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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How Leonard Cohen’s messianic childhood prepared him for a sort of priesthood
Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years. by Michael Posner Simon & Schuster, 496 pages, $30 We already know that rock poet Leonard Cohen was a profoundly Jewish songwriter and a deeply spiritual man. But a new oral biography, “Leonard Cohen — Untold Stories: The Early Years” (Simon & Schuster), by Michael Posner, recounts in…
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Chagall’s massive ‘Magic Flute’ curtain is up for auction
In his long and varied career, painter Marc Chagall created stained glass, fine ceramics and a massive ceiling mural for the Paris Opéra — but only one opera set. Now, if you have unlimited income and vertical space, the centerpiece of the Chagall-designed opera can be yours. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Bonhams is auctioning the…
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‘Kiss Julie for me’ — a story for my devoted aunt
At least once a week at mealtime, I walk down the center aisle to visit Aunt Helen. She sits at the far end of the large dining room where walkers outnumber tables, where bibs and plastic replace napkins and stemware. I look from side to side at the blank old faces that surround me —…
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To cope with quarantine, seniors are crafting COVID-era memoirs
Most mornings, Lil Brown follows the same routine. After waking up at 4:30 a.m., she sips a cup of tea and waits for inspiration to strike. It’s never long before she thinks of something: a moment, a scene or a date, usually from her childhood during the Great Depression. When the memory comes, Brown sits…
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The best Jewish tennis player in the world can handle antisemitism — just don’t kid him about his height
Tennis has a few improbable stories — like Richard Williams teaching his daughters Serena and Venus to play on public courts in Compton, California. Or Novak Djokovic dodging bomb-cratered blocks in Belgrade, Serbia in order to get to his practices during the NATO assault on his country in the late 1990s. Or, consider the saga…
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February 17: Rukhl Schaechter discusses role of women in the shtetl
On Wednesday, February 17 at 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 p.m. PT, the weekly Yiddish-language radio show, Dos Yidishe Kol (the Yiddish Voice), will feature a discussion between Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter and historian Sholem Beinfeld on the topic, the powerful role of the woman in the East European shtetl. The discussion will be conducted…
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WATCH NOW: February 17: Kaddish for Knishes? — The Uncertain Future of the Jewish Deli
Watch the recording here. Label’s Table, Jerry’s Famous Deli and Nate N’ Al in L.A., Moishe’s steakhouse in Montreal, B&H Dairy and Sammy’s Roumanian in NYC, Jay and Lloyd’s and Pastrami Masters in Brooklyn, Zaidy’s in Denver, Hamsah Mediterranean Grill in Pittsburgh, and Mile End in Birmingham, Alabama — all these beloved Jewish nosheries have…
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European war museums reeling from Nazi artifact thefts
The robberies sound like a strange mix of George Clooney films — part “Monuments Men,” part “Ocean’s Eleven.” In recent months, Nazi memorabilia was stolen from several war museums in Denmark and the Netherlands. Thieves made off with mannequins dressed in Nazi uniforms, in one instance blocking off a major roadway and evading the police….
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What I’ll miss if New York shuts down: sharing space with strangers
I learned Joe Biden was our president-elect when honks and shouts erupted outside my Manhattan window. That morning, my partner and I made our way downstairs to investigate, joining dozens of people who had paused their Saturday routines to go outside and make noise. An elderly man was playing bagpipes on the corner. Others were…
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WATCH NOW: February 10: Why are there so many monuments to Nazis?
Watch the recording here. A Forward investigation found that there are more than 300 statues and memorials honoring Holocaust perpetrators around the world, including many in the United States. Like Confederate statues erected after the Civil War, these monuments rewrite history and inspire new generations of racists and antisemites. Watch a conversation with investigative journalist…
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WATCH NOW: February 16: Meet the Forward 50
Watch the recording here. Every year we publish the Forward 50, a list of remarkable people who have had a particular impact on our communities. This year, we’re asking them to join our Editor-in-Chief, Jodi Rudoren, for “50 American Jews, 10 conversations,” a weekly series of Zoominars about …whatever is on their minds. The list…
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Culture I come from a long line of Jewish Bundists. Now, Molly Crabapple is part of our family.
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Fast Forward 200+ Bnei Menashe immigrate to Israel from India, the first to make the journey in years
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Yiddish װאָס קען מען זיך אָפּלערנען פֿון מאָלי קראַבעפּלס בוך װעגן „בונד“?What can we learn from Molly Crabapple’s book about the Bund?
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט