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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The Best Little (Dysfunctional Jewish) Strip Club in Toronto
It’s one of the most instantly recognizable Jewish narratives of the 20th century: Two high schoolers – one an impoverished immigrant with an Old World accent that 50 years in the New World will be unable to fade, and the other the child of holocaust survivors — meet in the 1970s and fall in love….
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Canada Urged To Recognize Jewish Refugees From Arab Lands
A Canadian parliamentary committee called on the government to recognize the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab lands. A report from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development recommends that Ottawa “officially recognize the experience of Jewish refugees who were displaced from states in the Middle East and North Africa after 1948.” It…
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To Adapt a ‘Book Thief
Based on Australian author Markus Zusak’s best-selling 2006 novel of the same name, the movie “The Book Thief” concerns a young German girl who finds solace in purloined literature and befriends the Jewish refugee her family hides in their cellar. The film stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson as the foster parents of Liesel (Sophie…
The Latest
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How Nora Ephron begat Lena Dunham (but we forgive her)
The Most of Nora Ephron” is nearly 600 pages of Ephron’s girl-friendly and relentlessly upbeat voice chattering in your ear about the subjects that consistently preoccupied her
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‘South Park’ and the Jewish Red Heifer Tale of Armageddon
(Haaretz) — South Park’s latest season premiered on Comedy Central on Wednesday, and started with an epic prank pulled by Eric Cartman. He announces he has found a ginger cow (spoiler alert!), though in fact he merely dyed its coat. The news spreads like wildfire. Rabbis fly in from Israel to South Park to claim…
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The Secret Jewish History of Aerosmith
The band Aerosmith is riding high on the global release of “Aerosmith: Rock For The Rising Sun,” a documentary that recounts the story of the rock band’s tour of Japan in the wake of the devastating March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that caused the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant. The movie follows the…
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Books Anxieties of the Modern Old Age
Half the Kingdom By Lore Segal Melville House, 176 pages, $23.95 Since 2001, the already-abundant anxieties of living in New York City have been ratcheted up by an exponential factor. Abandoned bags have become potential tools of terror; mysterious smells could be toxic; the sounds of sirens or of helicopters overhead might signify an emergency…
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South African Jewish Artist William Kentridge Bends Time
Lately, the modern and contemporary art section of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art hasn’t been as quiet as usual. Faint music played at varying speeds can be heard. Partly vocal, partly instrumental, the music sounds vaguely African. The source of the sound is a small, darkened room equipped with megaphones and five video projectors…
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Jewish Film Fests Thrive Even Amid Decline in Funding for Culture
(JTA) — At the opening-night celebration of the Boston Jewish Film Festival’s 25th birthday, festival volunteers handed out deli-made kugel for ticket holders to nosh while waiting on a line that extended back to the parking lot. Once inside the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, the celebration last week continued with a performance by a…
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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Temple Mount
I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but late last night, in the frightening darkness of my room in the holy city of Jerusalem, I felt I had had enough of being Jewish. How much, and how long, can a man be a light unto the nations? And so, in the morning…
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Did Tennessee Titans Bernard Pollard Slip Up on ‘Hebrew Slaves’ Remark?
Fellow Forward contributor Menachem Wecker writes to ask: “I monitor certain search items related to Judaism on social media, and recently I came across the expression ‘worked like a Hebrew slave’ for the first time. It looks like it might be more frequently used in the African-American community. I wonder what are your thoughts on…
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Opinion On Monday my son was sworn into the IDF. I spent that afternoon protesting the Israeli government.
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