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 Jewish Guy Who Killed Spiderman
Spiderman heroically dispatched countless foes since he arrived on the scene in 1962. Nearly a half-century later, Brian Michael Bendis managed to kill him. In 2000, Bendis was hired to write Ultimate Spiderman, a modern-day retelling of the classic Spiderman story. More than 10 years, 160 issues and several blockbuster Hollywood adaptations later, Bendis did…
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Israel Museum Exhibit Focuses on the Act of Creation
At first glance, the work of contemporary Israeli painters Israel Hershberg and Joshua Borkovsky may seem quite different. But actually, the two artists — both of whom are the subjects of exhibitions at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum — complement each other remarkably well, for both exhibits concern the act of painting itself. “Fields of Vision: Landscapes…
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The History of Yenta’s and its Dirty Roots
Read a follow-up post by Ezra Glinter on the true Yiddish history of the word “Yenta.” Pssst! Wanna know a juicy secret? Get this: The most well-known Yiddish word describing women doesn’t mean what we think it does. I’m no linguist, but after spending a little time on several authoritative Yiddish dictionaries, I’m convinced that…
The Latest
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Grassroots Student Groups Calmly Tackle Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a fiery subject on college campuses, with national pro-Israel groups and, to a lesser extent, their pro-Palestinian counterparts vying to influence the debate. Alongside such heavy hitters as Hillel or the Muslim Students Association, smaller, student-created groups have cropped up. These grassroots groups often focus on dialogue rather than…
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Lowliest Guards on the Israeli Totem Pole
Two headlines dominated a page of The Marker, the economic section of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, on January 29. The first, captioning a straight news item, read (in my English translation): “Hershkovitz Stuns Finance Ministry: Fires Deputy.” The second, introducing a commentary on this development by correspondent Nehemia Strassler, declared: “Instead of Tackling Problems —…
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Detectives Bust Teenage Opium Den
Forward Looking Back brings you the stories that were making news in the Forward’s Yiddish paper 100, 75, and 50 years ago. Check back each week for a new set of illuminating, edifying and sometimes wacky clippings from the Jewish past. 100 Years Ago 1913 Detectives from the 5th Street Station were given a tip…
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From Ethiopian Orphanage to Jewish Day School
In a photograph snapped in December 2012, 17-year-old Mesfin Hodes hugs his friends at a skating rink at the annual Hanukkah on Ice celebration sponsored by American Hebrew Academy, where he is a junior. He wears a blue AHA sweater and a wide grin on his face. Originally from Ethiopia, he stands out in the…
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Story’s the Same, Only the Shul Has Changed
Most of the time, I live in one world and write about another. But now and then, the two collide, making for a lively conjunction. The other day, I was researching an article about the razing, in 1927, of Temple Emanu-El, arguably New York City’s premier Reform congregation, when it was located in the very…
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Hebrew School Gets Web Savvy
If you ask me (and, if I had to guess, many of my peers), there is nothing worse than Hebrew school. In the world of fun Jewish activities, with Yom Kippur fasting being a one and hooking up with Israeli soldiers on Birthright a 10, attending Hebrew school is a lowly three. On Sundays, when…
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Shining Light on American Complicity In Harboring Nazis
● Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and America’s Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals By Richard Rashke Delphinium Books, 622 pages, $29.95 There is horror to spare in Richard Rashke’s “Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and America’s Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals,” an engrossing cri de coeur about our country’s skewed post-World War II priorities. The…
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Books Author Blog: Yiddish and Us
Earlier this week, Hannah S. Pressman wrote about when she first began to study Yiddish. Her blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: The three of us waited expectantly and somewhat nervously in…
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