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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That time Yiddishists met extraterrestrials a short while ago in a galaxy not far away
It was a normal summer internship at the Yiddish Book Center ... until the Jedi invaded our turf
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When Greenville, South Carolina, Had a Jewish Mayor
In a typical happy-ever-after story, a carefree dance with a stranger in the park could theoretically lead to true love and a joyous life. But for Max Heller, a Jewish Austrian man born in 1919, dancing with an American woman in Vienna’s Stadtpark ultimately led him to become the mayor of South Carolina’s sixth largest…
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The 110 Jewish Women Who Changed France
● 110 French Jewish Women Who Changed France: the 19th and 20th Centuries By Michèle Bitton Les Éditions Normant, 678 pages, $38 Although overachieving Jews can transform their native lands triumphantly, the way their countries change them can often be tragic. This is one conclusion to be drawn from “110 French Jewish Women Who Changed…
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Vatican Absolves Jews for the Alleged Murder of Jesus Christ
1914 • 100 years ago Jews of Warsaw Left Penniless With the onset of the current war, the Jews of Warsaw, Poland, are already experiencing difficulties and privations. The banks have shut down, preventing depositors from retrieving their funds. Many stand outside the banks with their heads in their hands, penniless until the banks permit…
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Music Jewish Leaders Meet With Hungarian Government After Almost a Year of Silence
Leaders of Jewish communities throughout Hungary met with representatives of the Hungarian government almost a year after the suspension of contacts between the sides. The more than four-hour discussion on Tuesday at the Hungarian Parliament building centered on eight topics of importance to the Jewish community, according to Janos Lazar, the chief negotiator representing the…
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How Ruth Calderon Transforms Israeli Politics — and Talmud
● A Bride For One Night: Talmud Tales By Ruth Calderon, translated by Ilana Kurshan The Jewish Publication Society, 184 pages, $21.95 If Ruth Calderon did not exist, it would be necessary to dream of someone like her. For almost half a century, American expatriates and a small group of native Israelis have creatively and…
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Music Brazilian School Apologizes for Test Question Comparing Israelis to Nazis
A school in Rio de Janeiro published a public apology for an exam question that compared Israelis to Nazis. The geography exam for eighth-graders at Colégio Andrews included a question that said Jews were once chased by Hitler and today another people is victimized by the Israelis, who compel them to live under their rule…
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Music Israel August Tourism Numbers Take a Sharp Downturn From Last Year
Israel’s August tourist numbers took a sharp downturn from the previous year’s figures. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 182,000 visitor entries were recorded for the month in Israel, down 36 percent from August 2013. Of the visitor entries, 164,000 were tourists staying more than one night, 32 percent less than August a year…
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How Steven Pinker Became the Anti-Maven of Language
Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family professor of psychology at Harvard, didn’t coin “language maven” (William Safire did, back in the ’70s, to describe himself), but he did more than anyone else to popularize the term. In a 1994 article in The New Republic called “Grammar Puss,” included in his subsequent book “The Language Instinct,” Pinker…
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The Spy Who Came In From Hamas
With the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories constantly shifting between open conflict and frail cease-fires this summer, the release of the documentary “The Green Prince” could not be timelier. Directed by Nadav Schirman, the film, which opens on Friday in New York, tells the story of Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas…
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Irgun Fighter Remembers the Altalena
Malca Fein is a fit, sharp, outspoken, perfectly groomed octogenarian with a just a hint of an accent. But get her talking about the past and the fiery Zionist freedom fighter burns through her grandmotherly facade. At the age of 16, Malca, who was born in Tel Aviv in 1925 and now makes her home…
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7 Facts About Jewish Tennessee
1. Tennessee’s first known Jewish settler, David Hart, arrived in Memphis in 1838. 2. In 1896, 19-year-old Adolph Ochs, the son of German Jewish refugees, bought a controlling share of the failing Chattanooga Times. After making the paper profitable, he went on to buy The New York Times in 1896. During his time as publisher,…
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News Exclusive: ADL chief compares student protesters to ISIS and al-Qaida in address to Republican officials
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Film & TV In a film from Israel, three characters in search of a love language
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Fast Forward All San Diego Jewish organizations pull out of Pride festival over Kehlani performance, citing ‘serious safety concerns’
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Fast Forward Dave Portnoy on his tirades against ‘F— the Jews’ bar patron: ‘I don’t know if it did any good’
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Fast Forward Harvard Divinity School appoints professor who has criticized Zionism to new Jewish studies role
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