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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Ian McEwan Brings Brexit To Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’
Jerusalem and Booker Prize-winning novelist Ian McEwan sees the current state of British politics as a touch Kafkaesque. Along those lines, he announced September 12 the release of a new novella, “The Cockroach,” which turns Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” formula on its antenna, having the titular pest transform into a human. Not just any human, the Prime…
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The Secret Jewish History Of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Beloved Infidel’
Editor’s Note: F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on this day in 1896. He’s a look back at his relationship with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham. Sheilah Graham, longtime Hollywood gossip columnist and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s lover and muse, was delighted to share her personal history, especially its romantic highlights. She wrote no fewer than 10 tell-alls….
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The Joyous Tragedy Of Eva Hesse
It is, I think, no melodramatic overstatement to describe the artist Eve Hesse’s life as essentially tragic. As a toddler, she barely survived World War II, having been sent from her Hamburg home to Holland on the Kindertransport with her older sister Helen. Later, she watched her mother destroy herself after learning that her own…
The Latest
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Film About Yitzhak Rabin’s Assassin Takes Israel’s Top Prize
JTA — A film about the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as seen through the eyes of his murderer won Israel’s Ophir Award for Best Picture and will be the county’s nomination for an Oscar. “Incitement” won Israel’s top prize on Sunday night at the Ophir Awards of the Israel Academy of Film…
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Jewish Activism Won The Night At The 2019 Emmys
The grand experiment of the 2019 hostless Emmys was an at-times confounding show of pageantry and schtick. It began with Homer Simpson’s apparent onstage death, was punctuated throughout with Thomas Lennon’s head-scratching commentary and, yes, featured a number of huge wins for Jews and other minorities who used their platform to push for equality and…
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How Genetics Paint A Picture Of The Jewish Past
From the time of the Babylonian Exile, Jews have been spread far and wide, carrying with us mementos of our ancient past in our blood, spit and the microscopic double helix of our DNA. Among the best tools the Chosen People have for finding a link to antiquity is bleeding-edge technology that analyzes our genes…
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These 16 Jewish Heroes Rescued Books From The Jaws Of The Censors
It started in 1982. A former reference librarian named Judith Krug was working as the director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association. It was Reagan time in America, the era of televangelist Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority. Falwell had recently put out a letter, suggesting that “Our Bodies, Ourselves,”…
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Belgian Politician’s Swastika Painting Displayed At Brussels Gallery — And Jews Protest
JTA — Jewish community leaders in Belgium protested a local politician’s placing of a swastika painting titled “God created A. Hitler” in the window display of an art gallery in Brussels. The painting by Fatmir Limani, an artist and the Socialist Party alderman in charge of cultural affairs in the Brussels-area municipality of Koekelberg, is…
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A Happy 85th Birthday To Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen would have turned 85 today. Here’s how Ezra Glinter, a Forward editor and fellow Montreal native, profiled the master composer on the occasion of the artist’s 80th birthday in 2014. When I moved to Montreal in the summer of 2004 the city was about to experience two end-of-an-era events, though I knew nothing…
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The Secret Jewish History Of Stephen King
Author Stephen King was really born with that name. Not for him the path from Irwin Alan Kniberg to Alan King. He came out all ready, at least in name, to become one of the best-selling authors of all time, just as he was. Although when it came time for the prolific writer — as…
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The ‘Downton Abbey’ Film May Not Be Jewish – But The Show Was Once
I stopped watching “Downton Abbey” right after that milk truck ran Matthew Crawley off the road at the end of Season 3. Apparently, while I was gone — seeking my blue-blooded intrigue elsewhere (Westeros, mainly) — the series introduced some Jewish elements. Who knew! Well, if you are one of the millions who plan on…
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