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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Raves in the desert, secret parties in mansions — COVID couldn’t stop Israel’s underground party scene
In Israel, #hotvaxxedsummer is already underway; all restrictions have been lifted, bars are packed and parties are sold out. Hookup culture has come back to life, and people are beyond grateful to be out of their houses, finally seeing their friends and meeting new people. But not everyone actually stopped seeing people in the first…
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Bagels, challah or hamentaschen? Jerry or George? We ranked choice-voted our favorite Jewish and New York things.
Beyond the usual candidate drama — including but not limited to issues of residency and alleged union-busting and sexual harassment allegations — the big story in this year’s New York City mayoral race is ranked choice voting. For a people with 1.5 opinions per person, Jewish voters, unsurprisingly, have plenty to say. Many may appreciate…
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What will #hotvaxxedsummer look like? Israel beat us there
The U.S. is finally reopening. Nightclubs will soon be back in full swing, and people are predicting another Roaring ’20s era of debauchery and indulgence — dubbed, at least online, #hotvaxxedsummer. But not everyone is so excited. Some are anxious about how it will feel to be in a crowd after over a year of…
The Latest
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In Hebron, a soldier’s life filled with brutality and boredom
Depending on your point of view, Rona Segal’s short documentary “Mission: Hebron,” is either a hatchet job designed to make Israel look bad or a justifiable indictment of the country’s brutal military presence in Hebron, home to approximately 30,000 Palestinians flanked by an encroaching wave of Jewish settlers — to date an estimated 1,000. Six…
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In this classic Jewish children’s book, a Yiddish-speaking dog learns to reject racism
As America continues its intensified reckoning with questions of racial justice, parents and educators are keenly aware of the need to speak to children about race in ways that feel authentic and relatable. The Jewish community can look to Yiddish literature for models of antiracist storytelling that took shape long before the storied alliances of…
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How to master the little-known art of indoor birdwatching
On my way to a museum for the first time in 15 months, I paused at the sight of something red flashing past me in the North Woods of Central Park. I squinted into a tangle of branches and dense foliage until I saw it again — black with a splotch of red, or maybe…
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On the bayou, where Black and white lawyers worked together to fight racism
More than 50 years before the term intersectionality entered the lexicon of social and political activists, Black lawyers and civil rights workers in the Deep South found common cause with 1960s era northern Jewish lawyers. Bringing on white lawyers was a pragmatic decision on the part of Black southern lawyers who oftentimes were blocked, intimidated,…
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July 7: 16 over 61 awards ceremony
This ceremony will take place on Wednesday, July 7 at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT. Register here. Please join us to celebrate the recipients of our inaugural 16 over 61 awards. Jewish tradition is filled with stories of individuals who take transformative journeys late in their lives. Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Miriam, and Naomi…
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Gossip is back — and that’s a good thing
It may be lashon hara, but talking to each other about each other fuels a sense of connection
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Can Shabbat be #self-care? For me, the answer was yes — maybe
Sometimes, when I quit Slack and stow away my laptop on a Friday afternoon, I go on Instagram and scroll through pictures of challah. Plain challah, rainbow challah, challah embellished with candied flowers. Hefty, round challah and etiolated mini challahs scattered artfully across a pristine baking sheet. Challah posed next to minimalist Shabbat candlesticks or…
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The secret Jewish history of birdwatching
Like so many things, birdwatching can be traced back to the Bible, specifically to the story of Noah and the Flood. You probably recall that when the floodwaters receded and Noah’s ark found itself grounded atop Mount Ararat, Noah opened a window in the ark and sent out a dove to run reconnaissance for him,…
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