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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‘Catch-22’ Still Saner Than Ever
Joseph Heller is invariably omitted from lists of American Jewish writers, but he should be included, and high up. “Catch-22” — which has just celebrated its 50th birthday — is notable among American novels in the second half of the 20th century for having been read with almost no acknowledgment of its Jewish identity. Heller…
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Genes Tell Tale of Jewish Ties to Africa
In the Book of Kings, Solomon is depicted as an international businessman of sorts who sent ships from the port of Etzion-Geber, near modern day Eilat, to trade precious metals and other goods with various parts of the world, including Africa. Solomon also famously received a visit from the Queen of Sheba, who is thought…
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Books Raising an Ethiopian Jewish Child in Georgia
Melissa Fay Greene is the author of “No Biking in the House Without a Helmet.” 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: In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in November 2001, I…
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Books Jackie Robinson and the Jews
Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball By Rebecca T. Alpert Oxford University Press, 236 pages, $27.95 Recently, the Yankees’ Derek Jeter hammered out his 3,000th career hit, only the 29th batter in baseball history to reach that exalted plateau; at the age of 37, he is the fourth-youngest player to accomplish that feat,…
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Could Kashrut Be Partly To Blame for Crohn’s Disease?
Here’s a question that has puzzled scientists for decades: Why is Crohn’s disease — an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with the highest incidence among Caucasians — about two to four times more prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews than among non-Jewish whites? As some researchers continue to look for the answer in our genes, others are proposing…
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Chasidism Without Romanticism
Originally published in the Forward March 31, 2000. As the packed houses for the recent Israeli film “Kadosh” testify, the Chasidim these days are a big draw and an even bigger drag. The dark world and mysterious culture of the chasidim simultaneously fascinate and repel modern Jews. Unfortunately, both the fascination and repulsion are often…
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From Mussolini’s Estate to Shoah Memorial
In August, the city of Rome is expected to give its final approval to plans for Italy’s new Holocaust museum, the Museo Nazionale della Shoah. Designed by Rome-based architect Luca Zevi, son of famed architecture critic Bruno Zevi, together with co-designer Giorgio Tamburini, the museum will be built on the historically resonant site of the…
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Was There Anything Jewish About Lucian Freud?
British artist Lucian Freud died July 20 at 88, after a long and successful but also contentious career. Born in Berlin, where his father, Ernst, was an architect, Freud came to Britain with his parents in 1933 to escape Nazi Germany. Five years later, as the Nazi noose tightened, his grandfather, Sigmund Freud, left Vienna…
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Books Improving Moral Vocabulary
Eric Greitens is the author of “The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL.” His 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: In…
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How Israel Became the Promised Land of Eggplant
Forward reader Mike Benn writes: “A distinct childhood memory of visits to my maternal grandmother’s home is of eating bronjenas. This was an eggplant dish made by grilling the eggplant over a naked flame and then scooping out the cooked contents. Recently, I’ve been wondering about the word. “My grandmother was born in Palestine in…
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August 5, 2011
100 Years Ago in The Forward It’s never a good idea to fall asleep on the train. Just ask Charles Cohen, a fish peddler on New York City’s Essex Street. Recently, Cohen zonked out on the Second Avenue Elevated Line and got a lesson he’ll never forget. After a hard day of selling fish on…
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