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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Theater
LaGuardia High School’s ‘Sound Of Music’ Scraps Nazi Symbols
Tonight marks the opening of LaGuardia High School’s production of “The Sound of Music.” Audiences can expect the rousing score of Richard Rodgers, the inspiring words of Oscar Hammerstein – but if they come looking for historical accuracy, they may leave disappointed. The New York Daily News heard from students at LaGuardia, a New York…
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Music The Secret Jewish History of Roger Daltrey
In his new memoir, “Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story” (Henry Holt) – a horribly titled but entertaining and revealing read — Roger Daltrey gives his version of the story of the rock band, the Who, territory that his bandmate and on-again, off-again friend and collaborator, Pete Townshend, already reviewed in his own chronicle,…
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On Hanukkah: Why We Miss The Seleucids
In the words of Ross Douthat, opinion columnist at The Times: “[W]e miss the WASPs — because we feel, at some level, that their more meritocratic and diverse and secular successors rule us neither as wisely nor as well.” On Hanukkah, we Jews desperately miss Antiochus XIII. For the Jewish people, Hanukkah is a deeply…
The Latest
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Theater Amy Heckerling Wants To Give Us A Different Singing Cher In ‘Clueless: The Musical’
It took a pessimistic girl from New York to make two of the most penetrating satires of sunny California ever committed to film. I speak of course of filmmaker Amy Heckerling, director of 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and 1995’s “Clueless.” In a December 5 profile by The New York Times’ Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Heckerling…
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Film & TV ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Just Dropped Its Most Jewish Episode
While Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order” universe has had its share of legendary Yids from Jerry Orbach’s Lenny Briscoe to Steven Hill’s Adam Schiff (the fictional DA, not the the expected chairman of the House Intelligence Committee), “Law & Order: SVU,” the only show left running, has been noticeably lacking in the Jew department since…
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Film & TV Should We Be Playing The ‘Schindler’s List’ Theme At Weddings?
On December 2, Sir Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, married the lawyer Anya Deutsch in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony in downtown New York, to the strains of the theme from Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” played by an orchestral ensemble. On such a joyous occasion, one might wonder about the choice of…
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A 17th Century Book On The Stock Market Is Up For Big Money At Sotheby’s
While Jewish economists are nothing new, readers of the business section may be surprised to learn the man who wrote the first book on the stock market was writing for a Jewish audience. Bloomberg reports that on Tuesday December 4 Joseph Penso de la Vega’s 1688 book “Confusion of Confusions” went on sale at Sotheby’s…
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Film & TV ‘Mrs. Maisel Is Just As Good — And Just As Annoying — The Second Time Around
Oy vey! We had to wipe a little shmutz off our tchotchkes, but you better bissel–gornisht–treyf believe it — the second season of Amazon Prime’s smash-hit show “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is just as bagel as ever. Jews! If you enjoy the tempo of crack-cocaine addicts, or podcasts played at 2x speed, you will enjoy the…
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Art The Art Institute Of Chicago’s New Website Has Over 50K Public Domain Artworks — Here’s What’s Jewish
The trouble with museums is they tend to stay in one place. While any museum’s permanent collection makes up the bulk of the institution’s bragging rights, those of us who don’t live near the Louvre, MOMA or the Art Institute of Chicago don’t have ready access to the masterpieces on display. Luckily for us, that…
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Film & TV The Secret Jewish History of ‘The White Shadow’
Forty years ago this fall, an unassuming yet groundbreaking CBS-TV series called “The White Shadow,” about an inner-city high-school basketball team coached by a former white NBA player, made its debut, bringing the realities of racism, alcoholism, drugs, gang violence, domestic violence, student violence against teachers, student sex with teachers, teen pregnancy, teen death, sexually…
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The World Set Rules For Returning Nazi-Looted Art. Are They Working?
In November, the Austrian government revealed that nearly two decades ago it returned the wrong Nazi-looted Gustav Klimt painting to the wrong Jewish family. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, is working to return cultural items looted by colonialists to their African countries of origin. Elaborate, precise heists are targeting Chinese artifacts in museums across the globe,…
Most Popular
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Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
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Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
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Fast Forward Hanukkah shooting leaves at least 15 dead at Australia’s most popular beach
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Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
In Case You Missed It
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News ‘We are not alright’: How Oct. 7 defined Eric Adams’ Jewish legacy
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Fast Forward As Australian Jews call for action on antisemitism, prime minister unveils moves to curb hate speech
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Opinion I’m a 25-year-old semi-Zionist. Here’s what that means this Hanukkah.
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