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
-
Forward Looking Back
1916 100 Years Ago Socialists Need Not Apply Socialists are treyf for the New York City Board of Education, but bribes are apparently kosher. We know this because a local schoolteacher named Gabriel Simon, a well-known socialist active on the Lower East Side, recently took the exam to become a principal and scored the highest…
-
I.L. Peretz’s Bitter Critique of Passivity
This month, Anne reads “Bontche Shweig,” by Isaac Loeb Peretz (1852-1915) Did the Enlightenment come to the Jewish world like a thunderclap? Like a mist drifting in? Like an alarm clock penetrating a deep sleep? It doesn’t matter. It came, and with it a writer who could stand outside and inside at the same time….
-
The Veg-O-Matic and 6 Other Great Moments in Ronco History
Mr. Microphone “Hey, good looking! We’ll be back to pick you up later!” By broadcasting your voice over the radio, Mr. Microphone would boost your social life, ignite a party or enhance your musical chops. Highlight of its classic TV spot include a roller-skating granny who shouts, “I got one, and I love it!” Veg-O-Matic…
The Latest
-
How Infomercial Guru Ron Popeil Brought Jewish Salesmanship to the Masses
Read this article, and marvel at an exhibit in Elmhurst, Illinois! But wait, there’s more! You’ll learn the incredible exploits of Samuel and Raymond Popeil, and their empire of gadgets and gizmos! Isn’t that amazing? But wait! There’s Samuel’s Popeil estranged son, Ron Popeil, who created Ronco to best his father! That might have been…
-
Orthodox Beatboxers Cut From ‘America’s Got Talent’
Two Orthodox Jewish beatboxers failed to advance on “America’s Got Talent” after wowing the judges in the initial round of the TV competition. Ilan Swartz-Brownstein and Josh Leviton, both of Manhattan, did not survive in the “Judge Cuts” episode that aired Tuesday night, The Oregonian reported. The show showed a brief segment of their performance….
-
Remembering Garry Marshall, the Jewiest Non-Jew in Hollywood
(JTA) — If there were a competition for the most Jewish-seeming non-Jew, the late Garry Marshall would have topped the podium (or sat on the bimah). The director, writer and actor, who died Tuesday at age 81, was so often mistaken for a Jew that the misconception was mentioned in a number of his obituaries….
-
5 Jewish things about the moon
Since 1969 — when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to set foot on the moon — six missions have successfully landed men on the moon, though since 1972 the only human presence on the moon has been the remotely controlled actions of rovers and small orbiting spacecraft. In honor of National…
-
Why Are the Chinese So Obsessed With the Jews?
In China today, shoppers snap up self-help books about how be smart, rich, and have successful children supposedly by imitating Jews. At least ten universities in China offer Jewish Studies programs. This popularity is in spite of, or due to, the fact that there are almost no Jews in China. “The Image of Jews in…
-
Towards a Kosher Definition of American Single Malt Whiskey
American whiskey producers are banding together to distill the definition of an American single malt whiskey. Scotch single malts are clearly and legally defined as whisky made from 100% malted barley that is the product of a single distillery, and aged in used wooden casks for at least three years. There are some more small…
-
Punk’s Jewish Godfather Alan Vega Dies at 78
Punk pioneer Alan Vega of Suicide – whose pitch-black, electro-charged minimalism influenced musicians from Bruce Springsteen to U2 to The Arcade Fire – died this weekend at age 78. Born in 1938 as Boruch Alan Bormowitz in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Vega studied fine arts and physics at Brooklyn College. A chance meeting decades later with performer…
-
Uri Geller and the Case of the Anti-Semitic Pokemon
Israeli impresario Uri Geller has claimed that extraterrestrials gave him the power to bend spoons with his mind. He also runs a humanitarian organization called International Friends of Magen David Adom (Red Star Of David). Sometime around 2000, kids started approaching Geller and asking him to autograph certain Pokemon cards. Apparently, there was a widespread…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Sports First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
- 2
Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
- 3
Politics This politician refused to say ‘Happy Hanukkah,’ then blamed ‘political correctness’ for the backlash
- 4
Culture We tried to fix Hallmark’s Hanukkah problem. Here’s the movie we made instead
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion An Israeli media mainstay is crumbling. Will liberal democracy go with it?
-
Culture How the next generation of rabbis is preparing for the age of A.I.
-
Fast Forward Just before Hanukkah attack, Jewish mayor of Bondi Beach region had been praised for fighting antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Vance says ‘religious liberty is a Christian concept.’ Where does that leave Jews?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
