Out and About: Israeli Judaica Thieves Nabbed; Rise of the Classical Mandolin

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
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Does the Coen Brothers’ “True Grit” draw on ancient Indo-European myth?
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Forward contributor Zackary Sholem Berger translates two poems, “My Pedigree” by Moyshe Nadir and “Herring Barrels” by Dvoyre Fogel, in the latest issue of Eleven Eleven.
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Israeli musician Avi Avital has become the first mandolinist to be nominated for a Grammy award in the classical music category.
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Four less admirable Israelis were caught trying to steal Judaica from a synagogue in Milan.
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“Maus” creator Art Spiegelman has become the third American to win the Angouleme International Comics Festival’s Grand Prix.
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Jerusalem-born violinist Emanuel Vardi and Nazi hunter Tuviah Friedman have died.
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A fight over the Schneerson Library has caused Russian museums to stop lending artworks to their American counterparts.
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The JCC in Manhattan’s Other Israel Film Festival has caused a minor brouhaha.
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Michael Tilson Thomas of the New World Symphony inaugurated the symphony’s new Frank Gehry designed building with a work by Thomas Ades.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
