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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That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
It was a normal summer internship at the Yiddish Book Center ... until the Jedi invaded our turf
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Bernie Sanders’ wall of wood has a surprising Jewish significance
On the first night of the socially-distant 2020 Democratic National Convention, Bernie Sanders held forth before a backdrop that put any Zoom background to shame. Flanked by an American flag and the Vermont state flag, Sanders painted a stark picture of the country’s slide in totalitarianism before a wall of chopped wood. It was so…
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October 27: 25 Years After Rabin – Can Israel be both Jewish and democratic?
This talk will take place on Tuesday, October 27 at 2:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. PT. Register here. November 4 marks the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin, an event that crystalized the tension between Judaism and democracy that is imprinted in Israel’s DNA. As the debate over the freedom…
The Latest
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Will the new ‘Dirty Dancing’ live up to the original’s brave look at abortion?
There’s a long and sordid history of failed attempts to replicate the cinematic success of the 1980s blockbuster “Dirty Dancing.” A 2004 prequel, “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” yielded dismal numbers at the box office. A 2017 made-for-TV remake inspired disgusted takedowns like this one. Time and again, audiences have told Hollywood that it is impossible…
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He fled Jim Crow — then risked his future for two Holocaust survivors
Lieutenant John Withers had every reason to say no. The army, though segregated, was his only realistic shot at a better life. As an aspiring professor, Withers hoped the GI Bill would help him get a Ph.D., and maybe — just maybe — escape the fate that America had written for him. But a dishonorable…
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WATCH NOW: October 26: Divided We Fall: How the crises of 2020 have furthered the gaps among groups and what to do about it
This talk took take place on Monday, October 26. Watch here. Join an extraordinary conversation that brings together respected national leaders for a discussion of how antisemitism, racism and anti-Black/anti-Immigrant narratives have pervaded our national conversation during these tense pre-election days — AND what we can do about it. Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of the Forward,…
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Steve Martin’s greatest accomplishment? Making WASPs funny.
Toward the end of the 1983 comedy “The Man with Two Brains,” Steve Martin, as Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, is blasted with a drumfire of ethnic slurs. Learning that his sadistic wife, Dolores (Kathleen Turner), withheld the news of his grandmother’s death, he reaches his breaking point and fights with her for the first time. During…
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WATCH NOW: October 22: The 2020 Election: Disinformation and Democracy
Watch here. Online hate and disinformation have long impacted Jewish communities and the health of democracy and civic life. Now, conspiracy theorists and other bad actors are using disinformation to play an outsized role in the 2020 Election and exploiting public anxiety to sow division and chaos and to shatter public trust in voting and…
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WATCH NOW: October 19: The Forward’s first Come As You Are gala: Comedy & cocktails in challenging times
Our virtual gala is took place on Monday, October 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30 p.m. PT. Watch the recording here. Comedians, celebrities, politicians and your favorite Forward journalists gathered on screen for a light-hearted evening in these uncertain times. Emcee Jessica Kirson kept us laughing through the night as we heard from Mayim Bialik,…
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Kamala Harris’ Yiddish Nickname Shows How Close She Is With Her Jewish Family
(JTA) — In the middle of her first speech as Joe Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris disclosed her favorite nickname. “My family means everything to me. And I’ve had a lot of titles over my career, and certainly, vice president will be great, but ‘momala’ will always be the one that means the most,”…
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How BTS and K-pop exploded the world music scene
In June, a self-contained — if not quite silent — majority made its presence known to the world. Fans of K-pop, the common shorthand for South Korean popular music, banded together to inflate President Donald Trump’s projected turnout for his widely-publicized rally in Tulsa, Okla. While their scheme, which resulted in a sea of empty…
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They returned to summer camp — and saw the country’s political future
In 2017, a Texan governmental body voted to secede from the United States. No, it wasn’t the state’s legislature. It was a group of rebellious participants in Boys State, a summer program founded in 1935 by the American Legion that aims to inculcate the values of civil discourse in a population not known for that…
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Fast Forward Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla could reach Israeli waters over the weekend: What you need to know
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Fast Forward French police detain Palestinian man who allegedly struck rabbi with a chair
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