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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Passover in the time of the plague
My daughter just saw her first rainbow. We stood between the sun and the drizzle and I pronounced the words of the blessing: “Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise.” I’d always been puzzled by the language —…
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In the time of coronavirus, the world looks to Anne Frank
Some joke, some protest and many find courage in her story
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Daily distraction: Livestream a McNally play, watch ‘The Wire,’ make something!
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. I wonder what your new routine is like. To give you a peek behind the…
The Latest
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Daily distraction: See some animals, tell your Passover story, and jam out while you clean
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. I can’t believe it’s already Sunday. For me, time is starting to blur and I’m…
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Why seders could be more meaningful this year
In a normal year, right about now, Jews worldwide would be boarding planes and finalizing plans to host our extended families and friends for Passover seders where we come together to retell the biblical story of our ancestors’ exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom. In the era of COVID-19, however, such gatherings are a…
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The curious incident of the pig in the Haggadah
Every Passover season, new haggadahs appear, each one reflecting something about the specific time and place it was created and the audience it tries to reach (think of the “Hogwarts Haggadah” or this year’s “Human Rights Haggadah”). In many of these, pictures illustrate or expand on the texts. This practice reaches back to the 13th…
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Q & A: How can you make a small Seder special?
Lifestyle blogger Rebekah Lowin believes in hiddur mitzvah, the Talmudic idea that while doing a mitzvah is well and good, doing it beautifully is even better. From hamentaschen cocktail toppers to DIY latke bars, the creations Lowin shares can help you live your most aesthetically pleasing Jewish life — or make you seriously insecure about…
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Daily distraction: Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Louvre and family game night
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, we’re still staying at home. This week was interesting, nu? I finished watching…
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Daily distraction: Honor Adam Schlesinger, recreate a masterpiece and explore haggadot
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. I recently learned something that makes me feel a lot better about everything going on…
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Music No, you’re wrong — Bob Dylan’s 17-minute song is a work of epic genius
Last week in these pages, my esteemed colleague PJ Grisar offered a devastating and at times humorous takedown of Bob Dylan’s recently released new song, “Murder Most Foul.” “[A]s with all things Dylan,” wrote Grisar, “his votaries will be paying Talmudic attention to this new text and finding a deeper meaning than I care to.”…
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Why was Freud great? Magic, says Netflix.
Sigmund Freud couldn’t help but think that he was destined for great things — and, as with so many things in his worldview, the fault lay with his mother. The future father of psychoanalysis was born with a caul, a bit of amniotic membrane attached to his head. Amalia Freud believed that its presence portended…
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