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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Film & TV Will Kushner And Spielberg ‘West Side Story’ Cause Rumble With Sondheim?
Stephen Sondheim, the lyricist for “West Side Story,” dislikes the movie version of the seminal musical for sticking too closely to the source material. “I don’t think ‘West Side Story’ [is] a good movie at all because it’s not a movie. It’s a photograph of a stage,” the Tony-winning composer said in a 2016 interview…
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The Forgotten Jewish Composer Who Was McCarthy’s First Victim
The composer Hanns Eisler was once called “the Karl Marx of Communism in the musical field” by House of Un-American Activities chief investigator Robert Stripling. That description might be an overstatement, but not by much. Eisler scored some of the most pivotal moments of the first part of the 20th century. His populist anthems were…
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Why We Must Pay Attention To What ‘Pay Attention’ Means
In the age of the smartphone, it is getting harder and harder to get human beings to give their all to one person, one subject and one moment. Maybe that’s why a tweet on how various languages express the idea of “paying attention” went viral recently, amassing 28,000 likes and over 7,000 retweets at last…
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60 Years Ago Pasternak Won The Nobel Prize — And The Soviet Union Went After Him
60 years ago today, the Swedish Academy got Boris Pasternak in a whole lot of trouble. In awarding the 68-year-old Russian poet and novelist a Nobel Prize for Literature, the Nobel Committee elevated Pasternak, and his epic novel, “Doctor Zhivago” to a conspicuous place on the world stage. The Soviet Union did not look kindly…
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Art In Skokie, Memories Of Genocide Retold In Stories Of Everyday Objects
Objects and images, linking memory and history, are a mainstay of museum exhibitions. They are the embodiment of synecdoche, the part standing in for the whole. A photo album, a china set, a teddy bear — even the most quotidian of artifacts — all resonate with special poignancy when associated with stories of persecution and…
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Alice Shalvi Is Still The Queen Of Israeli Feminism At 92
I met Alice Shalvi in 2009, on my first trip to Israel as editor of the Forward. Honestly, I was apprehensive, unsure of the purpose of my visit other than to connect with a legendary feminist whose backstory seemed brave but vague in my mind. I remember impressions more than details of that first visit….
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November 27: Manhattan: From Jean Carroll To Mrs. Maisel
‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” captured hearts with its sharp-witted, fast-talking Jewish protagonist, who finds her voice as a comedian in the late 1950s after leaving her unfaithful husband. The inspiration for Miriam “Midge” Maisel came from a host of real-life groundbreaking comedians, including the one and only Jean Carroll. On the eve of the second…
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November 27: Manhattan: Jews In The Modern World
Explore the big questions of modern Jewish life and their impact on Judaism with Forward editor-In-chief Jane Eisner, as she moderates a panel with two of the American Jewish community’s most prominent leaders and thinkers. In “Jews In The Modern World: Looking Back, Looking Forward,” Rabbi Shai Held and Rabbi David Ellenson will discuss topics…
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November 15: Manhattan: ‘Across The Divide’ — Getting Candid About Israel
It’s time to speak candidly — and listen openly — about Israel. Join Forward Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon in Part 1 of “Across the Divide,” a series designed to discuss Israel from a political, denominational and generational view. On the panel, 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Streicker Center at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, she’ll…
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November 14: Boston: Unpacking The Midterms As Jews In Trump’s America
Forward editor-in-chief Jane Eisner is here to help unpack the midterm elections. On November 14, she will join the JCC of Greater Boston’s Jonathan Samen Hot Buttons Cool Conversations series, analyzing the election outcome and delving into the current political landscape — including being a Jew in Trump’s America. Jonathan Weisman, deputy Washington editor of…
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November 7: Manhattan: ‘In Her Footsteps’
A new film discovers the true meaning of belonging. Forward executive editor Dan Friedman will moderate a Q&A following the November 7 screening of “In Her Footsteps,” the story of director Rana Abu Fraiha’s family’s journey, from their Bedouin village to Omer, a nearby Jewish town. They lived in Omer for 20 years, yet they…
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Books 92 years ago today, Hitler took power. This historian wants us to see the lessons we’ve ignored from his rise
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