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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Books
They couldn’t find any books on Ashkenazi herbs — so they wrote one
Deatra Cohen was studying to become an herbalist when her teacher assigned what seemed like a straightforward task: researching and reporting on the herbal cures and practices of her own culture. But the project was anything but simple. A retired librarian, Cohen was adept at navigating databases and combing through archives. But she could find…
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How Judd Legum accomplished what millions couldn’t
The famous story goes that in the 1970s, while teaching political science at the University of Louisville, Mitch McConnell made a chalkboard list of three requirements for success in politics: money, money and money. His critics therefore rejoiced when companies began pledging to withhold their money from Republicans who voted to overturn the presidential election….
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How a Jewish filmmaker chronicled an indigenous woman’s historic run for Mexican president
There are no voiceovers in the new Mexican documentary “The Spokeswoman.” No talking heads, no academic commentators, no political analysts, no institutionally accredited experts, and no directorial flourishes in the form of sweeping sound cues or flashy cuts. With very few exceptions, the only voices one hears are those of the men and the women,…
The Latest
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Tovah Feldshuh played RBG and Golda — now she wants to play her mom
Actor Tovah Feldshuh has spent the last two years channeling the ultimate baleboste: her mom, Lily. Born in 1911 on a dining room table in the Bronx, Lillian Kaplan (later to be Feldshuh) longed to “become vivid.” She developed an alter ego named Hortense, who lived glamorously, dancing the Charleston and wearing an edgy bob…
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From ‘Shtisel’ to ‘Tiger King,’ the secret TV bingeing pleasures of America’s Jewish clergy
We look to spiritual leaders to guide us through challenging moments and inspire us, but where do they turn to for their own source of inspiration? Streaming services. “This past year has been hard in new ways, and when you live at your job and your job is often to help other people make it…
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May 13: Israeli author Noa Tishby discusses her new book
This talk will take place on Thursday, May 13 at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT Watch on Facebook Live here. Join Israeli author and activist Noa Tishby in conversation with Forward National Editor Rob Eshman about her new book, Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. A top Israeli…
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May 16: Tikkun Leil Shavuot: Jodi Rudoren joins a discussion on NYC’s 2021 election
This talk will take place on Sunday, May 16 at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT. Click here to register. NYC’s historic 2021 election is fast approaching. With the introduction of ranked choice voting, nearly every city office in play, and hundreds of candidates on the ballot, the June primary has the potential to…
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May 20: Activism, Athletics & Advice: Immigrant Newspapers in NYC
This talk will take place on Thursday, May 20 at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT. Click here to register. Nearly 200 languages are spoken by New York City’s diverse citizens. They read in their own language, too – 95 ethnic and foreign-language newspapers circulate every day in the city. Printing news from the…
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For this survivor and member of the French Resistance, the scars remain
“Colette,” Anthony Giacchino’s extraordinary Oscar-nominated short documentary, is at once simple, complex, and nuanced. It tells the story of Colette Marin-Catherine, an elegant, stoic 90-year-old woman, member of a French Resistance family, who lost her older brother Jean Pierre in the Nordhausen slave-labor camp, circa 1945. He was 17 or 18 at the time, and…
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In the heart of whiskey country, this rabbi puts the bourbon into suburban
Chaim Litvin's casks are 115 proof, which, as Litvin points out, is gematria for “Chazak” (strength)
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How Jewish songwriters wrote the love theme for Philip and Elizabeth
The Kennedys, thanks to Lerner and Loewe, will forever be associated with the English setting of Camelot. Their royal British counterparts chose “Oklahoma!” for their lifelong love theme. Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, who died April 9 at the age of 99, had a special affinity for the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein,…
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Yiddish World Inspired by a queer Bundist poet, this Jewish composer set her work to Yiddish music
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