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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How Vivian B. Mann Turned Deuteronomy’s Tears into Jewish Art Exultation
Vivian Beth Mann, who died on May 6 at age 75, exemplified the moral duty of art historians by rediscovering the cultural and religious past of the Jewish people. Her pioneering studies of Jewish culture in the Middle Ages in Spain; Italy; Turkey; and Morocco continue to inspire younger scholars. Whether writing on court Jews…
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Music How To Listen to Tchaikovsky While Looking Past His Anti-Semitism
Editor’s Note: Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky was born on this day in May 7, 1840. Here’s a look at the brilliant composer’s complicated history: When the conductor Semyon Bychkov arrived at a Russian-style cafe in midtown Manhattan to discuss the upcoming Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky festival at the New York Philharmonic, I handed the conductor a one-page…
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Film & TV WATCH: In The Latest Twist From ‘Game of Thrones,’ Author George R.R. Martin Learns He’s Part Jewish
One of the biggest paradigm shifts in “Game of Thrones” came this season when Jon Snow, that pouty-lipped warrior who grew up believing he was a bastard, learned of his true parentage and, in so doing, discovered he was the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne. But while fans of the show are now seeing…
The Latest
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Seattle Times Suspends Journalist Mike Rosenberg For Sexually Harassing Messages
The Seattle Times has suspended journalist Mike Rosenberg after a female freelancer posted screenshots to Twitter of a conversation in which he appeared to have made sexually explicit remarks. The screenshots, which the freelancer, Talia Jane, posted as part of a thread the morning of May 5, began with Rosenberg encouraging Jane to seek out…
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Art Why Did This Pioneering Trustee Leave LACMA And Place His Prized Collection With The Getty?
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a series about the work and art of Käthe Kollwitz and how it influenced artists, activists and collectors like Dr. Richard Simms. Read Part I here. Dr. Richard A. Simms devoted himself to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for 33 years. From the time it…
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The Odyssey Of Dr. Richard Simms — An Art Collector Like No Other
Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a series about the work and art of Käthe Kollwitz and how it influenced artists, activists and collectors like Dr. Richard Simms. Read Part II here. When Richard A. Simms told his grandmother that he wanted to become an artist, she fired back, “No, boy, you will…
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Art How Sex And Power Collude — The Uncompromising Art Of Nancy Spero
In a civilization neurotic with branding, some artists are identified as simply “artists,” while others get qualified. Nancy Spero, whose wonderful work is now a subject of a major show at MOMA PS1, is often called a “political artist,” or “artist and activist.” Even as they attempt to be merely descriptive, or even honorific, such…
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Robert Alter And The Art Of Biblical Disappointment
The Art of Bible Translation By Robert Alter Princeton University Press, 152 pages, $24.95 Students disappoint their teachers constantly, but we enjoy doing so only rarely. Only once have I pleasurably frustrated Robert Alter’s hopes. I was sitting in his office, where I had come to discuss my paper for a graduate seminar on Exodus….
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Folksbiene Plans Ambitious Season To Follow Yiddish ‘Fiddler’
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene has a tough act to follow for its 105th season. Last year, the Folksbiene launched a remarkably successful Yiddish production of “Fiddler on the Roof” that, following a sold-out run at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, transferred Off-Broadway, where it is currently playing at Stage 42. In its 2019-2020 season,…
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Michael David Lukas Wins 2019 Sami Rohr Prize For Jewish Literature
On April 30 the Jewish Book Council named Michael David Lukas the winner of the 2019 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, the largest prize in the world of Jewish letters. Lukas is the author of the novel “The Last Watchman of Old Cairo” and a 2018 National Jewish Book Award winner. The book tells…
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The Secret Jewish History Of “Rock Around The Clock”
It wasn’t the first rock-and-roll song. It wasn’t even the first rock-and-roll hit. But 65 years ago this May, Bill Haley and His Comets’ version of “Rock Around the Clock” was released, beginning its long, strange journey to the top of the pop charts, where it became the first rock-and-roll tune to hit the No….
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