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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I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
San Wei, which serves pastrami sandwiches along with churros and biang biang noodles, represents an immigrant's fulfillment of the American dream
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Do the ‘Proud Boys’ know their anthem was written by a gay Jew?
Perhaps the most curious fact about the Proud Boys, the violent far-right group President Trump appeared to call up to the reserves in the first 2020 presidential debate, is how they got their name. The name can be read as an unapologetic affirmation of the things they stand for — which, according to the Southern…
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‘Heil Honey, I’m Home!’ — the secret history of the scandalous Hitler sitcom you never saw
“Of all the shows I’ve done and made, this one gets the most comment. And yet, it’s never really been seen or aired,” said the veteran British TV writer Geoff Atkinson. He was speaking about “Heil Honey, I’m Home!,” a comedy series that aired a single, infamous episode in the United Kingdom on September 30,…
The Latest
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Why we should fear Trump’s call to ‘stand back and stand by’
President Trump directly addressed white supremacists through language they understand as a direct command during the first Presidential debate. Asked to condemn white supremacy, Trump instead said “stand back and stand by”— immediately setting off alarm bells among extremism researchers who are familiar with these terms. Alex Newhouse, an extremism researcher at the Center on…
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Helen Reddy — She was a Jewish woman; hear her roar
The Australian singer Helen Reddy, who died on September 29 at age 78, is best remembered for the 1972 feminist anthem “I Am Woman,” a hit with surprising Jewish resonance. According to the “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits” Reddy was looking for positive songs about women to record, but decided that these did…
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Film & TV ‘Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles’ is an orgy of baking and a feast for the eyes
If I had to name the top two things helping me survive the pandemic, I would say my new dog, and watching television — the more escapist, the better. Right now it’s “Schitt’s Creek.” (You haven’t watched it? You must.) But way before that, my escape was “The Great British Baking Show.” It seems that…
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‘Borat 2’ is coming for Mike Pence — but what can it say about Trump’s America?
My wiiife. If you read that in the voice of the fictional Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s most celebrated creation, you’re not alone. While we last saw Borat nearly 15 years ago, his elongated reference to his spouse has clung to our brain’s language centers with the tenacity of Gorilla Glue….
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A senator’s slip of the tongue reveals a ‘material’ crisis with our ‘materialistic’ politics
“There’s a materialistic difference between 2016 and 2020,” Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the number three ranking Senate Republican, said on the “PBS News Hour,” speaking on the question of appointing Supreme Court judges in those two election years. First, I thought it was a slip of the tongue. But now I think it is…
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For National Coffee Day, the Secret Jewish History of the coffee cup
Editor’s Note: For National Coffee Day, September 29, 2020, we bring you the compelling history, originally published in 2014, of those familiar vessels that store our liquid energy. In the Talmud (Eruvin 65b), Rabbi Ilai cleverly opines: “A person is recognized by three things: their cup, their pocket, and their anger.” In other words, how…
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Just how Jewish are the top 500 albums of all time?
Rolling Stone magazine recently updated its list of the Top 500 albums of the rock era for the first time since 2003. This time around, the list includes 50 albums by Jewish artists and groups — depending on how you define “Jewish artists and groups,” of course. For example, were the Band — whose main…
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BINTEL BRIEF Will the cousins be upset about a photographer at my Saturday wedding?
Bintel helps a bride navigate a wedding on Shabbat with Orthodox relatives
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Film & TV In ‘The Other Story,’ a tale of forgiveness as faith and family collide
_Author’s note: ‘The Other Story’ is playing September 28 as part of the Marlene Meyerson JCC’s online “Forgive Me Film-a-thon.” Marking the occasion, we’ve republished our review from July 1, 2019._ When children leave the insular world of Haredi Judaism, many parents sit shiva for them. Some choose to not even speak the child’s name…
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
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Fast Forward AJC, USC Shoah Foundation announce partnership to document antisemitism since World War II
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