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
-
Ravaged by Alzheimer’s, a star professor tries to remember how to love
Morningside Heights By Joshua Henkin Pantheon Books, 304 pages, $26.95 One of the terrors of aging is the prospect of Alzheimer’s disease. An even worse scourge, though, is the variant of the disease that afflicts the merely middle-aged – the brutal early-onset Alzheimer’s so memorably embodied by Oscar winner Julianne Moore in the 2014 film…
-
Palestinian advocacy groups drew tens of thousands of new followers on social media. But can they move that support offline?
While Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip traded missiles in May, a parallel war exploded on social media. And though analysts disagree about the relative gains of Israel and Hamas on the battlefield, in the field of social-media, the pro-Palestinian cause seems to have increased its share of hearts and minds — or…
-
What if ‘Call Me By Your Name’ was French? (And less Jewish)
François Ozon’s “Summer of 85,” which hit the Jewish film festival circuit earlier this year, seems like a coup for any lineup: a sumptuous period piece that competed at Cannes and isn’t about the Holocaust should be opening night material. But what makes it Jewish? The film, which comes to cinemas in New York and…
The Latest
-
Photo collection captures Hasidic life round the world
Read this article in Yiddish The Polish photographer Agnieszka Traczewska has just published a second collection of photographs of Hasidic Jewish life, entitled “A Rekindled World.” In this new album she presents scenes of daily life among ultra-Orthodox Jews in America, Israel, Canada, England, Belgium and Brazil. Her previous collection, “The Returns,” centered on images…
-
One lesbian romcom delivered with a side of Holocaust memories
Warning beeps greet the audience at the very start of “Kiss Me Kosher.” They come from the burglar alarm for Shira’s bar, “The Real Jewish Princess,” though there doesn’t seem to be anyone there. Shira (Moran Rosenblatt), named the bar for her beloved but cantankerous grandmother Berta (Rivka Michaeli), a Holocaust survivor whose painting hangs…
-
How one dance lover is preserving the Jewish history of ballet — one blog entry at a time
Beatrice Waterhouse happened to go to a college that had a notable dance program. She hadn’t taken a ballet class since her early teens, but she figured she’d take a course on the history of dance. It sounded cool — plus, she needed the elective. “It turned out to be a history of basically ethnic…
-
Ferris Bueller turns 35 — and I still hate him
I had a friend from camp who loved Ferris Bueller and lived by the Tao of his maxim: “Life moves pretty fast if you don’t stop to look around once in a while.” The friend’s name was, funnily enough, Cameron. Cameron (the person, not the character in the film) made friends easily, had a Hebrew…
-
19 reasons why shiva is like a Phish concert
My mother loved a party. In fact, my mother was a party! She loved art and theater and literature, and subcultures of the high and lowbrow varieties; she fled her parents’ strict home at 22 to find herself in swinging London, looking the part in Twiggy eyeliner and a mod haircut. It changed the course…
-
How the Jewish Labor Committee became the unsung heroes of World War II
The Jewish Labor Committee remains a little known Jewish-American institution. Founded in New York in February 1934, it still exists today representing a Jewish voice in the world of labor and a labor voice among Jewish-American organizations. Since the 1930’s, however, the Holocaust, the creation of Israel and the decline of the labor movement have…
-
Music The secret Jewish history of Judy Garland
Editor’s Note: Judy Garland, who was born on June 10, 1922, would have turned 99 today. We take that occasion to explore the many Jewish affinities and associations of her career. Although Judy Garland wasn’t Jewish, but several of her romantic partners were, including two of her five husbands. Many of her best-known songs were…
-
Your Jewish guide to Pride 2021
We are officially in Pride Month, and this year, with the return of some in-person events, it feels particularly festive. Yes, we’re still not through with the pandemic, but in-person Pride Shabbatot on sunny beaches, special seminars and yes, even parades are back on. And there are also still plenty of virtual options, offering the…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News A pioneering Reform synagogue makes way for a booming Iranian Jewish community
- 2
Opinion Who’s responsible for deadly antisemitism? Everyone will hate the answer
- 3
Opinion Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here’s what Jewish organizations should do about it.
- 4
Film & TV Remembering Siskel and Ebert’s great debate: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward UCLA student government condemns campus Hillel for hosting former hostage
-
Fast Forward Trump extends ceasefire with Iran, even after Iran balks at new round of negotiations
-
Fast Forward Alan Dershowitz quits Democratic Party, calling it ‘most anti-Israel party in U.S. history’
-
Fast Forward Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas says Zionists ‘talk like Black people during slavery’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
