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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I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
San Wei, which serves pastrami sandwiches along with churros and biang biang noodles, represents an immigrant's fulfillment of the American dream
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What Does Billy Crystal Love About Being Jewish?
(JUF News via JTA) The inimitable Billy Crystal is back on the road. The six-time Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor, producer, director and writer — most recently of a book of essays, “Still Foolin’ ‘Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys” — is currently touring the U.S. with his…
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At Abigail Pogrebin’s Book Launch, Hope For A Jewish Future
In abundance at the March 6 launch of Abigail Pogrebin’s “My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew,” among other things, were wine, a distinctly Jewish sense of goodwill, motherly advice, and petite, tastefully arranged spoonfuls of raw tuna, the last of which the event’s caterers could surely have described in more appetizing terms. More…
The Latest
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Here’s One Way To Fight The Gender Gap In Literature
Just in time for International Women’s Day, The University of Warwick in the United Kingdom announced that it is establishing an annual £1000 prize for women in translation — prompting elation from writers, translators and translation activists who are working hard to close the gender gap in international literature. The Warwick Prize for Women in…
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Fanny Mendelssohn’s Lost Sonata Finally Gets Its Premiere
Imagine learning all of Bach’s 48 preludes and fugues by heart and being told, “that’s cute.” You’d smash your instrument, and the interlocutor in rage. Well, that’s precisely what happened to Fanny Mendelssohn (it happened to countless women then, and continues to happen now). Fanny, though a musical prodigy and a prolific composer, was overshadowed…
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The Renaissance Composer Who Put Hebrew Prayers To Music Is Having A Resurgence
“Louder!” a woman hollered from the back of the auditorium. Onstage, Elam Rotem paused in the middle of a sentence. His eyebrows inched towards his hairline. It was a gentle night in late February, and the soft-spoken founder of the Israeli male vocal quintet Profeti della Quinta – which is currently based in Basel, Switzerland…
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Books How Timothy Snyder’s Facebook Post Became A Guide To Living Under Tyranny
ON TYRANNY: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century By Timothy Snyder Tim Duggan Books. 128 pp. $7.19 Out of boredom, a shepherd boy, calls to the adults in his village to tell them that a wolf is chasing his flock of sheep. When the villagers arrive to help the boy, they find no wolf, because…
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Should We Forget The Holocaust? A New Play Says Yes — And No
“If I Forget,” currently running at Manhattan’s Laura Pels Theatre, opens with two parents anxiously discussing their daughter, who is away on a Birthright trip to Israel. The 2000 Camp David Summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and President Bill Clinton has just failed – “The peace process is over,”…
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The Secret Jewish History Of The Pussyhat
While supporters of Donald Trump sport red baseball hats with the promise to “Make America Great Again,” Trump’s opponents have their own signature piece of headwear: the pink pussyhat. The hand-knit hat with cat ears designed by Jayna Zweiman, 38, and her friend Krista Suh has become a recognized symbol of dissent. It is also,…
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Mask-Maker Draws Inspiration From Amsterdam’s Red Light District — Naughty And Nice
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — For someone who produces and sells masks for a living, it makes sense to set up shop in the center of this city’s famed Red Light District. After all, there are countless masks and costumes on sale in the many adult toy shops that dot this part of the Dutch capital, which…
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The New Yorker’s New Bot Wants To Bring More Poetry Into Your Life
Early this morning, The New Yorker gave us some good news on an otherwise bleak day (the reissue of the travel ban, the continued “wiretap” insanity) – to celebrate their ninety-second anniversary, the magazine launched The Poetry Bot. The Poetry Bot is, according to The New Yorker, “a new way to receive, read, listen to,…
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How One Israeli Grocery Bag Solves A Vexing Dating Dilemma
Ever wish you could tell at a glance if someone was single or not? A Tel Aviv convenience-store has a novel solution to this problem. Tel Aviv is known for its nightlife and its large number of single residents, but Israel itself is a family-centric culture. The divide between solo freedom and traditional home life…
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Most Popular
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
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Fast Forward Germany formally classifies far-right AfD party as extremist, in blow to Nazi-linked populist movement
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Fast Forward Trump taps shock jock Sid Rosenberg and a Haredi newspaper publisher for Holocaust Memorial Council
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