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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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…
The Latest
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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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Should We Say Kaddish For The South?
For whatever reason, I have attended only one funeral in my life, and it was for a Holocaust survivor. After liberation, Gilbert Metz made his way to Natchez, Mississippi, of all places, and soon to New Orleans and Tulane University, an education he paid for by window washing. He served with distinction in the Korean…
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The Secret Jewish History Of Buster Keaton
Had it not been for Erik Weisz, the Hungarian-born, Wisconsin-raised son of a rabbi, one of the most influential film artists of all time may have been just an ordinary Joe rather than the extraordinary Buster Keaton, the renowned comic actor, director, and stunt performer widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential…
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Murder-Solving Sigmund Freud To Star On Netflix
Since Steven Moffat re-imagined Sherlock Holmes as a self-described “high-functioning sociopath,” prestige mysteries have been having a love affair with psychology. So it’s only natural that the father of psychoanalysis would find his way into the genre. Netflix has announced it’s taking on the Austrian thriller “Freud” which will follow a young Siggy through his…
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July 29: Berkshires: Brunch in the Berkshires
Take a break from the city: Penny and Claudio Pincus and Sam Norich are inviting Forward readers to Brunch in the Berkshires. Brunch, at the Pincus home, will be Sunday, July 29 at 11 a.m. Forward Editor-in-Chief Jane Eisner will be the featured speaker, sharing her discussion on “Being a Jew in Trump’s America.” “The…
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