Image by IROZ GAIZKA/Getty Images

By Talya Zax June 22, 2017

The longest day of the year has come and gone, but there’s plenty of summer left to enjoy. Whether you plan to get out and soak up the sun, or stay in and bask in the cool comfort of your air conditioning, we know just how you should spend your weekend.

1) Read

With a dearth of new Jewish-interest books out this week, bring a longtime favorite along to the beach. Judy Blume’s heady “Summer Sisters” might do the trick, or William Goldman’s perennially lovable “The Princess Bride.” For sweeping drama, look to Michael Chabon’s “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” or Natalia Ginzburg’s “Family Lexicon.”

2) Watch

Based on what we’ve heard so far, we can’t exactly recommend the new “Transformers” movie. Still, if you’re eager to test out Nathan Abrams’s theories about why the series of which it’s a part is quintessentially Jewish, by all means buy a ticket. For a summer flick with more substance and less world-bashing, find a screening of the Michael Showalter-directed and Judd Apatow-produced romantic comedy “The Big Sick.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

3) New York

In New York, escape the heat at the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibit for the centennial of legendary fashion photographer Irving Penn or the Jewish Museums’s striking “Florine Stetthemier: Painting Poetry.” (You can read my review of the former here, and the latter here.) Other good options: A rare comprehensive tour of Manhattan’s gorgeous Temple Emanu-El, L.A. Dance Project, featuring work by Benjamin Millepied — yes, that’s Mr. Natalie Portman — and Israel’s Ohad Naharin, at the Joyce, and the Anne Kaufmann-directed “Marvin’s Room” on Broadway.

4) Washington D.C.

It’s a weekend for theater in the capital! Check out Theater J’s production of Arthur Miller’s “Broken Glass,” Mosaic Theater Company’s production of Hanna Eady and Edward Mast’s Herzliya-set “The Return,” or both.

5) Chicago

There are good theatrical options to choose from in Chicago, too: Get swept away by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” or imagine the hellish afterlife of Dr. Joseph Goebbels and Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl at Akvavit Theatre’s “Hitler on the Roof.” A visit to the Art Institute of Chicago is also in order; the exhibit “Along the Lines: Selected Drawings by Saul Steinberg” is a can’t-miss.

6) Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, spend your Friday night at the Last Bookstore with Jonathan Goldsmith, the so-called “Most Interesting Man in the World,” who will discuss his memoir “Stay Interesting.” (Before you go, read the Forward’s Becky Scott’s interview with the man himself.) And Saturday or Sunday, take a trip to Graceland at the Skirball Cultural Center’s exhibit “Paul Simon: Words & Music.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount