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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Theater Jason Alexander lives out a lifelong dream, playing Tevye in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
'I wanted to do a piece that is proudly Semitic' said the Tony winner and ‘Seinfeld' star
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In Vichy France, The Nazi Era Viewed Up Close
Deposition 1940-1944: A Secret Diary of Life in Vichy France By Léon Werth; edited and translated by David Ball Oxford University Press, 368 pages, $34.95 The French Jewish novelist and essayist Léon Werth spent World War II, buffeted by history but shielded from its worst consequences, chronicling the passivity, inertia and gradual political awakening of…
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Remembering Bess Myerson, The First And Only Jewish Miss America
Bess Myerson, the first and only Jewish Miss America and, later, a power player in New York politics, was born on July 16, 1924. Myerson, a figure of glamour and, eventually, scandal, was a sign of changing times. Her coronation as Miss America came in September, 1945, only a few days after V.J. Day, the…
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Film & TV Rediscovered Stanley Kubrick Script Sheds Light On His Jewishness
An early screenplay Stanley Kubrick which was believed to have been lost just re-surfaced after sixty years. The screenplay, written in 1956, was titled “Burning Secret” and was an adaptation of Viennese novelist, Stefan Zweig’s 1913 novella of the same name. The novella is told from the perspective of a twelve-year old Jewish boy. He…
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EXCLUSIVE: In Exile, Iraqi Jews Are Desperate To Reclaim Their Artifacts — But So Is Iraq
This is the second article in a series on the Iraqi Jewish Archive, a trove of items from Iraq’s exiled Jewish community. In “The Last Relics Of Iraq’s Jewish Past Are In America. Should They Be Returned?” we explored the tumultuous 20th-century history of Iraqi Jews and the fight to return the archive to its…
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In Genetics, There’s More Than What Meets The Eye
In July, 1987, my cousin Aviad Bar-Sella left to begin his service in the Israeli army. I was visiting for the summer and watched the milestone unfold in the family’s small, tidy apartment in Kfar Saba. Although we had basically just met, I will never forget what Aviad said to me before he walked out…
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Why The Census Should Matter To Jews — And Everyone Else
Inventing the Immigration Problem: the Dillingham Commission and Its Legacy By Katherine Benton-Cohen Harvard University Press. 343 pp. $29.95 America Classifies the Immigrants: From Ellis Island to the 2020 Census. By Joel Perlmann Harvard University Press. 451 pp. $45 In 1943, Earl Harrison, the U.S. Commissioner of Immigration, announced his bureau would remove the designation…
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EXCLUSIVE: The Last Relics Of Iraq’s Jewish Past Are In America. Should They Be Returned?
This is the first of three articles on the Iraqi Jewish Archive. Next, read part two, “In Exile, Iraqi Jews Are Desperate To Reclaim Their Artifacts — But So Is Iraq,” and part three, “The Iraqi Jewish Archive Could Reshape Foreign Policy. But Its Future Is Uncertain.” On a leafy parkway in the Jamaica section…
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Rachel Kushner Brings Moral Indignation To ‘Mars Room’
Much of Rachel Kushner’s third novel is set in Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, but its title — The Mars Room — refers to a San Francisco strip club where Romy Hall, now serving two consecutive life sentences plus six years, once worked. Romy was, on the whole, not unhappy at the Mars Room, a place…
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Theater Meet The New Star Of ‘The Band’s Visit’ (Same As The Old Star)
For Sasson Gabay, 71, acting is second nature, not unlike eating, drinking or even breathing. He instinctively observes the people around him, the way they interact and behave. It’s all source material, culled and stored for future roles that he might play. “I look at you, how you speak, the kind of questions you ask,…
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Why Jews Should Root For France In The World Cup — Not Croatia
With its 2-1 victory over England, Croatia has secured its place in the World Cup final, squaring off against France for the coveted cup this Sunday. So, who should Jews root for in the final match? To answer this question, we need to look at the countries’ records, not in soccer, but with the Jews….
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Pepe The Frog, Beloved Alt-Right Meme, Scrubbed From Daily Stormer
Pepe the Frog, the unwitting mascot of the so-called alt-right, is on the fast track to bettering his personal brand. Motherboard reports that the legal team of Pepe’s creator, Matt Furie, has successfully petitioned neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer to take down Pepe’s unlicensed image. The removal marked a victory for the web-footed innocent who’s…
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