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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Meet the Businessman Introducing Kids in 12 Countries to Jewish Books — For Free
Harold Grinspoon is not a scholar, he is a businessman – a fact which he reminded me of multiple times throughout our conversation. Yet, despite his protestations, Grinspoon has done more than most in terms of cultivating the next generation of Jewish learners. He isn’t a lecturer, an author, a rabbi, or in any way…
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Philosopher Martin Heidegger Spent Years Trying To Convince His Brother To Become A Nazi
Martin Heidegger, the much celebrated and much maligned German philosopher, is back in the news. As it turns out, his Naziism and anti-Semitism run far deeper than originally thought (we already knew it was bad, but it’s gotten worse). The Los Angeles Review of Books recently published a review (a translation of a piece that…
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That Famous Image of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Has a Beautiful Backstory
By now, most of us have seen that phenomenal, heartbreaking photograph of a young Carrie Fisher watching her mother, Debbie Reynolds perform at the the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas in 1963. In the photo Fisher, aged six, sits in the foreground on a stool backstage –- a tiny gray cherub directing our gaze towards the…
The Latest
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‘Hester Street,’ Film Based on Abraham Cahan Novel, Set for Theatrical Adaptation
Forward founding editor Abraham Cahan’s 1896 novel about the immigrant experience, “Yekl,” is set for a new adaptation. The book was brought into the late 20th century by the 1975 film “Hester Street,” which made a star out of Carol Kane; now, playwright Sharyn Rothstein will adapt that film for the stage. As The New…
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The Plight of WWII Jewish Refugees in Shanghai, and More Forward Looking Back
100 Years Ago There was joy in the offices of the Hachnosas Orchim (Welcoming of Guests) organization on East Broadway in New York City this week. A group of about 200 immigrants from northeastern Poland and Lithuania had arrived, and their relatives were helping them enjoy the bounty of this land. Many of the immigrants…
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Books ‘Alt-Righter’ Milo Yiannopoulos Inks $250,000 Book Deal
Richard Spencer, inventor of the term “alt-right” is leading Nazi salutes. Cadillac is recruiting “neo-Nazis” for a commercial. And now provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos signing a book deal worth $250,000. Yiannopoulos identified himself early on with the “alt-right,” but more with the folks who disdain what they call “political correctness” than with the ones who use…
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How Debbie Reynolds Became Carrie Fisher’s Perfect Jewish Mother
The witty, multitalented performer Debbie Reynolds, who died on December 28 at age 84, just a day after her daughter Carrie Fisher, surprisingly found herself associated with Judaism both on screen and off. From celebrity notoriety as the decidedly non-Jewish spouse of Jewish singer Eddie Fisher, Reynolds survived her marriage’s breakup and went on to…
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Debbie Reynolds Dies at 84 — Just Day After Daughter Carrie Fisher
Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, who sang and danced her way into the hearts of millions of moviegoers around the world in musicals like “Singin’ in the Rain,” died on Wednesday at age 84, her son said. Reynolds, one of the most enduring and endearing Hollywood actresses, died hours after being rushed to the hospital in…
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49 Reasons Why 2016 Was Better Than You Think
It’s easy to look back on 2016 and see only one thing —the November 8 election. Well, maybe if you saw “Hamilton,” which swept the Tonys 6 months and what seems like an era ago, you remember two things about this year. But to dwell only on the election (and, admittedly, it’s hard not to…
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How Making Art Will Still Matter in Trump’s America
My sons called after the result of the election was announced. They were distraught and confused. I told them what I told myself: Take a short time to mourn, then get active. Join marches. Support organizations that will come under fire. Help people whose lives will be further imperiled by a frankly racist and xenophobic…
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My Grandparents Thought They Were Leaving Us a Better World
I keep thinking of my maternal grandmother. She graduated from Wellesley in 1936, as did my paternal grandmother. Two Jewish women went to elite women’s colleges in the 1930s, my mom following in 1964. Both my aunts went there too. The first woman in my immediate family not to go to Wellesley, I broke the…
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