Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Jewish culture. Here, you’ll learn about the latest (and sometimes earliest) in Jewish art, music, film, theater, books as well as the secret Jewish history of everything and everyone from The Rolling Stones to…
Culture
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I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
San Wei, which serves pastrami sandwiches along with churros and biang biang noodles, represents an immigrant's fulfillment of the American dream
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Books Jewish Authors Honored at Canadian Literary Awards
Canadian Jewish writers — both living and deceased — were honored today at Canada’s 2011 Governor General’s Literary Awards ceremony in Toronto. The Governor General’s Awards are the oldest Canadian prize for literature (in both English and French) and are organized by the Canada Council for the Arts. David Bezmozgis and Jonathan Garfinkel, both 38,…
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Chayei Sarah—The Life of Sarah
Genesis 23:1–25:18 The Strength to Concede Chayei Sarah, The Life of Sarah, is an interesting portion. It’s not unusual to find that a portion of the Scripture dealing with death begins with a word connected to life. Thus “The Life of Sarah” deals with the death of the matriarch at age one hundred twenty-seven; similiarly,…
The Latest
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Books Why Vasily Grossman Still Matters
“Life and Fate,” the 900-page opus by Vasily Semyonovich Grossman, is important not only as literature, but also as a history of Stalinist Russia. Since 2006 it has been available as a paperback from NYRB Classics, recently turned into a radio play on U.K.’s BBC 4, and a newly minted paperback can now be found…
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Books The Inefficiency of Writing
Karol Nielsen’s memoir “Black Elephants” has just been released. Her posts are being featured this week 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 facts of my story were always clear but the meaning eluded me for…
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Theories of Evil Turn to Holocaust
Simon Baron-Cohen is a figure of great distinction, a professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and a world-renowned authority on autism. He is the recipient of prizes and awards too numerous to list. His latest book, “The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty” (Basic Books) has received widespread…
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How ‘Gay’ Lost Its ‘Shtick’ Over Time
Orin Hargraves, who describes himself as “an independent lexicographer and contributor to numerous dictionaries,” has sent me an Internet article whose point of departure is a June column of mine about the Yiddish word “shtick.” There I pointed out that “shtick” has acquired a new meaning in American English — that of a gripe or…
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The Other Israel Film Festival Turns Five
During the opening festivities, the executive Director of the Other Israel Film Festival, Yitzi Zablocki, discussed this year’s festival with Forward arts and culture editor, Dan Friedman. We reviewed the opening film, “Dolphin Boy,” and one of the other featured films, “Torn,” earlier this year, but Zablocki talks about some of the other exciting films…
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Umberto Eco on Conspiracies and Novels
Umberto Eco has died at 84 on Friday, February 19. Dan Friedman sat down with the Italian novelist and historian four years ago for a revealing interview. I couldn’t get that unlit cigar out of my mind. I was in congenial conversation with someone I deeply admired but all I could think of was that…
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Books The Jewish Message
Earlier this week, Tom Fields-Meyer wrote about reading and thinking about books and took a look at autism and God. His blog posts are being featured this week 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: Not long…
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Ezekiel’s Clear and Piercing Point
Reading Avrum’s thoughts on this week’s torah portion, I find it hard to choose what to focus on. I feel intrigued by the invitation to think about God’s ‘color,’ especially God in shades of gray. I feel a need to agree with his open embrace to the various life-bearing options of new families. But like…
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Living With And Without Revered Maid
The other night I dreamed that my parents, siblings and I were sitting in the sukkah, making polite conversation with our guests, when the sukkah’s rickety wooden walls were breached by the high-pitched and insistent cry of my mother’s name: “Al-ice, Al-ice.” My mother, reddening slightly, got up from the table with all the dignity…
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