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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The 37 unknown roles of Peter Sellers
. The original occasion for this article was a Peter Sellers retrospective at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan that was supposed to run from March 20 to March 26. For obvious reasons, that retrospective was canceled. This was frustrating, if strangely appropriate — Sellers himself was rudely “canceled” by one final heart attack, just as…
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Daily distraction: Tomie dePaola, films from the Met vault and TikTok dances
Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing. And… it’s April. We hope that if you’re staying home with others they have not…
The Latest
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Closed by coronavirus, Jewish museums consider an uncertain future online
As the world faces the novel coronavirus pandemic, the stewards of history face a unique challenge: How can museums continue to engage audiences while their physical buildings are shuttered in the interests of public health? The answer, for many, lies in retooling online infrastructure, bringing programming to social media and launching outreach campaigns. Museums are…
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Kaddish for Krzysztof Penderecki — a Christian composer with a Jewish soul
World-renowned Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki – widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the last half-century — died on Sunday, March 29, at the age of 86. (While members of his family and inner circle are reported to have had symptoms of the new coronavirus, Penderecki is said to have died from complications…
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Announcing The Forward’s 2020 Youth Writing Contest
“Sometime perhaps I shall transcend this Americanism in order that I may be free to enjoy the full freedom of those ideals which I now carry in my heart’s heart.” Those words were written by a young man from Delaware named Benjamin Brodinsky who, during the depths of the Depression, was declared the winner of…
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Daily distraction: A book talk, klezmer concert and exhibit of Soviet-Jewish art
Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing. We’ve spoken often, in this column, about the value of taking breaks when work life…
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April 12: All-Star Third Seder
Join a celebration of Yiddish culture featuring Frank London, Elmore James, Daniel Kahn, Eleanor Reissa, Steven Skybell, and many more; and, produced by Avram Mlotek and Moishe Rosenfeld. Co-sponsored by: Adrienne Cooper Fund for Dreaming in Yiddish, Ashkenaz of Toronto, Base Hillel, Congress for Jewish Culture, Festival for Jewish Culture in Warsaw, The Forward, JCC…
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The 1918 Marx Brothers musical stopped short by the Spanish Flu
In late September 1918, at the height of the Spanish flu outbreak, theatergoers in Grand Rapids, Mich. showed up in masks, found their seats and watched as the Marx Brothers failed to entertain them. The show was called “The Cinderella Girl” — and was changed later in its brief run to “The Street Cinderella,” according…
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‘Everyone’s talking about the plagues:’ Making haggadahs for a Passover unlike any before
When Rishe Groner, a rabbinical student spending the year in Jerusalem, began self-isolating in her apartment in mid-March, she was already thinking ahead to Passover. She hoped that restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 would lift in time for the holiday, allowing her to organize a Seder with other single…
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Klezmer virtuoso Andy Statman recovering from coronavirus
Andy Statman and his wife have apparently been infected by the coronavirus. The 69 year-old Klezmer and bluegrass virtuoso says that, although the couple hasn’t been tested, his doctor diagnosed the virus over the phone based on their symptoms. “He said ‘You have the virus,’” Statman said over the phone. The Brooklyn-based clarinetist and mandolin…
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Daily distraction: Freud solves mysteries, an ‘I, Claudius’ podcast and letter-writing
Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing. Greetings to you from my home office. Judging by Twitter — the 21st century town…
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