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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The towering Jewish critic who taught me to grok art and hate Picasso
After Max Kozloff died at 91, a New York community came together to remember and to mourn
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100 Years Ago, Auguste Rodin Died — And The Forward Paid Tribute
The sculptor Auguste Rodin died one hundred years ago on November 17, 1917. Shortly thereafter, this tribute was published by the Forward’s founder Ab Cahan. A great man died last Saturday in Paris. He was one of the best artists of all time, and a most remarkable person. Those things tend to go together —…
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Art ‘Invisible Walls Of Occupation’ Shows A Different Side Of Palestinian Life
In the Palestinian village of Burqah, 86% of men are employed, but 60% work unstable, part time jobs. 75% of families have five or more members, and half of such families live beneath the poverty line of $530 per month. 55% of residents expressed concerns about the Israeli military entering the village. Statistics like this…
The Latest
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Film & TV Movie News: Lanzmann, ‘The Graduate,’ Louis C.K., and Mel Gibson Comes Home
As Thursday’s puckish sun rises on the horizon, the mind of man turns to film. So things have stood since time immemorial, or at least since two weeks ago, when the Forward debuted Movie Thursday. If you’re disconsolate over your inability to find movie news, analysis, and recommendations never fear: Movie Thursday will be your…
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Karl Katz, Leader Of The Israel Museum, Jewish Museum And Met, Passes Away At 88
Karl Katz, whose varied career included the leadership of museums in New York and Israel as well as successful work as a film producer, died last Wednesday at the age of 88. He left his mark on a wide range of museums, including the Israel Museum, the Jewish Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art….
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‘Illyria’ Mixes Joe Papp, Robert Moses And McCarthyism, But It’s Not Shakespeare
Is there one right way to make art? Should it be an idealistic endeavor, best pursued without interest in fame or compensation? Can artists seek professional success without having to compromise their art to match their patrons’ values? If ideals and commercialism clash — for instance, if one has a young child to provide for,…
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50 Years Later, Just How Jewish Was ‘The Graduate?’
As a superfan of “The Graduate” I was thrilled to get my hands on Beverly Gray’s new book “Seduced by Mrs. Robinson: How ‘The Graduate’ Became the Touchstone of a Generation.” Fellow enthusiasts of the film will more than enjoy this brisk voice-y historical read timed to the fiftieth anniversary of the film’s release in…
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Art Leonard Cohen’s Depth, Style Shortchanged By Montreal Tribute Exhibit
A Mona Lisa grin became one of Leonard Cohen’s signature facial expressions. For a poet of self-mocking intimacy, it made a perfect mask. As I walked through “A Crack in Everything,” the new exhibit about Cohen’s life and work at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, I imagined Cohen appraising the show with that half-smile….
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‘Indecent’ To Air On PBS ‘Great Performances’ This Friday
“Indecent,” Paula Vogel’s loving paean to Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance,” will get its own resurrection this Friday; a filmed performance of the play from its Broadway run will air on PBS’s “Great Performances.” “Indecent,” which won two Tony Awards — including one for director Rebecca Taichman, a member of this year’s Forward 50 —…
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Masha Gessen’s Definitive Take On Contemporary Russia Is The Work Of A Lifetime
“I wanted to write a story about how Russian democracy didn’t come to be,” Masha Gessen said. We were discussing Gessen’s “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia,” a finalist for the National Book Award in nonfiction. In the book, Gessen tells the story of Russia’s post-Soviet evolution through the intertwining stories of seven…
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Film & TV Louis C.K. Responds To Sexual Misconduct Allegations: ‘These Stories Are True’
Louis C.K. says that the “stories are true.” We knew that Louis C.K.’s world was dark and conflicted. But we hoped that he had transmuted all of those roiling observations and desires into comedy gold. Now it turns out that he had some desires that found an end not in comedy, but in tragedy. Rather…
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A 95-year-old war hero tells his story
Guy Stern still remembers the day he almost saved his family
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