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
-
On Stephen Sondheim’s 87th Birthday, 3 Transcendent Takes On His Music
Today is musical theater legend Stephen Sondheim’s 87th birthday, and while some are celebrating by binge-listening to the composer and lyricist’s classic tunes — who, after all, can resist the lure of, say, Bernadette Peters crooning “No One is Alone?” — NPR celebrated by bringing pianist Anthony de Mare into the studio to discuss a…
-
How Bob Silvers Made Friends And Influenced People At The New York Review Of Books
More than any other modern editor, Robert Benjamin Silvers, who died on March 20 at age 87, turned a social circle into a compelling publication. Of Russian and Romanian Jewish origin, Silvers cofounded The New York Review of Books (NYRB), which he co-directed with Barbara Epstein until her death in 2006. As Silvers told The…
-
Get To Know These Three Latin American Jewish Poets On #WorldPoetryDay
On National Poetry Day, we introduced you to four of our favorite American Jewish poets. Now, for World Poetry Day, get to know three Latin American Jewish poets. There’s a surprising lack of their work in English translation, so if you’re a Spanish-speaker — all three are from Spanish-speaking Central and South American countries —…
The Latest
-
Ruling On Roman Polanski Case Expected Within 90 Days
Almost 40 years after film director Roman Polanski fled the United States to avoid further sentencing after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, a Los Angeles judge is set to rule on what might be the last iteration of Polanski’s case within 90 days, CNN reports. A warrant for Polanski’s arrest has been…
-
Why Does An Ad For An Amazon Show Make So Many People Mad?
Since the election of Donald Trump, a funny thing has started to happen — otherwise innocuous pieces of pop culture have become political battlegrounds. I mean funny both as curious and as downright hilarious. In the former camp, we have boycott movements growing around things like sneakers (New Balance) and cereal (Kellogg’s) – the newly extreme…
-
Art Bodily Fluid Project Unites Muslims and Jews
In a project melding interfaith dialogue and feminist theory, a Toronto gallery brought together Jewish and Muslim women to study sacred texts. Guided by Toronto artist Rochelle Rubenstein, the women created scrolls that meshed ancient verses with very modern meditations on the female body. The goal: To explore traditional responses to menstruation, breastfeeding and mourning…
-
How Jackie Hoffman Journeyed From Shtetl to Hollywood to Broadway
Actress/comedienne Jackie Hoffman has long been a fixture on the New York scene. The rubber-faced character actress known for a long-lived and successful Broadway career was recently cast as Mrs. Teavee in the forthcoming Broadway production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and most recently played Mamacita, Joan Crawford’s loyal German maid, in Ryan Murphy’s…
-
The Story Of A Piano That Survived Bergen-Belsen
This is a piano tale. It’s a story about coincidences, Jewish connections and post-Holocaust fallout. I have a piano. It’s unusual because of its construction, but mostly because of its history. It was built by the Bechstein company circa 1908 in Germany. It is a rehearsal piano — an upright with extra long strings and…
-
Is This 23-Year-Old Brooklyn Native Opera’s Next Great Star?
Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, at 23 years old, might be one of opera’s most promising stars. He’s lined up engagements for the next few years, appearing next with Virginia’s Wolf Trap Opera and the Houston Grand Opera Studio. His subsequent commitments are currently under wraps. He was just named one of the winners of the…
-
How A Jewish Author Is Helping Exiled Writers Find Asylum
Las Vegas seems an unlikely haven for intellectuals. But for years, a literary center at its University of Nevada campus has quietly welcomed exiled writers under threat in their home countries. Now, as President Trump’s immigration actions send chills through refugee communities, the City of Asylum project is launching an ambitious national expansion. “We’re asking…
-
Is Michael Chabon A Better Writer Because He Doesn’t Use A Lot Of Exclamation Points???!!!
At least according to the forces behind the National Jewish Book Awards, Michael Chabon is something of an accomplished writer. But what, exactly, makes him so good? A new analysis by statistician Ben Blatt, author of the recently published “Nabokov’s Favorite Word is Mauve,” measures how well a group of 50 authors, plucked from lists…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
- 2
Fast Forward First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
- 3
Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
- 4
Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Holocaust survivor event features a Rob Reiner video address — recorded just weeks before his death
-
Fast Forward In Reykjavik, Hanukkah offers a chance for Iceland’s tiny, isolated Jewish community to come together
-
Opinion When my children decorate for Hanukkah, I don’t just see pride. I see pluralism in action.
-
Fast Forward ‘The most Australian name’: Matilda, the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach attack, embodies a nation’s grief
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
