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
-
Music
Israeli Minister Amir Peretz Quits Over 2015 Budget
Amir Peretz, Israel’s environmental protection minister, resigned from the government over the proposed 2015 budget. Peretz, of the centrist Hatnua party that is part of the government coalition, announced he was stepping down at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday. His resignation goes into effect on Tuesday. Saying the budget does not help the poorest…
-
Music Arab-Israelis Riot Over Killing of 22-Year-Old by Israel Police
Rioting continued in the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Kana and in other Arab communities following the killing of a resident by an Israel Police officer. In the face of the riots, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to strip the citizenship of those who call for the destruction of the state of Israel. At least 20…
-
The Epic Battle Between Chicken and Chickenshit
I don’t know about you, but being called “chickenshit,” even if it wasn’t by a high White House official, would make my blood pressure rise. Tell me I’m “afraid” to do this or that, and I might disagree or resent it, but it wouldn’t make me want to punch you in the nose. Change that…
The Latest
-
Books Philip Roth Types Are Outdated? Tell Us Something We Don’t Know!
The most surprising thing about “Listen Up Philip” is how boring it is, despite the fast-paced dialogue, the New York City setting — heck, even despite Elisabeth Moss. The best part of the movie is the hilarious, pitch-perfect montage of jackets of books “written” by its various characters. Unfortunately, the characters are nowhere near as…
-
Was Leo Tolstoy Really an Anti-Semite?
Duelling new English-language versions of the 1870s novel “Anna Karenina” are raising questions about the novelist Leo Tolstoy’s complex and contradictory attitudes toward Jews. Placed by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin in his famous essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox” among the foxes (who know many things) as opposed to the hedgehog (who knows one big…
-
Books What Should We Call Gary Shteyngart’s Next Book?
Gary Shteyngart from Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo. Calling Gary Shteyngart fans! This is your chance to leave your imprint on American Russian Jewish literature. The author just celebrated a big success with his latest memoir “Little Failure,” which won him a Top 5 spot in this year’s Forward 50 list. But this is also…
-
Ayad Akhtar’s ‘Disgraced’ Raises Profound Issues About Dual Loyalty
Amir Kapoor is a guy you know, maybe went to college with. His parents were born in India — or was it Pakistan? — and he grew up in a devout Muslim-American family. He went to college, then to law school; along the way he abandoned his faith, and now he’s a corporate lawyer at…
-
Forward 50 2014 Gary Shteyngart
“What’s funny is that I’m not self-hating at all. I like myself quite a bit,” Gary Shteyngart, 42, told the Forward’s Yevgeniya Traps earlier this year. Luckily, despite the self-loathing that the author, humorist and star of book trailers (featuring his former student James Franco) affects in his comic persona, Shteyngart is not alone in…
-
Aside From That, Mrs. Klinghoffer, How Did You Like the Opera?
‘So, you went to see ‘The Death of Klinghoffer,’ right?” “Uh-huh.” “Can I ask you something?” That was my mother on the phone. She had been watching a rebroadcast of “Charlie Rose: The Week” where two lawyers, Martin Garbus and Floyd Abrams, were debating the hubbub surrounding the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams and…
-
10 Facts About Jewish California
1. California had 1,223,640 Jews in 2012. This is the second highest number of Jews in the country (only behind New York) and 18% of the entire Jewish population in the U.S. 2. MGM Studios and Paramount Pictures, two of the largest Hollywood film studios in history, were founded by Jews. Marcus Loew started MGM…
-
Music At 97, Holocaust Survivor Plays Lincoln Center
97-year-old Emily Kessler shows off her mandolin technique / Courtesy When Emily Kessler escaped the Nazis, she stopped enjoying the music she used to sing with her parents in pre-war Ukraine. But after 40 years, Kessler finally returned to the songs she loved so much. Since then, she hasn’t stopped. Now, this 97-year-old Holocaust survivor…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
- 2
Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
- 3
Fast Forward Hanukkah shooting leaves at least 15 dead at Australia’s most popular beach
- 4
Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
In Case You Missed It
-
News ‘We are not alright’: How Oct. 7 defined Eric Adams’ Jewish legacy
-
Fast Forward Judaism’s Conservative movement apologizes for decades of discouraging intermarriage, signals new approach
-
Fast Forward As Australian Jews call for action on antisemitism, prime minister unveils moves to curb hate speech
-
Opinion I’m a 25-year-old semi-Zionist. Here’s what that means this Hanukkah.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
