Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish culture. Here, you’ll learn about the latest (and sometimes earliest) in Jewish art, music, film, theater, books as well as the secret Jewish history of everything and everyone from The Rolling Stones to…
Culture
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They were a kosher bakery success story — 80 years later, people are still trying to make a buck off their babka
The tale of Schick's Bakery is one of 20th-century ingenuity and 21st-century capitalism
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The Secret Jewish History Of Wilco Frontman Jeff Tweedy
If you think the most Jewish thing Jeff Tweedy ever did was to name a Wilco album “Schmilco,” think again. The truth is that Tweedy — the founder and main creative force behind the indie-rock group Wilco, celebrating its 25th anniversary next year — married a Jewish woman, raised two Jewish boys into manhood, and,…
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This Little-Known Jewish Hero Lit The Statue Of Liberty
On November 7, 1886, the guiding light of New York Harbor went dark for the first time. Only 10 days after the Statue of Liberty was unveiled to the public, her torch was snuffed. A frugal Congress refused to allocate the necessary funds for the statue to serve her role as a lighthouse. Indeed, Congress…
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Theater Rebecca Miller Questions A Colorblind Casting Choice In ‘All My Sons’; Director Walks
Colorblind casting, the practice of casting actors of one race in roles traditionally played by another, seems to be a subject of perennial controversy in the world’s highest profile theaters. Last year the grand spectacle musical “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” based on Tolstoy’s “War And Peace” drew sharp criticism when it…
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February 3: Manhattan: New York Premiere Of ‘Out Of The Depths’ By Chaim Potok
The Forward is a proud sponsor of the staged reading and New York premiere of Chaim Potok’s play, “Out of the Depths.” Join Potok’s daughter Rena in celebrating the publication of “The Collected Plays of Chaim Potok,” the first-ever collection of the author’s work. There will be a book sale and signing following the program,…
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Is This The Most Popular Poem Of 2018?
Thanks to the internet we have the numbers to prove poetry is still a popular medium — at least online. The Academy of American Poets has announced that the Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness” was this year’s most popular poem by a contemporary poet on its website, Poets.org. The poem, which was read by…
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Why Do Jews Eat Chinese Food On Christmas?
Every year around this time a certain handwritten sign goes viral on Jewish Facebook: “The Chinese Rest. Assoc. of the United States would like to extend our thanks to The Jewish People. We do not completely understand your dietary customs… But we are proud and grateful that your GOD insists you eat our food on…
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Art For An Art Rebel, Martha Rosler Proves Surprisingly Orthodox
I’m not sure what to make of the title of the Martha Rosler retrospective at the Jewish Museum, “Irrespective.” According to the wall text, it’s supposed to be a portmanteau, “a clever play on terms that lie somewhere between the words ‘retrospective’ and ‘irreverent.’” The exhibition, we’re promised, will be no mere shrine to its…
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Film & TV What’s Jewish On The Oscars Small Categories Short List
On December 18 The Academy Awards announced its shortlist for some of the ceremony’s smaller categories. Jews are well represented in the Best Documentary Feature category. Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg film “RBG” made the list alongside Tim Wardle’s “Three Identical Strangers,” which told the bombshell story of Jewish triplets separated at…
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January 26: Manhattan: ‘Fire In My Mouth’
‘Fire in my Mouth,” a musically and visually engaging exploration of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, will be performed at the New York Philharmonic in Manhattan on Saturday, January 26. A new composition written by Julia Wolfe and conducted by Jaap van Zweden, “Fire in my Mouth” will feature lights, chamber choir, video and…
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The secret Jewish history Of Mary Poppins
When it came to the movie, it was P.L. Travers versus the Sherman Brothers
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How A MacArthur Genius Summoned The Voices Of The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire’s Victims
In New York City, you are always walking past a story. A beaming stranger on the subway. A building going up or coming down. A commemorative sign: the site of Manhattan’s slave market; the site of a battle; the site of a fire. For a long time, the composer Julia Wolfe often walked past the…
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Yiddish וואָס אַקטיוויסטן פֿאַר שפּראַכן אין אַ סכּנה קענען זיך אָפּלערנען איינער פֿונעם צווייטןWhat activists for at-risk languages can learn from each other
אַ דאַנק טעכנאָלאָגישע שותּפֿותן און צוזאַמענפֿאָרן קענען אַקטיװיסטן פֿאַר כּלערלײ שפּראַכן זיך הײַנט טײלן מיט פּראַקטישע עצות.
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Film & TV In this civil rights protest, Jews both fought and defended segregation
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Culture 50 years after its debut, ‘Hester Street’ reminds us what it means to be a Jew in America
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Fast Forward As latest Elon Musk controversy swirls, some American Jews come to his defense
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