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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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
The Latest
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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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For America, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a new kind of Jew
In 1852, the Kentucky politician Henry Clay became the first person to lie in state in the United States Capitol Rotunda. A skilled liaison between political opposites, Clay favored abolition and inspired Abraham Lincoln. But through his life, he was also an enslaver who enforced his supposed right to own people as property, even as…
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Film & TV In ‘Tehran,’ an agent caught between Iran and Israel can’t find her way home
In an early episode of the spy thriller “Tehran,” a Mossad agent makes a house call. Yael Ashrafi (Liraz Charhi), the handler of hacker and series protagonist Tamar Rabinyan, pays a visit to her Mr. Rabinyan. She wants to know if Tamar might still have family in Iran and if, after ditching a reckless contact…
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On Yom Kippur Jews ask, is Dean Kremer the new Sandy Koufax?
Imagine being a 24-year-old starting pitcher, having been called up to the show less than three weeks ago, playing four games, and already drawing comparisons to Sandy Koufax. Meet Baltimore’s Dean Kremer. In his first big league season, Kremer (1-1, 4.82 ERA), a right-hander for the Orioles, has pitched 18⅔ innings in four games. He’s…
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123 years of election coverage: What the vote means to American Jews
This is the first installment of a special series exploring The Forward’s election coverage since 1897. To get next week’s edition delivered to your inbox, click here to subscribe to The Forward’s free newsletter. For American Jews, the vote has always been a potent symbol. Many of our families came as immigrants from countries where…
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A month before her death, RBG made a (virtual) concert appearance
When Lewis Kaplan emailed Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family, asking if she wanted to take part in a pandemic-era music festival, he didn’t know what would happen. What he didn’t expect was an immediate response from the justice’s daughter, Jane Ginsburg, telling him that the Notorious RBG was all in. No, this isn’t an exposé of…
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Making soul candles: a female-led Jewish ritual revived
Read this article in Yiddish In 2018, having always felt something lacking in a religion dominated by the writings of men, I started training with the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, a spiritual leadership program centered in feminine, earth-based approaches to Judaism. As a historical researcher, I’m always trying to find the stories that haven’t been…
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Why the shofar is the perfect soundtrack for ‘I May Destroy You’
For the Days of Awe that began in Elul and continue through Yom Kippur, there is no show more appropriate to watch than the BBC/HBO sensation, Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You.” What series more thoroughly asks for a cheshbon nefesh – the accounting of the soul? In truth, it might be the bravest TV…
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Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
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Fast Forward First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
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Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
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Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
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Opinion When my children decorate for Hanukkah, I don’t just see pride. I see pluralism in action.
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Fast Forward ‘The most Australian name’: Matilda, the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach attack, embodies a nation’s grief
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Fast Forward A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel advocate in LGBTQ spaces, is shutting down
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Yiddish פֿאַר וואָס הערט מען ניט וועגן דעם גלעצנדיקן וווּקס פֿון דער ישׂראל־בערזע? Why aren’t we hearing about the dramatic growth of the Israeli stock market?
וואָלט דער אָפּרוף געווען אַנדערש, ווען דער ציל פֿון די טעראָריסטן וואָלט ניט געווען ייִדן, נאָר אַן אַנדער גרופּע?
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