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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From Basra to the Chelsea Hotel — My father’s journey
My father, George Chemeche, is 87 years old. I live with him here in the Chelsea Hotel. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, I haven’t really seen him. For his safety, I occupy the bedroom of our apartment and he occupies the living room, TV room and kitchen. I order groceries for my father,…
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14 films to watch for Pride
It’s a Pride Month like no other. The Trump administration revoked Obama-era health care protections for transgender patients. At the same time, the Supreme Court made a historic ruling in defense of queer people’s right to employment. JK Rowling has decided to pen a manifesto insisting on the saliency of “biological sex” — to the…
The Latest
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With an epic new album, Bob Dylan finally delivers his Nobel lecture
When Bob Dylan finally responded to the Swedish Academy that awarded him the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature with the required lecture, about six months after the fact, he did so with a rambling, recorded monologue that at its best detailed some of his literary and musical influences and at its worst was a parody…
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From Pinter to Ben Gurion and back again: The Jewish history of Ian Holm
For a Christian Brit of Scottish stock, Sir Ian Holm’s long career had a lot to do with Jerusalem. The actor, who passed away June 19 at the age of 88, was nominated for an Oscar for his role as the coach to a Jewish runner in “Chariots of Fire,” a film that takes its…
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The Secret Jewish History of Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, the songstress who boosted British troops’ morale through much of the 20th century, has died at 103. Best remembered for singing “We’ll Meet Again,” Lynn was the “Forces’ Sweetheart” for delivering reminders of the white cliffs of Dover to far off shores. Oftentimes, her crooned postcards for King and Country were penned…
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Happy 78th Birthday To Paul McCartney, The Jewish Beatle
About seven years ago, Sir Paul McCartney, who turns 78 today, released an album called “New.” But given the artist’s love affair with all things Jewish for the past half-century — including collaborators, business associates, girlfriends and wives — the title could well be meant as a transliteration of the all-purpose Jewish word nu. Recently,…
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Why Roy Cohn, a bully and coward, was also a victim
In 1988, Ivy Meeropol and her father, Michael, visited Washington, DC to see the massive AIDS quilt that covered the National Mall. The first panel they saw belonged to the man who sentenced Michael’s parents to death: “Roy Cohn,” it read in cut fabric letters, “Bully, Coward, Victim.” “It was the first I thought about…
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How Igor Stravinsky Changed Our Lives
Editor;s Note: Violinist Zvi Zeitlin passed away in 2012. He had started to write his memoirs and planned to include a chapter on his experiences with Igor Stravinsky. He never got to do this, so his widow, Marianne Langner Zeitlin, has written her own memories of that episode in their lives. We ran this article…
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Why are celebrities sharing a 30-year-old clip of Louis Farrakhan?
Update, June 17, 11:58 a.m.: Chelsea Handler has removed the clip of Louis Farrakhan from her Instagram profile. Jameela Jamil called him an “extraordinary man.” Jessica Chastain and Chelsea Handler said his words were “powerful.” Minister Louis Farrakhan must be pretty pleased with his reception. In a landscape where influencers and celebrities are scrambling to…
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Why this Bloomsday is different from the rest
Now more than ever Leopold Bloom’s mundane day thrills with danger. While the protagonist of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” notoriously did very little, his every action — drinking at a pub; traipsing through Dublin; dining with his uncle at a hotel — now presents us with certain pandemic-related risks. Should we emulate Bloom as many bibliophiles…
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A noshing tour of an eerily quiet Lower East Side
I love ghosts. I became a tour guide to visit the ghosts of the past and share them and their wisdom with my clients. Few places in New York have so many ghosts as the Lower East Side. Residing among the fusion restaurants, cafes and cocktail bars, the spirits of the many immigrant communities who…
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Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
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News At Harvard, reports on antisemitism and anti-Palestinian bias reflect campus conflict over Israel
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Fast Forward Trump nominee Ed Martin, who praised a Nazi sympathizer, also compared Biden to Hitler
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Opinion RFK Jr. and Trump are talking about an ‘autism registry’ — this sounds disturbingly familiar
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