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
-
FICTION: A Drop of Sunflower Oil
During our first days and weeks in Israel we readily absorbed a dozen or so Hebrew words, which spiced up our ordinary lives with exotic new sounds and smells. Among them was the term madrich, which means “guide” and was to play a substantial role in our lives. I would go so far as to…
-
Corporations Don’t Actually Care About Julius Caesar, Art Or You
There is a point that must be made: Corporations are not your friends. I am writing here in reference to the current Shakespeare in the Park production of “Julius Caesar” in which the titular character is portrayed by an actor who dresses and acts conspicuously like Donald Trump. I haven’t seen the play, so I…
-
This Artist Wanted Her Work Destroyed — Thankfully It Wasn’t
‘Occasionally / A human being / Saw my light / Rushed in / Got singed / Got scared / Rushed out,” Florine Stettheimer once wrote in a poem titled “Occasionally.” The full text of that poem, a lush yet minimal explication of what it feels like to be unknowable, occupies a final wall in The…
The Latest
-
Music Meet The Boston Red Sox Organist Who Got His Start At Shabbat Services
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Jewishbaseballmuseum.com Josh Kantor has performed everywhere from synagogues to orchestra pits, from seedy nightclubs to outdoor festival stages. But his favorite venue for playing music is Fenway Park, where he serves as the organist for the Boston Red Sox. A pianist since the age of five, Kantor (now…
-
Art New Center For Jewish History Head David Myers Shares His Vision For The Future
The Center for Jewish History has announced that its new President and Chief Executive Officer will be David N. Myers, the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History in the UCLA History Department, where he has taught for the past 25 years. Myers is also the author of such books as “Re-inventing the Jewish…
-
Jews Sweep Tonys As Bette Midler, Ben Platt And ‘Oslo’ Win Big
“Dear Evan Hansen,” the teen-angst driven musical about a high school outsider, won the top prize at Sunday’s Tony Awards, Broadway highest honors, while J.T. Rogers’ Mideast peace accord drama “Oslo” was named best play. The surprise hit musical won a total of six Tonys, including best musical actor for 23-year-old newcomer Ben Platt in…
-
Bette Midler, ‘Evan Hansen’ and ‘Oslo’ Lead Jewish Sweep At Tonys
In A Tony Awards marked predominantly by the predictable, the genuine surprises provided the most memorable entertainment. We could have done without host Kevin Spacey’s creaky impersonations of Johnny Carson and Bill Clinton, especially a weak joke at the expense of Hillary Clinton’s email servers. And some of the musical numbers failed to convey the…
-
Bringing A Talmudic Sage Back To Life
RABBI AKIVA: SAGE OF THE TALMUD By Barry W. Holtz Yale University Press, 248 pages, $25 When I was a rabbinical student, my teacher, Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, told me that when he was a college student he interviewed with the legendary Solomon Schechter to study at the Jewish Theological Seminary for rabbinical school. Schechter asked…
-
Scott Turow’s New Book Takes On The Holocaust
‘I like my life, whatever I’m doing,” Scott Turow told me. “I get out of bed in the morning and I know that there’s something I’m going to look forward to, which is a blessed way of life.” Not so for his characters. “Someone pointed out to me that in all my books the characters…
-
An Injured Athlete, A 70-Something Therapist, A Very Surprising Friendship
Filled with energy, even after a very long day, I hopped into his black Range Rover. Well, hopped is a bit of an exaggeration. At 5 feet 1 inch tall, I actually strained to reach the floorboards, but I was pleased to be with him once I settled into the passenger seat. The two of…
-
7 Jewish Shows To Watch At The Tonys
(JTA) — Tonight is the biggest night of the year for theater lovers: It’s the Tony Awards. Unfortunately, our crystal ball is at the shop for repairs — so we can’t say with certainty who the winners will be. But there’s one thing that’s for sure: The past year has been a standout one for Jewish…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Inside the ancient Christian theology driving modern antisemitism
- 2
News Jews paused Indiana’s abortion ban — by turning a religious freedom law against the evangelical right
- 3
Opinion The moral degradation of Israel’s far right is even worse than you think
- 4
Culture In 1989, Harold Pinter and Jerry Schatzberg made the perfect Holocaust movie for 2026
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Gene Shalit, a mensch with a personality as big as his mustache, turns 100
-
Looking Forward How a song about the food chain became a Seder mainstay
-
Fast Forward Connecticut Catholic school punishes students who targeted ‘Jew Canaan’ rivals on social media
-
Fast Forward Pro-Palestinian rally at Buchenwald memorial is shut down by German authorities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
