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
-
Books
What’s Up With Waterstone’s?
Jews in the U.K. have been wondering what’s up with Waterstone’s, the country’s largest bookstore chain. While some of the company’s actions have aroused suspicions of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, other Jewish customers are simply questioning Waterstone’s business sense. In May 2011, Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut acquired Waterstone’s from HMV for £53 million. Last month, the…
-
Two Israelis’ Identity Struggles
The word “Israel” has been interpreted to mean “a struggle with God,” but 60 years of Israel as a Jewish nation has shown a country in perpetual struggle. As well as wars with its neighbors, Israel has grappled with its history and identity, and the implications of each for the other. Though not explicitly addressed,…
-
North American Jewish Film Festivals
New York Jewish Film Festival January 11 – January 26 Tucson International Film Festival January 12 – January 22 Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival January 21 – January 24 San Luis Obispo CA 2nd Annual Jewish Film Festival January 21 – January 22 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival February 8 – February 29 San Diego Jewish…
The Latest
-
Looking Back: January 20, 2012
100 Years Ago in the Forward New York City seltzer factory worker Philip Cohen, 23, heard that his boss, Morris Rubin, was anti-union and rumored to have poisoned the horses of some union delivery men. When Cohen was on his way home from work, he happened to see Rubin on East Broadway. Curious as to…
-
Books The Sisterhood of Bat Mitzvah
On Monday, Shulamit Reinharz and Barbara Vinick wrote about the history of the bat mitzvah. Today, Barbara Vinick writes about her own experiences. Their 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…
-
Live From The Catskills
The film “Welcome to Kutsher’s: The Last Catskills Resort,” which will have its world premiere as the closing event of the New York Jewish Film Festival, lovingly lays out the history of the Borscht Belt vacation with a grand smorgasbord of history, photos and film footage, and an appropriate dollop of nostalgic schmaltz. The Borscht…
-
Books 2011 Jewish Book Award Winners Announced
The Jewish Book Council announced today the recipients of the 2011 National Jewish Book Awards, which will be distributed March 14 at the Center for Jewish History in New York. The entire list is pretty lengthy, but here are some of the highlights: “Jerusalem: The Biography,” by Simon Sebag Montefiore, picked up the top prize…
-
Muslims Who Helped Save French Jews
Benjamin Stora, an Algerian-born writer and political activist who turned 61 in December, has for years combined history and self-history as a North African Jew. Most recently he has become embroiled in a controversy about the role that Muslims may have played in saving French Jews during the Holocaust. As adviser for the acclaimed French…
-
Books Today I Am Woman
Shulamit Reinharz and Barbara Vinick are the editors of the recently published “Today I Am a Woman: Stories of Bat Mitzvah around the World.” Their 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,…
-
Female Flash Mob Takes on Beit Shemesh
Who can blame the women of Beit Shemesh for wanting to cut loose? Times have been tough: They’ve been in crisis mode since the opening of school and ultra-Orthodox extremists began harassing the girls at the Orot Banot school. Not to mention the ongoing issues of increased gender segregation on buses, separate sidewalks in parts…
-
Books If Anne Frank Lived Upstate
Hope: A Tragedy By Shalom Auslander Riverhead Books, 304 pages, $26.95 As sophisticated, politically unpredictable and stylistically diverse as our community of Jewish writers is, it can seem as if the best of them, when they reach for Jewish content, still take down the Holocaust from the shelf. This generalization holds true across generations: grandees,…
Explore
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward British music festival apologizes after cutting mics of Irish band that displayed Palestinian flag
-
Books In the story of a trip to Auschwitz, family can be a real pain in the tuches
-
Holy Ground Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright built only one synagogue. It’s now a growing congregation.
-
Fast Forward Trump suggests fewer than 20 Israeli hostages remain alive in Gaza
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
