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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Israel’s former space security chief says there’s a ‘Galactic Federation.’ We have some questions.
Groucho Marx, and later Alvy Singer, once quipped “I don’t want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” But what if that club includes aliens? The question came to us Dec. 7, after the Jerusalem Post reported that former Israeli space security chief Haim Eshed dished about the…
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What ‘The Hobbit’ taught me about Zooming through lockdown
It was supposed to be the Zoom session to end all Zoom sessions. We felt we’d earned it. Months of on and off in-school contact (depending on the Covid rate and the Board of Ed’s decision in a given week) had a way of slicing and dicing even the heartiest of relationships and we were…
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Howard Stern disses President Trump, signs up for 5 more years of Sirius
Howard Stern’s not going anywhere. After months of keeping listeners in suspense, the self-coronated King of All Media has announced that he will remain with SiriusXM for an additional five years. In explaining his loyalty to satellite, he dissed his ex of 15 years: terrestrial radio. “I had been in a toxic relationship with terrestrial…
The Latest
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Music The meteoric rise of the a capella Hanukkah video — how a holiday force awakened
Editor’s Note: Long ago in a galaxy far away (well, about a year ago), the Forward published this essay about Hanukkah a capella videos. It won the 2020 Rockower Award for excellence in arts and criticism. For seasonally obvious reasons, we are revisiting it here. “Star Wars” fans have been eagerly awaiting “The Rise of…
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The 8 least essential Hanukkah gifts
Hanukkah will begin on sundown Dec. 10, and even mid-pandemic, many will light the lights, fry the oil, dabble in some low-stakes gambling and, yes, give gifts. Gift guides are always tricky. They ultimately come down to the tastes of the writer, not the gift buyer or receiver. And while there are a number of…
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Remembering the time John Lennon sang ‘Hava Nagilah’
Had he not been gunned down on Dec. 8, 1980 by a deranged “fan” lying in wait for him outside of his Upper West Side residence in Manhattan, John Lennon may well have been a well-preserved 80 years old right now, still happily married to Yoko Ono and living in the Dakota. The ostensible founder…
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How do you celebrate Hanukkah during a pandemic? Here are 10 virtual and socially-distant events happening around the country
Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, and this year, we could all use some. As COVID-19 cases soar and lockdowns go back into effect around much of the country, threatening our economic livelihoods, mental health and family bonds, we can still find a way to celebrate Hanukkah together, and responsibly. The holiday begins on Dec….
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Music In latest 2020 surprise, Bob Dylan sells his catalog to Universal
Bob Dylan has been full of surprises during this unprecedented year. Coming off his witching hour single drops that culminated in a celebrated album of new material, the 79-year-old songwriter has just agreed to sell his entire catalogue of over 600 songs. On Monday, Universal Music Publishing Group announced that it would purchase all of…
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A good way to celebrate a birthday during a pandemic
Before Covid-19, my friends and I would have sleepovers, play games galore, and plan exciting birthday parties. At one of my birthday parties, we choreographed and danced to a song. On another birthday, we made fashionable outfits out of duct tape and newspaper and sashayed around in high couture. But since the pandemic struck, so…
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The best gifts on the internet for Hanukkah at home
Let’s admit it: Hanukkah is the perfect pandemic holiday. Its central rituals take place entirely at home. It can be celebrated alone or in small groups. And it involves one of the chief pastimes of the coronavirus era: eating way more carbs than we should. But in a year when many of us have barely…
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How Alison Lurie inherited her Jewish sense of social consciousness
The writer Alison Lurie, who died on Dec. 3 at age 94, proved that an inherited Jewish sense of social consciousness can inspire a literary career. Author of the celebrated novels “The War Between the Tates” and “Foreign Affairs,” Lurie was the daughter of Harry Lurie (1892-1973), a Latvian-born sociologist and expert in Jewish social…
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