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
-
Film & TV
Should We Expect More From ‘Downton Abbey’ Than Whitewashed Anti-Semitism?
I have a confession: I am completely, utterly addicted to Downton Abbey. It might go against my progressive politics, or , but – let us tell the truth – it is a soap opera in gilded clothes. The sixth and final season is about to premiere next month in the United Kingdom (Americans will have…
-
Music The Wagner Opera That’s OK for Jews To Love
In 1981, Zubin Mehta sent shockwaves through Israel by leading the country’s premiere orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, in a concert encore by Richard Wagner. It was the first time since the establishment of the State that the notoriously anti-Semitic composer’s work had been heard live in Israel. Despite the fighting and shouting in the auditorium,…
-
Music The Secret Yiddish History of Public Enemy
If ever there was a time we needed to hear from hip-hop legends Public Enemy, this is it. One might assume that the group that gave voice and sound to the frustrations of African-Americans during the Reagan-Bush years would surely have something powerful to say about America in the age of Ferguson and Baltimore, Eric…
The Latest
-
Matisyahu Flap Shows Europe Jews Are Targeted Over Israel
(JTA) — A Spanish music festival’s recent decision to rescind its invitation to the American reggae singer Matisyahu, after he declined to endorse a Palestinian state, brought international attention to a phenomenon that many European Jews have been feeling for years: that they are being targeted for Israel’s actions. Matisyahu, who is Jewish but not Israeli,…
-
In Chicago, Come for the Iran Nuke Deal. Stay for the Smoked Salmon.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago is holding a special meeting today to discuss the Chicago Jewish community’s response to the Iran deal. The Jewish Federation is the most important Jewish organization in Chicago and the meeting today will be attended by members of many Jewish organizations,…
-
Welcome to the Jewish Jungle of Suriname
We walked through the muggy jungle battling swarms of bizarre multicolored insects that had probably not yet been discovered by science. As I cleared the brush with a forceful swing of my machete, I wondered what it would have been like to live here 400 years ago when the first Jews arrived. Wait, Jews in…
-
Yosi Piamenta, a Virtuoso Guitarist Who Reshaped Jewish Music
Legendary Jewish guitarist Yosi Piamenta died on August 23 after a difficult struggle with cancer. He was 64. Piamenta was a virtuoso guitarist who had a long career performing original music as well as traditional Jewish, Israeli and Arabic songs arranged in his signature style. Born in Israel on November 29, 1951, Piamenta moved to…
-
How a Nice Jewish Couple Became Hip Hop Dance’s King and Queen
Nine men in black suits stand in a line across the back of the stage as the first words of Agent Smith’s monologue from “The Matrix Reloaded” come over the speakers: “As you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we’re here.” Suddenly, the suits multiply; clones appear…
-
Film & TV ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Is Surprisingly Good to the Jews
One of the more surprising aspects of “Straight Outta Compton” — F. Gary Gray’s propulsive and vibrant, if rather disjointed, film about the rise and fall of the seminal rap group N.W.A — is how dainty it is when it comes to portraying Jews and anti-Semitism. Whatever its merits and shortcomings, like the music it…
-
Can Tel Aviv Help Cure My Son’s Diabetes?
Sometimes it’s better to leave the things we buy in the boxes they come in. Such was the case with the Hammacher Schlemmer recumbent exercise bicycle (assembly required) that I bought for my teenage son after he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and needed to stay on the move to bring his blood sugar…
-
He’s Saying Hashem, But It Sounds Like Hare Krishna
Picture this: a rabbi who is also a martial artist leads a style of ancient Indian chanting in Hebrew. A knit yarmulke rests upon his flowing gray hair, and during Jewish mystical chants, he plays a harmonium — which looks like a cross between a keyboard and accordion — or sometimes just his guitar. He…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News That whites-only, no Jews allowed Arkansas community is legal, says state’s attorney general. How?
- 2
Opinion As an Israeli political scientist, I resisted thinking this war was a genocide. Here’s what changed my mind
- 3
News In a first, Orthodox rabbinical school ordains an out gay rabbi
- 4
Fast Forward From Shabbat dinners to ‘Talmudic discourse’: Jewish women killed in NYC shooting leave legacies of faith and family
In Case You Missed It
-
Music How a swaggering Jewish kid from East London became (albeit briefly) Britain’s greatest rock star and poet
-
Fast Forward Andrew Cuomo criticizes Israel — or does he?
-
Fast Forward What does the Star of David represent? A new ruling offers a legal answer
-
BINTEL BRIEF I prepare bodies as part of my synagogue’s burial society, but I’m an anti-Zionist. Is that OK?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
