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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My father’s sister died in the 1918 flu pandemic. He didn’t find her grave until 2011.
For millions of Americans, the history of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic has become, unfortunately, newly relevant. But for my family, the 1918 pandemic entered our lives in a very personal way less than a decade ago, in the spring of 2011, when my father, a retired physician, read John Barry’s book “The Great Influenza.”…
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Daily distraction: Take an art course from MoMA
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. It’s the start of a new week. Many of us have now been practicing social…
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To be free is to escape this merry-go-round
All the other kids ride the merry-go-round with smiles beaming across their rosy red, sun kissed cheeks, laughing and playing on a nice day. This type of day is where my dreams meet their reality. I ride a different merry-go-round — one of violence and darkness. When the sun goes down, all the other kids get…
The Latest
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Your guide to every single Israeli TV show and movie you can stream right now
Editor’s note: We’ve republished this guide, originally published in November 2019, to serve as a streaming guide through the coronavirus pandemic. Somewhere between Adam Sandler making a movie about hummus and Gal Gadot voicing herself on “The Simpsons,” things changed. Americans have long been willing to entertain stories featuring Israeli characters — a former Mossad…
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To be free is to dance on Ben Yehuda Street
Editor’s Note: The Forward’s Youth Essay Contest is asking middle and high school students to submit essays, short stories and poems on the topic “What It Means To Be Free.” We’re still accepting entries at [email protected] — you can find the entry guidelines here.The deadline is Friday, April 17. Today, we’re proud to publish this…
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Daily distraction: National poetry month
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. A quarantine haiku: Out of my window The streets below are empty Good; flatten the…
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Daily distraction: American Symphony Orchestra goes to the opera
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. Shabbat shalom. I hope the first days of Passover have brought you a renewed sense…
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Daily distraction: Explore New York – and the world
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. Chag sameach, and happy Friday. Given the state of things, giving up bread for a…
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Art Why artists are essential workers — and how we can help them
You don’t have to be a connoisseur of culture to recognize the truth behind author Toni Morrison’s maxim that it is at dire times like these when artists must go to work. “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear…That is how civilizations heal,” Morrison…
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Daily distraction: Coloring van Gogh
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. Chag sameach! Whether you’re off of work for Pesach, or trying to observe the holiday…
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Hal Willner, 64: The strangest, most beloved man in show business
Hal Willner might have been the most willfully strange person in show business. The music producer, who died on Monday at age 64 of complications of coronavirus, had a magic touch. He could get anyone to do anything: Tom Waits to sing an unrecognizable, railroad-rough version of “Heigh Ho” from Disney’s “Snow White”; R &…
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