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
-
The Sephardic Bibliophile of Brooklyn
On a nondescript street of brick row houses, nestled between an insurance office and a computer store, in an out of the way corner of Brooklyn known as Marine Park that is not on any subway lines, lies a small storefront. From the street, it’s impossible to see in — the glass windows are blocked…
-
HomeLands: Building a Brooklyn Nest
William Levin, 43, and his wife Malya Kurzweil Levin, 31, have lived together for five years in their beloved and rent stabilized apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn. William is a creative tech consultant and cartoonist. Malya is a lawyer and currently works as a staff attorney at an elder abuse shelter, the at the Hebrew…
-
Growing Up Hasidic — and Racist
On April 22, 1987, my mother was rushed to Interfaith Medical Center, situated on the outskirts of Crown Heights in Brooklyn. My mother was new to this country, without anyone to guide her about things like where to give birth to her firstborn, me. She claims I was the only white baby in the nursery….
The Latest
-
POEM: Vilna Fairytale
Over rooftops and forests, rivers, domes and the belfries of Vilna, the magic carpet in my mind flies to a small maze of buildings where the ghettos used to be. Near the river flats, and that green bridge Milosz writes about in a poem — the bridge where my mother was almost arrested for being…
-
When Deadwood Was Jewish
There were multitudes of Goldbergs in the Bronx where I grew up, but here in Deadwood, South Dakota? When I got here, few in my certifiably tiny Black Hills Jewish community knew much about its history. There was little to be found in books about Jews of the Old West. But soon, family names, microfilmed…
-
Of Calamity Jane. Mount Rushmore and 5 Other Things Facts About Jewish South Dakota
1) 345 Jews live in South Dakota, the smallest Jewish population in any state of the union. 2) South Dakota is the only state without a Chabad presence. 3) Mt. Zion, founded in 1903 in Sioux Falls, is the state’s oldest congregation. 4) Blanche Colman was the first female lawyer to practice in the state….
-
Can a ‘Twedding’ Be Kosher?
As the 200 guests entered the wedding hall at the Marriot hotel in Kansas City, Missouri last month, they had to wish the bride and groom mazel tov twice; first, to Brittany Choikhit and her groom, Max Margolies, and then to Brittany’s sister, Ashley, and her groom, Daniel Held. “We always wanted a double wedding,…
-
Art Why the Status of Judaica Is Waning
Last month’s column, as you may recall, made much of Judaica collectors who prefer to sell rather than donate their holdings. No sooner had I made that claim than a number of readers as well as colleagues duly informed me that I was barking up the wrong tree. Dolefully, they pointed out that even if…
-
Film & TV Barbara Kopple Faces The Nation
“Hot Type,” Barbara Kopple’s documentary about The Nation, celebrating the liberal magazine’s 150 years, begins with a snappy rat-a-tat of typing. We see typewriters from every era, signaling the passage through time via technology. As The Nation’s editor in chief for 20 years, Katrina vanden Heuvel, notes in the film, “I used to man the…
-
The De-Jewification of ‘Dr. Zhivago’
The U.S. government might be on the outs with Vladimir Putin, but on the Great White Way, Russian culture has never been more in. Boris Pasternak’s monumental novel “Doctor Zhivago” was reincarnated first as a 1965 Hollywood movie and now as a Broadway musical. It’s no compliment to the show’s creative team (music by Lucy Simon,…
-
‘Heather Has Two Mommies’ Gets a New Look For Mother’s Day
Leslea Newman’s iconic picture book “Heather Has Two Mommies” had a simple beginning. A woman approached Newman on the street in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she lived at the time, and said her family needed a book to which her daughter could relate. Meaning that she wanted to read a book to her daughter that featured…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion New York’s Israel Day parade was a shanda — but not because of Mamdani
- 2
Opinion Mamdani has made ample efforts for Jews. How come no one is telling that story?
- 3
News Nearly half of young U.S. Jews want to replace Israel with binational state, poll finds
- 4
News Floyd Mayweather showered cash on Jewish causes — and now he’s suing their ‘Robin Hood’ alleging $175 million got diverted
In Case You Missed It
-
News Israel dominates debate as Rep. Dan Goldman defends seat in referendum on Zionism
-
News National Council of Jewish Women ejects LA chapter, other affiliates cut ties amid historic reboot
-
Fast Forward Canada ‘is failing Jewish Canadians,’ prime minister says as he unveils effort to address antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Trump says Netanyahu ‘turned his Troops around’ after he asked Israel not to bomb Beirut