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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For Mother’s Day — 9 Great Versions Of ‘My Yiddishe Mame’
What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to sit back and listen to “My Yiddishe Mame,” which long ago escaped the confines of the Jewish ghetto to become one of the world’s most popular songs about the love of a mother. The proof is in the wide range of singers of all backgrounds and…
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Music The Astronomical Force And Zen Cool Of Leonard Cohen
The late phase of Leonard Cohen’s career began, like a lot of artistic triumphs, with the desperate need for a quick buck. In 2004, Cohen learned that his manager, Kelley Lynch, had been quietly stealing his money and that he was now, at the age of seventy, virtually penniless. Lynch was ordered to pay 9.5…
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Music WATCH: That Time Leonard Cohen Was On ‘Miami Vice’
The late Leonard Cohen worked in many mediums – poetry, music, fiction – less remembered is his contribution to the realm of drama. And what a contribution it is! Visitors to the new exhibit “A Crack in Everything” at the Jewish Museum will find, amid relics more germane to the artist’s ongoing influence in the…
The Latest
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Mother’s Day Honor Roll
Happy Mother’s Day! We’re pleased to honor our readers’ moms, bubbes and other beloved women in their lives. Thank you for supporting Jewish journalism, Jewish life and Jewish community. Esther Bar-lev (in memory) Paula Bennett (in honor) Leila Fisher (in honor) Suzi Fisher (in honor) Carole Garber (in honor) Judy Greenberg (in honor) Janet Hadda…
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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…
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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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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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