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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Four Questions About ‘Nemesis’ Answered
I’ve organized my talk around four questions: 1) How does “Nemesis” fit into the body of Philip Roth’s work? Roth has gone a long way toward answering this question. On the page preceding the title page of “Nemesis,” he lays out a neat Linnaean classification of his many novels. At the top are listed the…
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Revolution by Intent
The Israel Film Festival provides viewers with an opportunity to see the Israel of Israelis by showing the country through a different, more localized lens. These films often delve into issues and circumstances that are uniquely local and attempt to translate them for a universal audience. Last year’s festival showcased journalist Miki Rosenthal’s film “The…
The Latest
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Paul Simon vs. Bob Dylan, Who’s Greater?
In a recent interview in Rolling Stone magazine Paul Simon remarked that he was miffed by comparisons between him and Bob Dylan: “He’s telling you the truth and making fun of you at the same time. I sound sincere every time. Rock and roll has a lot to do with image. If that’s not your…
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A Reluctant Prophet
Bob Dylan turned 70 on May 24. So what? Well, for one, let’s see you continue to perform two-hour concerts, 100 nights a year, as you’ve been doing practically nonstop for the past quarter century or so, all over the world, keeping things new and fresh while the music industry around you falls apart. Your…
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Woody Allen: Paris, Je t’aime
In his new movie, “Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen does what he does best. He creates a character out of a city and adds his signature sleight-of-hand. Think “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” when a handsome leading man steps through a screen to romance a depression-era Mia Farrow, or “Zelig,” when the title character appears…
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June 3, 2011
100 Years In The Forward Arriving alone in New York from Russia, Sarah Deutsch began to look for her husband, whom she married six years ago in the shtetl. She found him, but to her surprise, he was married to another woman. Deutsch contacted the police, who arrested her husband, Barnett Deutsch, for bigamy. Both…
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Books The Never Ending Book
On Monday, C. Alexander London wrote about being an accidental adventurer. 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: By the far the question I am asked most often by…
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Fermisht but Not Fergotten
Here’s a question from Eugene Fidell of Yale Law School: “Many Yiddish words begin with the prefix fer-, such as ferklemt, ferblondzshet, ferkakt, ferdreyt, fermisht, etc. What’s the common denominator? Is there a linguistic connection to the series of English words that includes ‘forgo,’ ‘forbid,’ ‘forget’ and ‘forswear’? Something tells me that these two sets…
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Books Q&A: Canadian Jewish Book Award Winner Alison Pick
For Canadian author and poet Alison Pick, it was her personal journey of discovering and reclaiming her Jewish identity that led to her greatest professional success. The 35-year-old recently won the 2010 Canadian Jewish Book Award for fiction, being presented May 30 in Toronto, for her historical novel, “Far to Go,” about a Czechoslovakian Jewish…
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Books The Wandering Jew and The Yeti
C. Alexander London is the author of “We Are Not Eaten by Yaks: An Accidental Adventure,” and the forthcoming sequel, “We Dine With Cannibals.” As Charles London, his grown-up alter ego, he wrote “One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War” and “Far from Zion: In Search of a Global Jewish Community.” His…
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More Than a ‘Footnote’ From Cannes
The Cannes International Film Festival is known for selections that push the envelope, whether in terms of story, cinematic form or ideological vision. For example, Amos Gitai has been a Cannes favorite in the past with films like “Kippur” and “Free Zone,” often exploring political tensions with stylistic verve. This year, the prestigious competition selected…
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