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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My New York accent problem — and ours
You Talkin To Me: The Unruly History of New York English. By E.J. White. Oxford University Press, 320 pages, $19.95 I distinctly remember the moment, around age 10, when I realized that the word “quarter” had two “r”s in it. As the great-grandson of immigrants, three generations into an American journey from the Lower East…
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The forgotten Sidney Poitier film that helps explain our current political moment
It is a tribute to the civil rights movement and its recent incarnation as Black Lives Matter that, according to recent polls, a majority of white Americans believe that Black people are not treated fairly in our society, not only by police but also by other institutions. In fact, only 10% of American voters believe…
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How ‘Big Mouth’ became bigger than me
When we last left our heroes, a sinkhole had swallowed much of the state of Florida. They escaped unscathed, parting a tidal wave with the help of a Menopause Banshee voiced by Carol Kane. Of course it was “Big Mouth” — and a Passover episode. The animated series, which debuted its fourth season on Netflix…
The Latest
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Remembering Kirk Douglas — a movie legend like no other
Kirk Douglas died in February of this year at the age of 103. On the occasion of what would have been his 104th birthday, we reprint this tribute to the movie legend who was born Issur Danielovich to immigrant parents. Kirk Douglas was both a movie legend and a Hollywood anomaly: a star divided. Most…
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Why the Dreyfus Affair has now become our affair
This year marks the 125th anniversary of Alfred Dreyfus’ arrival at Devil’s Island. On April 14, the former captain in the French army, found guilty of treason a few months earlier by a military tribunal, began his life sentence as the sole prisoner on this malarial rock off the coast of French Guiana. As guards…
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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…
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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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Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
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