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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A new Holocaust opera premieres — in Thailand
Thailand might not seem the most probable point of origin for a new opera about the Holocaust, but on January 16, the world premiere of “Helena Citrónová” by the composer Somtow Sucharitkul, 67, will be staged in Bangkok. It is about a real-life Auschwitz survivor of Slovak Jewish origin who at a trial in 1972,…
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‘Oh, my Gawd!’ Rachel Bloom and Fran Drescher are making a ‘The Nanny’ musical
It’s a tale (nearly) as old as time: A millionaire Broadway producer meets a bridal shop worker from Queens, hires her as a caretaker for his children, then eventually takes her to wife. Now, that classic story will become a stage musical. Yes, a Broadway treatment of hit 1990s sitcom“The Nanny” is forthcoming. As Deadline…
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In 1960, Clifford Odets wrote his final film — for Elvis
Wise men say only fools rush in to a vanity film project for a singer of limited acting ability. That didn’t stop Clifford Odets, at least when it came to the King of Rock and Roll. The year was 1960, and the socialist playwright was entering his third and final decade working in film. His…
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On Elvis Presley’s 85th birthday, a story of his brush with Jewishness
Editor’s Note: This story ran in 2014 as part of the Forward’s “Our Promised Lands” series. We’re re-revisiting it today in honor of what would have been Elvis Presley’s 85th birthdayt. In the summer of 1954, Elvis Presley released his first single. He had one problem: He couldn’t play it. The aspiring 19-year-old singer was…
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How Elizabeth Wurtzel, ‘Prozac Nation’ author and breast cancer advocate, shaped America
Elizabeth Wurtzel, whose bracingly candid memoirs brought attention to the deeply-rooted problems of addiction and depression in America, died in a Manhattan hospital on January 7. She was 52 years old. Wurtzel died as a result of leptomeningeal disease, a complication that occurs after cancer spreads to cerebrospinal fluid, her husband, Jim Freed, told The…
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What ‘The Good Place’ says about Jewish ethics
This article contains spoilers for all four seasons of NBC’s “The Good Place.” Like many things in Judaism, notions of the afterlife can seem to be a jumble of competing interpretations. There’s no consensus as to what the life-to-come may look like, but one suggestion of heaven is the yeshiva shel ma’ala — or the…
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As Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial begins in New York, new assault charges emerge in LA
On Monday, soon after a walker-bound Harvey Weinstein limped into New York’s State Supreme Court in Manhattan for the preliminary steps in his first criminal trial, the movie mogul was hit with new rape and sexual assault charges in California. Los Angeles prosecutors released a criminal complaint with new charges against Weinstein made by two…
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Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault trial begins
(JTA) — Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein arrived at a New York court on Monday for the start of his trial on charges of rape and sexual assault. Weinstein used a walker due to recent back surgery as he entered the courthouse, according to reports. Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin this week….
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For Israeli comics, English is the next frontier
TEL AVIV, Israel _ With his motormouth monologues and poignant punchlines about the absurdities of Israeli life, Shahar Hason has established himself as one of the country’s most popular stand-up comics. But when he drops his native Hebrew for the risky gambit of entertaining crowds in English, the words sometimes escape him. “People always tell…
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The Golden Globes were a massive bummer
Ah, the Golden Globes. The Oscars’s boozy, antic European cousin. It seems like each year the Hollywood Foreign Press-hosted event reflects a larger conversation around race, gender and politics — but often with a lag. When Ricky Gervais hosts, there is, along with an air of celebrity ego-slashing, there’s often a literal delay to mute…
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Something old, something blue: Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody’ enters the public domain
The theme to Manhattan — both the borough and the film — has entered the public domain. George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” penned in 1924, for bandleader Paul Whiteman, entered the creative commons as of January 1, 2020. (2020 marks only the second year since 1999 that new works have become available in the US,…
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