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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What Do You Do When You Come Face To Face With The Spanish Inquisition?
“Nobody,” the Monty Python skit goes, “expects the Spanish Inquisition,” and the same goes for visitors to the Prado Museum in Madrid. Turning a corner on the second floor, viewers come face-to-face with Emilio Sala Francés’ 1889 painting “The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain.” In the picture, a lavishly-dressed Jewish emissary has laid a…
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Why 7,000 Pieces Of Vicious Anti-Semitic Propaganda Are Relevant Again
Arthur Langerman began collecting pieces of anti-Semitic propaganda dating from the late 19th century onward in 1961. He thought his collection, which now includes close to 7,000 images and documents, would serve as a chronicle of the baseless hatred perpetuated by its contents. He didn’t anticipate his mission would, in his lifetime, become one of…
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Coming Soon: Thousands Of Unseen Photographs From One Of America’s Greatest Photographers
In the middle of the 20th century, there were two photography exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art that changed the way we see photography, and more fundamentally, the way we look at the world. The first, 1955’s “The Family of Man” curated by Edward Steichen, was, as the title suggests, aimed at using photography…
The Latest
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These Upcoming Plays Will Make You Want To Celebrate #WorldTheaterDay
It’s World Theater Day, and what better way to celebrate than by looking forward to the most exciting Jewish theater of the spring and summer? Whether you’re looking for brand new musical thrills, enigmatic mysteries, or fresh takes on classics, the upcoming New York and London seasons have it all. 1) “Indecent” Paula Vogel’s “Indecent,”…
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You Really Need To Read This Terrific Interview With George Steiner
Editor’s note: George Steiner is generally regarded as one of the most significant Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. He has taught at Oxford University, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, among others, and his books include the classic of criticism, “Tolstoy Or Dostoevsky,” “The Death Of Tragedy” and “In Bluebeard’s Castle: Some Notes Towards The Redefinition…
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Garth Drabinsky Returns To The Theater — And It’s Not A Pretty Sight
An overproduced, overcomplicated mess. Cringe-worthy. Bloated. The reviews are in for “Sousatka” which opened last night in Toronto. And they’re not pretty. The musical was supposed to mark a triumphant return for Garth Drabinsky, the fallen film and theater producer who was sent to the slammer in 2009 for fraud and forgery. Drabinsky, whose Broadway…
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He May Be Our Greatest Jewish Thinker — But What Does He Think About Jewish Thought?
Editor’s note: George Steiner is generally regarded as one of the most significant Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. He has taught at Oxford University, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale, among others, and his books include the classic of criticism, “Tolstoy Or Dostoevsky,” “The Death Of Tragedy” and “In Bluebeard’s Castle: Some Notes Towards The Redefinition…
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WATCH: A 90-Year Old English Gentleman Becomes A German Rabbi
(JTA) — For many Germans, Rabbi William “Willy” Wolff is the first Jewish religious leader they have ever met. And he’s the perfect man for the job. Diminutive, with a disarming chuckle and twinkling eyes, Wolff, who turned 90 in February, effortlessly breaks down that uniquely German condition of “Berührungsangst” – literally “fear of contact” with others….
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How Did A Yiddish Opera Wind Up In Cuba Of All Places?
You may have heard that the Yiddish-Cuban opera “Hatuey: Memory of Fire,” made its way to Havana in early March. Despite issues with a finicky old sound system, the premiere was a huge success and the opera has received extensive coverage in the Cuban press. It may seem like a miracle that this opera, based…
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Garth Drabinsky Returns To The Theater — And It’s Not A Pretty Sight
An overproduced, overcomplicated mess. Cringe-worthy. Bloated. The reviews are in for “Sousatka” which opened last night in Toronto. And they’re not pretty. The musical was supposed to mark a triumphant return for Garth Drabinsky, the fallen film and theater producer who was sent to the slammer in 2009 for fraud and forgery. Drabinsky, whose Broadway…
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The International Street Cannibals Ensemble Tackles Schoenberg’s Tortured Quartet
When faced with immense personal grief, we are given to sobbing, to wailing, to screaming – the old categories of expression seem startlingly, absurdly inadequate, and thus we revert to a pre-linguistic stage so that we might give voice to those things that render language so helplessly impotent. But one could just as easily see this…
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Yiddish קען מען זײַן פֿרום און פּאָליטיש לינק־געשטימט? איין אָרגאַניזאַציע זאָגט אַז יאָCan an observant Jew be politically left? This organization says yes
אויף דער קאָנפֿערענץ האָט מען געזוכט אין דער הלכה יענע פּרינציפּן װאָס זײַנען נישט נאַציאָנאַליסטיש, נאָר הומאַניסטיש און מאָראַליש.
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