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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‘Lift Ev’ry Voice’ honors the history of the Black-Jewish alliance
U.S. Representative James Clyburn recently proposed that the African-American anthem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” should become the national hymn, to join Francis Scott Key’s national anthem. James Weldon Johnson (1876–1938), who wrote “Lift Ev’ry Voice” with his brother, composer J. Rosamond Johnson, was a poet, novelist, Broadway lyricist, civil rights activist, and diplomat. Johnson…
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Dropping Potato Head’s ‘Mr.’ doesn’t erase the brand’s Jewish roots
The discourse boiled over Thursday with the announcement that Mr. Potato Head products would be rebranded as the gender neutral “Potato Head.” Knowing that potato plants are hermaphroditic anyway, I welcome this inclusive marketing change. But let’s hash out one thing: I would like for Potato Head to still be Jewish. Yes, Mr. Potato Head…
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The cruel secret history of a Jewish adoption agency that separated siblings
Margaret Erle, the 16-year-old daughter of refugees from Nazi Germany, fell in love with George Katz, 17, the son of two Viennese Holocaust survivors in Upper Manhattan in 1960. At the time, there was little birth control, no sex education, and abortion, of course, was illegal. Like more than 3 million other young unwed women…
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The obvious biblical beef with the Golden Trump
Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, two men were seen hauling a gold statue of Donald Trump through the Hyatt Regency Orlando lobby. Clergy, coreligionists and people with eyes for easy metaphors all asked: Where’s the beef? The golden calf jokes aren’t subtle and wry when they make it all obvious like that https://t.co/mNQzwjgGsh…
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No, Mike Nichols wasn’t a great director, but he did touch greatness once
I didn’t think it was possible for an EGOT winner to be an underdog. Mike Nichols had a Grammy when he was 31, a Tony when he was 33, and an Oscar when he was 36. The Emmy didn’t come until he was 70, but to make up for lost time he snatched up two…
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Klingon Hanukkah and ‘Rugrats’ Purim — our wish list for Paramount+’s reboots
Mere weeks after a Super Bowl ad showed Jeff Probst, Dora the Explorer and DJ Khaled summiting a twisted Mount Olympus of mixed intellectual property, the forthcoming Paramount+ platform has announced more familiar faces coming to its streaming lineup. Because there is nothing new under the sun, we’ll be graced with a fresh take on…
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TikTok didn’t know Jews of color existed. This frum Black Jew is teaching them.
I met Tony Westbrookin Jerusalem, in 2016, when we both studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Tony was a large presence in the program; he was known for hosting beautiful, multi-course Shabbat meals and making soup to deliver to anyone in the program who got sick. Today, Tony is the Assistant Director of…
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In Tel Aviv, racial privilege gets a second look
We’ve seen this before. A street scene. A young man finds his stolen bike and calls the police. They ask him to find the thief and he thinks he does. Within minutes, the life of a Black person is destroyed. It could be cellphone footage from anywhere in America. But it happened in Israel. “White…
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Why Hamantashen are the most divisive cookies in the world
Hamantashen are divisive cookies. Named after the Purim story’s villain, Haman, the triangle confections are supposed to resemble either his hat or his ears, depending who you ask — and many consider the often dry and crumbly cookie about as appetizing. Defending their honor is even part of the famed Latke-Hamantash Debate. (The Forward staff…
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Is it kosher to smoke weed for Purim?
The Talmud (Megillah 7b to be exact) tells us to get — and I’m paraphrasing here — totally smashed on Purim, so intoxicated that we cannot tell the difference between the story’s villain, Haman, and the hero, Mordechai. But the Talmud doesn’t specify which intoxicants to consume. Could you, perhaps, smoke a blunt instead of…
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Why a slice of pizza holds the key to ’90s New York
David Shapiro’s madeleine, the nostalgic bite that transports him back in time and space, is a slice of pizza made by a guy named Andrew Bellucci circa 1995. Or maybe it’s a casserole, consumed in a StuyTown apartment building in 1973, part of a “reparation playdate” for when his schoolmate, Leeds Atkinson, called him a…
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