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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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…
The Latest
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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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Forward 50 2013 Philip Roth
The Forward 50 is our annual look at the American Jews who made a difference in the past year. Each day, we will spotlight one of our Top 5 picks, leading up to Sunday night when the entire package — along with some very special surprises — will go live. There was no Philip Roth…
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Haifa Museum Honors Legacy of Now-Forgotten Hermann Struck
Just a handful of journalists made the journey from Tel Aviv to Haifa for the opening of the Hermann Struck Museum, a humble tribute to a once well-known print artist and esteemed teacher. Mostly forgotten in Germany, his country of origin, Hermann Struck emigrated to Haifa in 1922 and played a prominent role in the…
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Israel’s Most Beautiful — and Unforgettable — Redheads
(Haaretz) — Back and forth, I run my eyes over each of these redheads − blue eyes, brown eyes, green-yellow eyes; and hair that is golden, orange, copper, flame-like, auburn fire, persimmon, reddish-brown − and I know that this is just one good idea. I know, too, that it is not unique, that it has…
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Mendel Beilis Cleared in Ukraine Anti-Semitic Blood Libel Trial
1913 •100 years ago Mendel Beilis Not Guilty After two hours of deliberation, the jury in Mendel Beilis’s blood-libel trial has declared him not guilty of all crimes. Beilis stood quietly, and his demeanor was calm — just as it was for most of the five-week-long trial — as the verdict was read. The courtroom…
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Books Dealing With the Side Effects of Fiction
Happy Mutant Baby Pills By Jerry Stahl Harper Perennial, 272 pages, $14.99 The narrator of Jerry Stahl’s new novel “Happy Mutant Baby Pills,” has a serious case of unrest. Lloyd earns his living writing pharmaceutical copy — specifically, disclaimers for the side effects of various drugs. He’s also got a fairly severe heroin habit, and…
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Learning About Jewish Community From Manhattan’s Upper West Side
The recent findings of the Pew Research Center study (yes, that again) have left many of us scratching our heads, biting our nails and searching every which way for answers. Some have sought explanation, let alone consolation, in the broad strokes of macro-analysis, others in anecdote and still others in history. The past, as you…
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Opinion Mamdani has made ample efforts for Jews. How come no one is telling that story?
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Film & TV Woody Allen’s biggest fans were easy marks for a fake monologue about antisemitism
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Looking Forward Why I’m vibing with the pope’s first big statement
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Opinion How can I live freely as a Jew in a world where strangers rip my mezuzah off my doorframe?
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Yiddish פּאָדקאַסט: אַ לעבעדיקער שמועס אויף ייִדיש מיט דער אַקטריסע ליאַ קעניג Podcast: A lively conversation in Yiddish with actress Lea Koenig
אינעם שמועס באַטייליקן זיך יניבֿ גאָלדבערג, מיכל יאַשינסקי און חיים וואָלף.
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News AIPAC is funneling pro-Israel money to candidates and covering its tracks