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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Strange Tie Between Jew’s Harps and Circumcision Clamps
Jacob Sivak, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, writes: “The Jew’s harp is a simple but common musical instrument that I acquired a few years ago, and I am intrigued by its name. Although I can find no reference to any linkage between it and Jews…
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Backwards Looking Forward
2064 Major Court Case in Isratine The Jeruquds Waqf-din, a Muslim-Jewish court involved in the adjudication of religious-related disputes among the citizens of the Islamic-Jewish Republic of Isratine, stands to rule on a major case that is likely to affect the large number of marriages in the country. The complicated suit, brought by Fadila-Shayna and…
The Latest
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A Shooting After a Shvitz in a Lower East Side Bathhouse
1913 •100 years ago Shooting in the Shvitz Isaac Schwimmer, a civil engineer who lives on East 7th Street, was taking a shvitz in the Turkish baths on Third Street near Avenue A. Apparently overcome by the heat, Schwimmer fell asleep in the steam room. He awoke to find his diamond ring missing. Furious, he…
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Remembering Art Raymond, Who Provided Yiddishkeit in a Black Sombrero
Art Raymond, who died on February 21 at age 91 in Boynton Beach, Florida, exemplifies the fluidly shifting indentities of past generations of American Jewish performers. An esteemed radio host and nightclub emcee, Raymond (born Rosen in 1922 in Brownsville, Brooklyn) made his name as a specialist in both Jewish and Latin music. When he…
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Following Jewish ‘Pope’ Cue, Leaders Resign En Masse
In a move that has rocked the Jewish organizational world, and made barely a whisper beyond it, the leaders of the major Jewish organizations announced that they were quitting en masse. “We just decided enough is enough,” said Abraham Foxman, retiring head of the Anti-Defamation League, who is referred to as “the Jewish Pope” because…
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How Does Olympic Ice Dancer Charlie White Balance Gold Medal and Judaism?
At the recently completed Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Americans Charlie White and Meryl Davis thrilled audiences with their gold medal victory in ice dancing. Jewish Americans, in particular, celebrated Charlie White as a new breed of Jewish sports hero, following in the footsteps — or, in his case, skate marks — of Benny Leonard,…
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The Mystery of Raoul Wallenberg
The Hero of Budapest: The Triumph and Tragedy of Raoul Wallenberg By Bergt Jangfeldt Translated by Harry Watson I.B. Tauris, 352 pages, $35 Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the disappearance in a Soviet prison of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman who rescued thousands of Hungarian Jews in the darkest days of the…
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Putting the ‘i’ in ‘Haredi’
On May 20, 2012, an estimated 40,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews held a “Rally Against the Internet” at New York’s Citi Field. Though no official winner was declared at the time, if one is to judge from the turnout at March’s annual Haredi Electronics Show, traditionalist Jews’ appetite for technology is as voracious as that of a…
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Chaldeans Apologize, Urge Jews To Return and Offer Citizenship
In what may be the comeback surprise of the year, the Chaldean Empire has returned to the world stage after 2,500 years, and it comes bearing apologies, and citizenship offers, to the Jews. “On behalf of all Chaldeans everywhere, I’d like to formally apologize to the Jews for sending forth their ancestor Abraham and for…
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What George W. Bush Really Said to Jews for Jesus
The Messianic Jewish Bible Institute in Dallas hosted George W. Bush as the keynote speaker at its annual fundraiser on November 14, 2013. He spoke to the group’s mission of bringing “Jewish people into a personal relationship of faith with Yeshua the Messiah.” Until now the speech has been the subject of a strict embargo…
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Music Marissa Nadler Isn’t Afraid of the Dark
Boston-based singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler, long a critical darling with a cult following, seems poised to cross over with the haunting “July,” (Sacred Bones) her sixth studio album in ten years. Reviews have been the strongest of her career; UK pop bible NME called “July” “a career high,” and the PopMatters blog dubbed it “one of…
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News How Jewish can you be in a Boca country club? Wrapping tefillin got a family suspended, lawsuit says
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Opinion Trump is forcing liberal Zionists to confront an extraordinarily inconvenient truth
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News ‘Very misguided’: ADL regional board member resigns over organization’s approach to antisemitism and civil rights
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Opinion Will the U.S. get involved in Iran? Mike Huckabee’s evangelical worldview may be the key
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