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 Last Jews of Ethiopia
The last community synagogue in Gondar, in the north of Ethiopia, is in a rented building cordoned off from the street by large metal sheets. Several men passively stand guard in front. From the outside, a Jewish Agency for Israel sign is the main indication of what lies within. But neighbors know. “You,” two men…
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Chanel, Amanda, Joey and The Return of the Jewish American Princess
Stereotypes, canards, stock figures — the whole sorry business of labeling people wholesale rather than piecemeal — die hard. Just when you think they have gone away, into a historian’s drawer, they resurface, assuming a new lease on life. Neighborhoods come and go, people come and go, governments rise and fall, fashions wax and wane,…
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Barry Manilow’s 8 (Maybe) Most Jewish Songs
Though Barry Manilow’s musical “Harmony” tells a story about Jewish and non-Jewish singers whose lives and careers become upended by the Nazis, barely any trace of the multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter’s Jewish heritage has been evident in his many pop hits. But perhaps we haven’t been looking closely enough. Extensive research combined with some imagination allows us…
The Latest
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Barry Manilow Returns To His Jewish and Broadway Roots With ‘Harmony’
At a few minutes before 2 p.m., the mood in the Snapple Theater Center was loose, the ambiance casual bordering on schlumpy. In a low-ceilinged rehearsal room, there was a long table cluttered with papers, three-ring binders and Diet Cokes. A stage manager typed away on a laptop. A box of Cheez-It crackers and a…
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Books Joanna Hershon and Adelle Waldman Grow in Brooklyn
Two of the strongest novels published so far this year, Joanna Hershon’s “A Dual Inheritance” and Adelle Waldman’s “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.,” happen to be written by young, Brooklyn-based Jewish women writing smartly and wittily from the perspectives of men. This might not be a remarkable fact in and of itself: Look for…
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Eating Salad as a Gluten-Free Experiment Dedicated To Mom
Entering the Hummus Bar in midtown Manhattan, I knew this was going to be the most challenging moment of my weeklong gluten-free experiment. I’ve been in love with hummus for years. When I lived in Tel Aviv, at least three times a week I ate a plate of the chickpea dish for lunch. I never…
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A Common Mutation Behind Parkinson’s Disease May Have Other Side-Effects
Recycling for the health of our planet is well understood. But recycling to keep our bodies going? Scientists are finding that the recycling that takes place within the body’s trillions of cells every day plays a key role in aging and disease. It is also at the center of recent findings regarding Parkinson’s Disease and…
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Genetic Diseases That Affect Sephardic Jews
Sephardic and Mizrahi Disorders Routine screening for Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews includes carrier screening for cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy as well as for hemoglobinopathies (such as beta thalassemia — see below). The following list includes a selection of some conditions that are more common in different Sephardic and Mizrahi populations. More specialized screening…
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Gut Wrenching Story: One Woman’s Struggle With Ulcerative Colitis
How shall I put this delicately? When we speak about the work of our gastrointestinal tract, which we rarely do, we use euphemisms. Nevertheless, I will plunge into precarious territory by being frank: I never had a friendly relationship with the toilet. From early childhood, my stool looked like hard pebbles. I was chronically constipated…
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Get Help for Genetic Diseases
Here is a list of institutions that provide treatment, support and testing for Jewish genetic diseases. Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 520 New York, NY 10176 (212) 682-9900 www.dystonia-parkinson.org Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation funds scientific research seeking to understand the causes of and find potential cures for the movement disorders…
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New Research by Israeli Scientists Shows Imprints of Brain Activity
It is well known that the patterns of activity in the human brain change according to the different tasks that people are performing. But could it be that an imprint of these patterns remains on the brain hours and even days later, like footprints in the sand? At the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot,…
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