeshiva University
This talk will take place on Monday, May 10 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT Watch on Facebook Live here. Last week, recent alumni filed a lawsuit against Yeshiva University, alleging a pattern of discrimination against LGBTQ students at the premier Modern Orthodox institution. Read our investigation here and join us for a…
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How to say kaddish for Bernie Madoff
When Alicia Jo Rabins wrote “A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff,” she had no idea it would come out the year Bernie Madoff actually died. “Wow. It’s an odd experience to have my phone blowing up because someone I’ve never met died in his 80s!” she said when I emailed her today. Though the kaddish prayer…
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When George Costanza lost it all to Bernie Madoff
It was more than a great idea. It was more than a couple million dollars. Of the many victims of Bernard L. Madoff, the Ponzi scheme mastermind who died in prison April 14, was a visionary entrepreneur: George Costanza, whose app, iToilet, directed its user via global positioning technology to the nearest acceptable public toilet…
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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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Books How Jews shaped the Western – and how the Western shaped Jews
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