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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Why Israel’s Bestseller List Is a Threat to Hebrew Literature
Books in translation increasingly dominate Israel’s best-seller list, and some see a serious threat to Hebrew-language writers in the trend. This week’s bestseller list, published in Haaretz, includes a whopping nine titles in translation out of ten top slots in fiction sold at independent bookstores. It will take only one additional foreign bestseller to reduce…
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Richard Spencer’s Awful Response to Quebec Murders
As is well known by now, Canadian police allege that on Sunday Alexandre Bissonnette, a French Canadian White Nationalist who is reportedly a fan of Marine LePen walked into a mosque at prayer in Quebec City and opened fire, killing at least six people and wounding many more. Regis Labeaume, the mayor of peaceful Quebec…
The Latest
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The Guide To The Alt Right’s Memes That You Wish You Didn’t Need
Last week, Vice published a guide to help you navigate the worst that America has to offer: alt-right/Nazi/fascist/racist memes. As Justin Caffier of Vice points out, “Internet memes are, by and large, the currency in which these young nationalists trade, eschewing the stuffy, articulated treatises of ‘Mein Kampf’ in favor of more virality-friendly catchphrases and…
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How Publishers Are Already Taking Action Against Trump’s “Muslim Ban”
Comma Press is the first publisher to respond to the “Muslim ban” with a pledge to spend 2018 exclusively publishing work from the seven countries whose citizens are currently barred from entering the U.S. “We have decided to feature on our translation imprint only writers from the countries affected by the ban – Syria, Iraq,…
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Spicer Continues The White House’s Disgraceful Line On The Holocaust
It should come as no surprise that “I’m sorry” does not seem to be in the current administration’s vocabulary. Following the widespread backlash against Donald Trump’s disgraceful Holocaust Memorial Day statement (you can read my piece on all the statement’s problems here), White House Secretary Sean Spicer doubled down on the statement in a press…
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How Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Being Translated Into Other Languages
The Trump administration’s ban on Muslims from seven nations entering the country has caused mass protests at airports worldwide — but how it is being reported globally is often a matter of translation. In Italy, “they are calling it a “legge razziale” or racial law, which directly ties it to the Italian racial laws instituted…
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Who Ever Heard of an Irish Jew?
“Who ever heard of an Irish Jew?” It is a question that has been employed over time as an insult, an unlikely conversation starter, and the title of a celebrated short story collection. It is also a question I have been asked constantly since the publication of my own Irish-Jewish novel, “Nine Folds Make a…
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Why Andrew Ramer Is One of Our Most Righteous Men
Having spent 20 part-time years in the Jewish professional world, I’ve come to appreciate the Kabbalistic concept of the lamed-vavniks, the 36 righteous people who, hidden from view, are secretly maintaining the world by their good deeds. What I mean is, the Jewish teachers, leaders, innovators, and mensches who inspire me are mostly lesser known…
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My Short and Bittersweet Relationship With an Online BFF
‘Needing brunch places in downtown Manhattan” was the posting I chose to respond to when looking through the online travel forum. It was payback time, my turn to help someone else. I was grateful for the suggestions I’d received from others when searching for a Mexican beach resort that wouldn’t require packing Imodium. To figure…
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The 26 Books We’re Sure To Be Reading This Year
Winter is theoretically a fabulous time for curling up with a hot drink and a book, although that’s a peculiar sentence to write on a 60-degree day in New York. Still, the cold weather will inevitably return, and with it the need to read, read, read. Our favorite picks for the endeavor —in fiction, nonfiction,…
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Reclusive Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter Suing Over Stolen DNA
You’d be forgiven for not knowing of Ike Perlmutter, even though he is the CEO of Marvel Entertainment; the Israeli-born executive is a notorious recluse. For a recluse, particularly a powerful and wealthy businessman, all theft is an immense transgression – even the theft of DNA. You read that right, Perlmutter is alleging that someone…
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