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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Once the staple of New York politics, whatever became of the knish?
All ten leading New York mayoral candidates seem to agree on one thing: New York bagels are better than California bagels (no matter what The New York Times says). Food is an easy way for politicians to win points and present themselves as relatable. Besides, being asked your bagel order is a softball question compared…
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Books ‘This man is not going to daunt me:’ Talking with Philip Roth’s biographer, Blake Bailey
Editor’s note: Two weeks after this interview with Blake Bailey was published, multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct. Details of the allegations may be found here. A masterful writer obsessively preoccupied with whether and how he’d be valued by history; a deeply sensitive charmer with a real…
The Latest
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The artist who transfixed Albert Einstein and Jean-Paul Sartre
As a teenager I would often mistake Alexander Calder’s work for that of Joan Miró and sometimes even Picasso. Bold, playful and abstract, the sculpture of these three art giants appeared interchangeable. Visits to Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona and Musée Picasso in Paris only seemed to confirm Calder’s European influences, even though the darker…
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October 20: Have I Got A Story For You! The Forward’s 2021 gala
Our virtual gala will take place on Wednesday, October 20 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Register here. Join us for a virtual evening of celebration, hosted by Forward journalists and Ginna and Lynn of A Bintel Brief podcast. Hear stories from celebrities, thought leaders and members of the Forward family from across…
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Was Mitt Romney drinking Kedem for Easter?
Each year around the Easter-Pesach nexus we inevitably have a difficult discussion about cultural appropriation. Thankfully, it looks we don’t need to have that talk with the junior senator from Utah. While there are some differences of opinion, the holiday discourse usually goes as follows: DO attend a Jewish friend’s Seder if you are Christian,…
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No, Paul Simon is not a ‘historical footnote.’ And no, it doesn’t really matter.
And no, this is not an aggrieved defense of a Boomer icon either
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‘Space Jam’ should have these Jewish Warner Bros. characters in its lineup
We live in a world of giants — some of them iron, all of them corporate. With the first trailer for “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” we have an artifact that media theorists are poking and prodding for insights into our current moment of rapacious franchise bloat and media monopoly. Like the original, it pairs…
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I took Duolingo’s new Yiddish course for a test drive. Here’s what I found.
Read this article in Yiddish In nearly eight years of covering Yiddish events for the Forverts, I have never seen anything approaching the level of excitement accompanying the release of Duolingo’s Yiddish course, which will go live Tuesday, April 6. Ever since work began on the course five years ago, reddit, Twitter, Facebook and Duolingo’s…
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The Night We Lost The Messiah Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
The balcony curtains suddenly parted. The Rebbe sat motionless surrounded by his three trusted rabbinical aides. On cue, the singing and chanting began: “Long live our Master, Teacher and Rebbe, King Messiah, Forever and Ever!” Hundreds of men dressed in black suits stood shoulder to shoulder on the synagogue floor craning their necks towards the…
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The New York Bagel Experience is not for hipsters
As recent transplants to this fair city of New York, we have plenty to learn about bagels. We haven’t had a chance to develop brand loyalties and identify establishments we love — or simply refuse to patronize. We don’t have firm feelings about the Montreal bagel. We can’t yet bring ourselves to speak unironically of…
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Is the legend of Murray’s Cheese only a myth?
For the past two decades, Murray’s Cheese has been Manhattan’s cheese tastemaker. From a small Greenwich Village store, cheesemongers enlighten New Yorkers on terroirs and washed rinds and supply upscale restaurants with camembert and French triple crèmes. Since 2008, Murray’s influence has spread across the country. Now fully owned by Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket…
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