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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Evidence Of Human-Neanderthal Hybrids Found In Israeli Cave
Long before the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, early men and women were living in Eretz Yisrael. Newly-unearthed relics reveal that some of these people may have traveled great distances before settling there — and that some of them weren’t 100% human. Teeth found in the Manot Cave in Western Galilee show features of both Homo sapiens…
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How Michael Bloomberg Keeps Reinventing Himself
Author’s Note: This interview originally ran on September 16, 2019. On Thursday, news broke that Michael Bloomberg was preparing to enter the 2020 presidential race. The businessman and former Republican mayor of New York (who will be running as a Democrat), has long been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s administration. In this article,…
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The Third Reich’s Secret Expedition To Whale In Antarctica
Here’s a whale of a tale: In 1938, Hitler planned a covert expedition to Antarctica for the purposes of securing a direct supply line of whale fat. His reasons were both predictably martial and puzzlingly culinary in nature. Of all the political and social trends that preceded Hitler’s rise, one gastronomical development may come as…
The Latest
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In ‘Advocate,’ A Controversial Israeli Lawyer Makes Her Case Against The Occupation
In the closing minutes of “Advocate,” Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche’s documentary about Israeli attorney Lea Tsemel, the subject identifies herself. “Lea Tsemel,” she tells a reporter in English, “losing lawyer.” This descriptor is at once accurate, self-deprecating and overly modest. Tsemel did lose. She almost always does. But, then again, she almost always…
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Kosher Beaches And Badass Women At DOC NYC
A roadside murder spree that gripped Israel for years; healing divisions — both international and domestic; and the secret modesty of a sun-drenched beach and trailblazing women who break with convention in matters of art, sex, politics and law. These stories are part of a formidable lineup at DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, which…
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In J.D. Salinger’s Archives, Proof Of Life And Not Much Else
If you visit the Mid-Manhattan branch of the New York Public Library to see a collection of items belonging to the late author J.D. Salinger, you will first have to check your phone, coat and bag. This is a fitting prelude to an exhibition on a writer for whom privacy was paramount. “Of course, he…
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On National Redhead Day, Explore the History of Ginger Jews
As any self-respecting redhead will tell you, it’s not just a hair color – it’s a lifestyle. But we didn’t always live in a world of redhead reunions and spitfire portrait series. For centuries, red hair was feared and reviled – especially when it came to Europe’s Jews. In honor of National Redhead Day, we’ve…
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After 500 Years, An Illustrated Spanish Bible Returns From Exile
Hebrew Bibles, unlike their best-known Christian and Muslim counterparts, are not renowned for their elaborate ornamentation. But during the Middle Ages, some were as vivid and artful as the famous illuminated New Testaments and Qurans we marvel over today. Imagine figures of naked men contorted into the shape of Hebrew letters; a full-page illustration of…
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A Survivor’s Story Where No One Is Exactly Who They Seem
The Survivors: A Story of War, Inheritance, and Healing By Adam P. Frankel Harper, 271 pages, $27.99 Whenever he excelled, Adam P. Frankel’s paternal grandmother offered these words of encouragement: “Good genes.” The astute reader may detect a hint of ironic foreshadowing. Frankel’s memoir, “The Survivors,” takes a series of surprising, sometimes unwieldy, twists and…
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Elaine May, Mounting A Comeback At 87, Is Directing A New Film
Buried deep in the thirteenth paragraph of a trade paper awards season report was news that threatens to upend the film industry as we know it. Deadline has it that 87-year-old comedy legend Elaine May is busy directing another feature film, her first in 32 years. The film will be called “Crackpot” and will feature…
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Edith Halpert — Come Back, The Art World Needs You More Than Ever!
“Good taste,” the critic Dave Hickey wrote in “Air Guitar,” “is the residue of someone else’s privilege.” Yes and no. Billionaires buy art and inflate artists’ reputations, but usually they need to be reminded of what they like before they cut the check. The key figure in the process of canonizing art is not the…
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