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
-
The Secret Jewish History Of The Pet Hamster
On April 12, 1930, a Zionist zoologist, his Syrian guide, a local sheikh and a group of hired laborers gathered in a wheat field outside Aleppo, Syria. They started digging. Hours passed without incident, save for the destruction of a fair portion of a local farmer’s crop. Undeterred, they continued excavating until, at last, the…
-
Philip Roth’s Forgotten Tape: The Beginnings of The Great American Writer
I last spoke with Philip about a week before his death. A few days earlier, I had emailed him the tape that I discovered of the 1962 Yeshiva University symposium that he’d remember always as a crucial turning point — one, in equal measure, dreadful and indispensable. It was just the sort of experience that,…
-
In Praise of ‘Dovlatov,’ The Writer And The Film
“The Zionists have lost all sense of decency, and Golda Meir is a war hawk.” The tall and darkly handsome writer riding the bus turns slightly toward the stony-faced man, whose observation was clearly directed to him. The writer decides to ignore his comment, until the other man repeats it, more loudly than before. The…
The Latest
-
The Secret Jewish History Of The Indianapolis 500
When I was a child, my family went on camping trips up and down the East Coast most summers. One year we went up to New Brunswick in Canada, to the Bay of Fundy, where we met another family who had kids our age, and we sort of teamed up for the week. They were…
-
Leonard Bernstein, Lea DeLaria, A Carrot And A Quest For Genius
You know you are at a gala in New York if most every woman in attendance, yourself included, is wearing black. In another city, on another occasion, the solemn palette might register as funerary. At a gala celebrating the centenary of Leonard Bernstein, composer, conductor and reigning doyen of a certain era of New York…
-
Why Philip Roth Pissed Off So Many Jewish Readers
The novelist Philip Roth, who died on May 22 at age 85, was showered with honors for his 31 books. Yet from early in his career, he was also confronted by charges of anti-Semitism, even from professional critics who admired his literary talent. The vehemence of this opposition, which Roth countered energetically for most of…
-
That Time Donald Trump Boasted Of Reading Philip Roth
Among his fans, the late Philip Roth boasted Zadie Smith, Saul Bellow, the Library of America, and just about every awards committee save for the one named after Alfred Nobel. Roth could also have counted two presidents who enjoyed his work; Barack Obama, who awarded Roth with the National Humanities Medal, and, apparently, Donald Trump….
-
How Philip Roth Won the Battle for the Jews
In October 2016, author and essayist Anne Roiphe sung the praises of “The Conversion of the Jews,” a story from Philip Roth’s 1959 book “Goodbye, Columbus.” Upon hearing of Roth’s death, she writes: “Ah Phillip… the counter feminist gremlin of our time… Yes, you were a king of comedy. Yes, you saw right through the…
-
Philip Roth’s Newark Still Exists — If You Know Where To Look
On Philip Roth’s 80th birthday, a group of the author’s most fervent fans boarded a tour bus in Newark, New Jersey, Roth’s hometown and the site of many of his novels. Stops included Weequahic High, where Roth graduated from High School, and one of Roth’s childhood homes. The tour gathered a far-flung set of Roth…
-
Writers Remember Philip Roth: ‘The Planet Weighs So Much Less Without His Words’
Yesterday, at the age of 85, Philip Roth passed away. Roth was a titan of American letters, but his influence spread past his native shores. His death made headlines across the world, and his obituary appeared on the front page of Le Monde, France’s pre-eminent newspaper. But the most touching tributes to the decorated novelist,…
-
Philip Roth Dies, And Part Of Our America Dies With Him
I’m moving again and my books are packed up and sealed in boxes. Just two days ago I took all the Roth books down from my highest shelf: The first edition of “Portnoy’s Complaint,” the first book I gave to my boyfriend, now my husband, twenty years ago at the Shark Bar in Soho; “American…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Mamdani’s first statement on antisemitism as mayor-elect got some weird pushback
- 2
Fast Forward Why some Satmar Hasidic leaders endorsed Zohran Mamdani as mayor, stunning many Jewish voters
- 3
News How Mamdani became New York’s next mayor, with Jews divided between fierce opposition and fiery support
- 4
Culture Mamdani quoted Eugene Debs in his victory speech — there’s a long Jewish history there
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Vatican investigates Swiss Guard for alleged spitting gesture at Jewish women
-
Fast Forward Texas man charged with making antisemitic death threats to Jewish conservative pundits
-
Opinion I spoke out against Mamdani. Then he won. Here’s how we walk forward together
-
Opinion Sure, be mad I voted for Mamdani — I’m still just as Jewish (and Israeli) as you are
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
