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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Digital Learners Can’t Do It On Own
You know me, right? I’m the one you call to fix your computer or set the clock in your car, the one you can count on to have the latest electronic gadgets. But I am coming to you now as an educator with the unique privilege (and challenge) of working with today’s generation of so-called…
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Technology’s Limits in Education
We live in a world fascinated — one might even say obsessed — with technology. In an age of smartphones and even “smart” kitchen appliances, it is no surprise that the allure of technology has touched the field of education as well. Some of the new initiatives in using technology in schools have been driven…
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What Was Driving Force Behind Jewish History?
The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492 By Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein Princeton University Press, 323 pages, $39.50 What if most of what we thought we know about the history of the Jewish people between the destruction of the Second Temple and the Spanish Expulsion is wrong? This intriguing premise informs The…
The Latest
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Fun Times at Hebrew School
For generations of Jewish kids, Hebrew school has meant three or four, often boring, afternoons a week of classroom lectures and laborious language learning in a set curriculum. But thanks to a radical new pilot program starting this fall in New York City, students from third to seventh grades can learn about Jewish history, religion…
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Books Author Blog: Facing Paris’s Black Marble Plaques
Kati Marton’s most recent book, “Paris: A Love Story,” is now available. 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: Now that I live part-time in Paris, I explore the city’s complex and…
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Books Author Blog: An Intentional Detour
In his last post, Daniel Gordis wrote about how ideas and the books in which they are expressed change history. His 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: In my last few blogs,…
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A, B, C’s or Aleph Bet?
Deciding on a preschool is a big step for any parent. More than just teaching the ABCs, preschool is a place where children learn how to take turns, follow directions and figure out the world around them. Also, as parents, we want to make sure we find a safe, supportive environment for our little ones….
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Israeli Jazz Musicians Make Mark
Some two decades ago, bassist Omer Avital stepped off a plane from his native Israel and into a jazz scene in Manhattan’s West Village that was nearly devoid of his countrymen and their music. It was a lonely time, he said, and when he set up shop in Smalls, a dark and slightly tattered basement…
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Bringing Israeli Education Home
Americans, Jewish and otherwise, have long gone to Israel to learn about Judaism. But now many are going to learn about learning. In recent years, American educators have had growing opportunities to gain a window into the Israeli education system. The programs have somewhat different aims, but all foster a dialogue between educators from Israel…
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Neither a Niftar Nor a Nishperer Be
Time to catch up on some mail! Gary J. Frenkel takes issue with my statement in my August 17 column that the name Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshu (a shortened form of Yeshu’a, itself a shortened form of Yehoshua or Joshua). Mr. Frenkel writes: “My understanding is that Yeshu is, not a shortened version of…
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Why Social Media Can Be Good
As the mother of three boys, I appreciate the irony in suggesting that my kids could possibly benefit from having their eyes permanently locked onto screens and their thumbs flashing furiously across tiny keyboards. “Screens off” is a shout heard often in our house (shouted by me, of course). But social media aren’t all bad….
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Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
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In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish רבנישע כּתבֿים ווײַזן אומגעריכטע פֿאַרבינדונגען צווישן ייִדיש און לאַדינאָRabbinical texts reveal surprising links between Yiddish and Ladino
לויט אַ נײַ בוך פֿאָרשונגען האָבן טראַדיציאָנאַליסטן אין ביידע עדות געהאַלטן, אַז ייִדן מוזן אָפּהיטן זייער גערעדט לשון
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Opinion Why Poland’s president canceled his menorah lighting — and how the West helped make that happen
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Fast Forward 4 House Democrats introduce bill that would enact progressive vision for fighting antisemitism
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Yiddish אַ ייִדיש־רעדנדיק קינד דאַרף אַ „שטעטל“׃ ווי עלטערן קומען זיי אַנטקעגןIt takes a village to raise a child in Yiddish: How parents are doing it
מחוץ די חסידישע קרײַזן האָבן געוויסע עלטערן געשאַפֿן זייערע אייגענע ייִדיש־סבֿיבֿות
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