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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Rediscovering the Judeo-Spanish Language
Born in Paris in 1950, Dominique Vidal is a French author and journalist specializing in the Middle East, the Holocaust, far-right-wing European politics and related issues. A contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique, he has co-written “The New A-Z of the Middle East,” among other books. He is the son of Haïm Vidal Sephiha, a Judeo-Spanish…
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How I Gained an Unlikely Love for Torah — And a Guatemalan Daughter
I never planned on becoming a Torah study regular, and the last thing I expected was that attending Torah study would lead me to adopt an “unaccompanied minor” from Guatemala. Yet that’s what happened. While many Americans are moving away from religious affiliation, my increased connection to Judaism through weekly Torah study has strengthened my…
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Music The Secret Jewish History of James Taylor
This past June, James Taylor finally achieved a feat that had eluded the folk-pop singer-songwriter for the past 45 years or so: His new album, “Before This World,” shot to No. 1 in its first week of release. The last time the folk-rock singer-songwriter approached the top of Billboard’s album charts was in 1971 when…
The Latest
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POEM: ALIBI
This past week, news of a stabbing attack on marchers in Jerusalem’s Gay Pride parade, which left 16-year-old Shira Banki dead, and an arson attack that killed Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsha, circulated through news and social media channels in Israel and abroad. The following poem by the Israeli poet Eli Eliahu appeared on his public…
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This Family Loves Basketball, Shabbat and Stephen Colbert
As of July, Ron Fish, 46, is the new senior rabbi of Temple Israel in Sharon, Massachusetts. His wife, Leah Bieler, 43, is a Jewish educator and Talmud scholar and carried on the couple’s love for music when she served as Fish’s cantor at their former synagogue. The two recently moved to Sharon with their…
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Ab Cahan Meets an Anti-Semite in Poland
100 Years Ago Reporting from Poland, Abraham Cahan writes how an otherwise intelligent hotelkeeper in Kalisz mistook him for an American Christian. As a result, the hotelkeeper spoke openly regarding Poland’s Jewish minority to someone she didn’t know was Jewish. The conversation started after Cahan mentioned the large numbers of poor Jews on the streets….
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Doris Salcedo’s Colombian Exposition
Throughout her career, the Colombian artist Doris Salcedo has devoted herself to exploring and quietly uncovering lethally efficient acts of human cruelty. Her sculptures and public installations, which she terms “interventions,” confront instances of violence and oppression, legacies of injustices and historical perpetrations. They excavate what has been repressed and buried, and dig up what…
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Art Indiana Jones and the Temple of Jews
Museums don’t typically take public, unequivocal stands on the question of the literal truth of the bible. But a National Geographic announcement of its exhibit “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology” (on display through Jan. 3, 2016) refers to both the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail as “famous, fictional relics.” But…
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Film & TV David Foster Wallace Wouldn’t Approve Of Me Loving This Movie. Too Bad.
Let’s get this out of the way — I never finished “Infinite Jest. “ (As a friend recently put it, “Has anyone really?” ) In fact, any guy who listed the book among his favorites was automatically flagged as untrustworthy on my OkCupid scale of dateability. But it seems that some humans have made it…
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Film & TV High Praise for Ant Man and Short Jewish Men
I was really excited to see “Ant-Man.” It combines many of the things I love: ants (which I love mostly on screens, à la “Microcosmos,” and not near any of my desserts), superheroes (who I love, despite their ingrained sexist flaws) and Paul Rudd (who I love, unconditionally). As for the man in my life,…
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We See Your Israeli Gillette Ad, And Raise You 14 Jewish Beards
Movember may be months away but the latest facial hair viral video is already here, courtesy of a Gillette campaign in Israel. With over a million views, the ad follows an Israeli man who shaves his beard after 14 years. Barely recognized by his father, he then gives a beardless surprise to his wife and…
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Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
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Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
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News Middlebury College Hillel votes to rebrand, distancing from parent group on Israel
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
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Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
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News Why do some people think Mike Lawler is Jewish?
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Art At the Venice Biennale, protests, self-mutilation and rage against Israel and Russia. Is anyone left to talk about the art?