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
-
‘A lot of Black artists feel that burden — the atypical ascent of choreographer Claudia Schreier’
In the late afternoon and evening light of August, two solo hikers meet by a yellow steel structure in a grassy field. Their faces are obscured behind masks etched with anxiety as they navigate a world inhospitable to Black bodies like theirs. When they happen upon each other, their masks come off as they find…
-
Former Folksbiene CEO quits 6-figure job after résumé-padding investigation
The former CEO of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, who was recently found to have padded his résumé with fake jobs and professional honors, is resigning from his post at the University of Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company, citing mental illness. “Despite many good things that have happened over the last two years under my direction,…
-
How tales of Jewish resistance inspire a 21st Century Nazi hunter
“The madness of the brave moves the world forward,” Chaika Grossman said when she was fighting Nazis in the Polish ghettos. She had a ticket out of Poland in 1938 but chose to stay behind and lead the resistance in her hometown of Bialystok. The Nazis entered the city and punished it at the height…
The Latest
-
100 years of baseball on radio, a century of Jewish announcers
This month marks the centennial of the first live radio broadcast of a Major League Baseball game. Which provides as good excuse as any to examine the tragicomic lore of a century of Jewish baseball announcers. Setting a precedent was Albert Stark, an umpire-turned-announcer in the 1930s who was nicknamed Dolly, because a player who…
-
Wikipedia fixed its swastika problem fast. Why can’t anyone else?
Hate speech is notoriously hard to police online, and nearly every major social media platform has been criticized in the recent past for allowing disinformation and hate to proliferate on their platforms. Wikipedia, meanwhile, got a hacker’s swastikas off of its site in under five minutes. On Monday morning, a Wikipedia template was vandalized, impacting…
-
A Jewish guide to watching HBO’s harrowing ‘Woodstock 99’
You learn a lot about what went horribly wrong with the Woodstock 1999 festival from the new HBO documentary, “Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage.” You learn about the inadequate precautions taken to secure the festival grounds at a decommissioned air force base in upstate New York; the blazing, 100-degree heat with sun baking asphalt…
-
A museum devoted to the Jewish Catskills? In Ulster County, one man’s ready to break ground
Half a century after their heyday, the Catskills are having a moment. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” recently devoted the bulk of a season to the Jewish Alps’ tummling past. The passing of comedian Jackie Mason recalled a bygone era, when families fled urban sprawls to get some mountain air and kibbitz with their coreligionists in…
-
How Jewish alliances fueled the rise of Vernon Jordan
Vernon Jordan, who died in March of this year, would have turned 86 today, Aug. 15, which provides a good occasion to examine how a Black power broker and civil rights advocate used Jewish alliances to further his goals. More than a mere attorney, Jordan was a fixer and kingmaker. He owed his entry into…
-
Books How classic Yiddish tales are being brought back to life — and in English too!
David Forman’s newest book is an old one. Rich with tales of giants, the Tudor court and highwaymen besieging a humble Jewish village, “The Clever Little Tailor” is the first English translation and bilingual edition of Yiddish writer Solomon Simon’s 1933 collection of stories about Shnayderl the tailor. The book is noteworthy for having the…
-
The porky Jewish hockey hero you’ve never heard of
When the 2021-22 National Hockey League season opens this October, the Seattle Kraken will be the first professional Emerald City team since the Totems folded in 1975. But, Seattle has had a long affiliation with the game. The Seattle Metropolitans played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. At this time, the Stanley Cup was a…
-
The secret Jewish history of Liza Minnelli
Like her mother before her, Liza Minnelli is not Jewish. But her life and career has found her inextricably linked with Jewish partners and collaborators. Take, for example, her award-winning 1972 TV concert film, “Liza with a Z,” which is being broadcast on PBS-TV for the first time beginning this weekend (check your local listings)….
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The real reason for the US war with Iran may have nothing to do with Israel
- 2
Fast Forward Chabad on high alert after false Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens war claims
- 3
Culture Could my love of oysters actually be kosher?
- 4
News When observant Jews gathered to challenge Israel orthodoxy, verbal sparring and walkouts ensued
In Case You Missed It
-
News Amid revolt against ‘Israel lobby,’ J Street seeks elusive middle ground in primaries
-
Fast Forward Suspect in Michigan synagogue attack identified as Ayman Ghazali, an immigrant from Lebanon
-
Opinion A gunman attacked a Michigan synagogue. Here’s what happens to the community next
-
Fast Forward Political standoff causing DHS shutdown delays security grants for synagogues
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
