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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Film & TV 8 young Jewish comedians on what ‘SNL 50’ means to them
'Saturday Night Live' may be entering middle age, but these rising Jewish comics are just getting started.
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Film & TV Remembering Shelley Berman — A Kafkaesque Comic Of Existential Loneliness
Shelley Berman, who died on September 1 at age 92, was the Gregor Samsa of American comedy. Like the protagonist of Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” Berman was alert to the insectification of modern life, whatever removes humanity and sparks rage. Focusing on petty occasions for anger made him the spiritual forefather of comedians, especially Larry David,…
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Manhattan’s Only Winemaker Is This 89-Year-Old Iraqi Jew
NEW YORK (JTA) — Latif Jiji looks over this year’s crop at Chateau Latif with an expression of satisfaction. If you’ve never heard of Chateau Latif, you’re not alone. In fact, your favorite sommelier probably hasn’t heard of it, either. It’s not from the south of France, nor is it from Napa Valley. Rather, it’s…
The Latest
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How A Tel Aviv Café Is Helping The Needy With Free Challah
A Tel Aviv coffee shop is offering free challahs for those who need them in a novel way — by leaving challahs on café tables for an hour each Friday afternoon. Coffee Station at 152 Ibn Gabirol Street, the street Israelis pronounce as Even Gvirol, will have challahs on tables from 3:30-4:30 p.m each Friday,…
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Can This 28-Year-Old Rabbi Save A Landmark Brooklyn Synagogue?
When Rabbi Sam Reinstein arrived at the country’s first Jewish Comic Con, he didn’t seem to grasp the superhero symbolism emblazoned on his chest. A 28-year-old who prefers comedy to comics, he had decided to wear a humor T-shirt, which featured the Superman Logo wearing a black hat and peyes. He wandered through Congregation Kol…
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The Mystery Behind The Lost Books Of A Cherished Lublin Yeshiva
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. S. Y. Stupnitsky, a forgotten twentieth-century Jewish journalist, made a prescient observation about the great historic Jewish structures in Europe: “Jews built them, and today non-Jews possess them.” Stupnitsky’s words certainly ring true about Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, the educational brainchild of Meir Shapiro, a Polish rabbi who…
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The Newseum’s Existential Crisis Might Be Good For The Media — And The Country
In recent years, many death knells have tolled for the news industry. The causes of death have ranged from the disruption of the internet to the rise of crowd-sourced journalism to the emergence of fake news to a certain angry president’s assertions that any news that disagrees with or criticizes him is fake. And yet…
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‘Auschwitz On The Beach’ Compared Refugee Crisis To The Holocaust. Cancelling It Was Wrong.
Last week, Germany’s premier contemporary art exhibition decided not play host to “Auschwitz on the Beach.” Jewish groups successfully pressured documenta 14, which takes place every five years in the city of Kassel, into cancelling the controversial piece. A performance by Italian writer and artist Franco “Bifo” Berardi, “Auschwitz on the Beach” took its name…
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Israel’s ‘Fauda,’ Hailed For Political Enlightenment, Gets Examined By The New Yorker
The Israeli TV show “Fauda” has been a phenomenon, both in its home country and abroad. After premiering in Israel in 2015, the thriller won six Ophir Awards, the Israeli equivalent of the Academy Awards. In 2016, Netflix picked up the show’s first and then in-production second seasons; on the streaming site, the show screens…
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So, Is ‘Cosmopolitan’ An Anti-Semitic Slur Or Not?
Russian scholars remain aghast at Donald Trump’s senior policy adviser Stephen Miller’s use of the word “cosmopolitan,” and some warn that it is a very important signal. “Stephen Miller’s references to “cosmopolitan bias” in the media are so transparently anti-Semitic that it is hard to believe people are not seeing it,” said Russell Valentino, Professor…
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Novel Of Jewish Familial Strife Among Finalists For Prestigious Prize
Bethany Ball’s debut novel, “What to do About the Solomons,” has made the short list for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her book, set between California and Israel, tells the story of a Jewish family beset by financial scandal. The other finalists are “As Lie is to Grin” by Simeon Marsalis, “Empire of…
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David Grossman, Rock N’ Roll Hero?
Between winning the Man Booker International Prize and having a stage adaptation of one of his novels spark a high-profile controversy upon its United States premiere, Israeli novelist David Grossman has had quite the year. Now he’s topping it off by becoming a rock n’ roll hero. As a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of…
Most Popular
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Culture Hitler is trending on TikTok again — and they’re trying to make him seem like a nice guy
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Fast Forward Trump says Jews would deserve much of the blame if he loses
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Culture You can buy Sukkot gift boxes that say ‘tuchus’ on Amazon
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Fast Forward Sitcom star encourages non-Jews like her to hang mezuzahs on their homes
In Case You Missed It
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Looking Forward An Israeli hip-hop artist remembers a day of hope in Gaza
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Sports The Jewish Sport Report: How the Chicago White Sox made a bad year even worse for Jewish fans
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Oct. 7: One Year Later A different closet: Queer Zionists navigate the post-Oct. 7 dating scene
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Looking Forward Why won’t Kamala Harris talk about her brisket?
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