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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Coronavirus scuttles China tour for Yiddish ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Read this article in Yiddish. The Yiddish production of “Fiddler on the Roof” was scheduled to tour China this spring but has apparently fallen victim to coronavirus. On January 13th, cast members were informed via email of a three-city tour that would have taken place from April 13th to May 10th. But according to Zalmen…
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When Turkey sent Holocaust refugees to their deaths — and let nationalism grow unchecked
Serenade for Nadia: A Novel By Zülfü Livaneli, translated by Brendan Feely Other Press, 417 pages, $17.99 Desperate refugees embarking on treacherous sea voyages. Unscrupulous guides making fortunes from humanitarian crises. Leaky boats destined for disaster. Governments colluding to evade responsibility. These sound like details from the humanitarian crises of the last few years. But…
The Latest
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From an Israeli master, one final gift
And the Bride Closed the Door: By Ronit Matalon, translated by Jessica Cohen New Vessel Press, $128 pages, $15.95 Ronit Matalon died just one day after she received Israel’s prestigious Brenner Prize for her novel “And the Bride Closed the Door.” Matalon’s daughter, who accepted the prize for her mother, drew a parallel between the…
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Foraging for the perfect shtetl recipe: Mushroom barley soup then and now
What can a Jewish cookbook from 1946 tell us about the 21st-century Jewish-American experience? Liza Schoenfein, the Forward’s senior food writer, and Jane Ziegelman, a culinary historian, took our signature collection of Yiddish recipes off the shelf and found a direct line from the balaboostas of yore to the kitchens of today. In this installment,…
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Mourning ‘Actors Studio’ host James Lipton — and remembering his best moments
James Lipton, the oft-parodied host of “Inside the Actors Studio” has died at the age of 93. Famous for his pomposity, Mid-Atlantic accent and corny closing questions, Lipton was a meme-worthy figure before the advent of memes. “MadTV” and “Saturday Night Live” skewered him, with cast members playing up his pretension; for “The Simpsons,” he…
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In “Unorthodox” and “One of Us,” a balancing act of hope and despair
The top question I’ve been getting for the past month is “What do you think of ‘Unorthodox’?” As Executive Director of Footsteps for a decade I’ve seen over a thousand new members come through our doors, and watched a community of people leaving ultra-Orthodoxy blossom into a global movement. “Unorthodox” is beautifully done, and it…
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WATCH NOW: Virtual Conversation: Look to the Helpers: Caring for Vulnerable Populations
This event has already taken place. Watch the video recording here. On Passover, it is tradition to practice ma’ot chitim, providing the poor with matzah. This feels especially relevant this year amid a pandemic that is causing economic hardship and a public health crisis. How can we help our community in this critical time while…
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WATCH NOW: Virtual Conversation: A Plague of Our Own
This event has already taken place. Watch the video recording here. What do the Ten Plagues from the Book of Exodus have to teach us about the pandemic we are experiencing? And how can the coronavirus crisis deepen our understanding of the Ten Plagues? As we all think about how to do Seders in this…
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In Israel, a radical textbook for asylum seekers teaches Hebrew — minus Zionism
Timnit Ftwi, a 23-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker in Israel, speaks fluent Hebrew, which she picked up through her job as a house cleaner. But up until recently, she could hardly read or write in the language. When presented with a document to sign — like a bill, or an apartment lease — she would write…
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Will Pope Pius’ archives shed light on his silence during the Shoah?
Over a 75 years after Nazis conducted mass deportations of Roman Jews to Auschwitz, we may finally learn why Pope Pius XII, heralded by some as a man who quietly saved Jewish lives and dubbed “Hitler’s Pope” by others, did not speak up on their behalf. On March 2 Pius XII’s archives will be made…
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WATCH NOW: Virtual Conversation: Parenting in a Pandemic
This event has already taken place. Watch the video recording here. Join our live panel discussion, “Parenting in a Pandemic: Home-schooling, canceled B’nei mitzvah and what will happen to camp?” Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief of the Forward, will host a conversation about how Jewish parents are approaching and adapting to this new reality featuring David Bryfman,…
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News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaida in address to Republican officials
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Opinion Pete Hegseth is targeting a Jewish American hero — who’s next?
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Opinion Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians
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News Here’s how Adrienne Adams quietly got the coveted Hasidic nod Andrew Cumo longed for
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Fast Forward 5 countries, including UK and Canada, sanction far-right Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich
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Fast Forward New leader in RFK Jr.’s MAHA movement is really into the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
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Opinion Why progressives must retire the slogan ‘free Palestine’
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