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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America’s Orchestras Are At War — Could More Jewish Musicians Help?
In September, when a last-minute negotiation effort failed, the Philadelphia Orchestra went on strike after an audience had already gathered for its seasonal opening-night gala. Hackles were raised. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported: “‘Shame on you!’ shouted a couple of philanthropists as players walked through the Kimmel Center lobby and out onto a Broad Street picket…
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Why Zadie Smith Thinks Philip Roth, and Alexander Portnoy, Changed The World
Who is Philip Roth? Most of us agree on the known particulars: he’s a novelist (obviously), a Jew, a Newark native. Depending on who you ask, he is also a pervert, a misogynist, a narcissist, a chauvinist, and/or a self-hating Jew. (I got that list from quickly Googling “most frequent criticisms of Philip Roth;” I…
The Latest
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Farewell to Hirohito’s Brother — Japan’s Most Jewish Prince
Takahito, Prince Mikasa, who died on October 27 at age 100, was doubtless the member of Japan’s Imperial family with the most Yiddishkeit. He was the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito and uncle of Akihito, the reigning Emperor of Japan. Prince Mikasa was, as Ben-Ami Shillony’s “The Jews and the Japanese” explains, a prominent scholar…
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‘Falsettos’ Isn’t As Gay As It Once Was — But It’s Still Just as Jewish
Its very first word, shouted by men dressed as Biblical Hebrews and bathed in a quick flash of light, is “oy.” Its first song is titled “Four Jews in a Room Bitching.” And it ends with a bar mitzvah. “Falsettos,” a groundbreaking gay musical that opened in a beautiful, emotional revival at the Walter Kerr…
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For Halloween, 5 Spooky Tales of Haunted Synagogues
Look there — might that be a poltergeist up on the bimah? Or a goblin dangling from the ceiling of the beit ha-knesset? In the spirit of the season, here are five tales of synagogues that may or may not be haunted. Don’t say you weren’t warned. The Ari Synagogue Following earthquakes, The Ari Synagogue in Safed,…
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Dallas Holocaust Museum To Relocate, Expand Mission
The Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center For Education and Tolerance today announced plans to move to a new, expanded site that will quadruple the museum’s exhibition space. The museum also plans to reorient its mission, changing its name to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. In a press release, Museum President and CEO Mary Pat Higgins…
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Paula Vogel’s ‘Indecent’ Heading To Broadway
Fans of Paula Vogel, Yiddish Theater, and equality in the arts rejoice: Vogel’s play “Indecent,” which made its New York debut off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theater last April, will be hitting Broadway this coming spring. On Wednesday, producers Daryl Roth, Elizabeth Ireland McCann and Cody Lassen announced that, starting in April 2017, “Indecent,” which Vogel…
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The Jewish Player-Manager That Led the Cleveland Indians to Their Last World Series Title
The last time the Cleveland Indians won a World Series, Harry Truman was running for reelection against Thomas Dewey. The Berlin airlift had just ended. The State of Israel was barely five months old. After defeating the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 on Tuesday night, the Indians are now three wins away from their first…
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At His Library in Newark, Philip Roth Names 15 of His Favorite Books
Philip Roth is one of Newark, New Jersey’s most famous sons. The novelist was born there, and has frequently used the city as a setting for his books. Now, he’s paying homage to Newark by pledging to donate his personal library to the Newark Public Library upon his death. In a press release, Roth explained…
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Zadie Smith’s Lecture, Nora Ephron’s Revolt and 4 Other Things To Watch, Read, And Do This Weekend
Last weekend Rachel Bloom made us laugh, cry and sing with the season premier of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Ewan McGregor gave us a film adaptation of “American Pastoral” that the Forward’s Adam Langer found disappointing (sorry), and we swooned, again, for Leonard Cohen. What’s grabbing our attention this week? Holocaust denial, more Philip Roth, and the…
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Copy Boy, Get Rewrite For Broadway’s New ‘Front Page!’
An upwardly mobile reporter is about to marry a nice girl and move into advertising, to make more money. A tough-talking cop rants about nonexistent subversives, to boost his own profile. The mayor is more interested in mollifying key constituencies than in fighting for justice. And the powerless cleaning lady keeps getting manhandled. “The Front…
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