Aretha Franklin was the heartbeat of American music, an unmatchable talent with an unmatchable presence. Thursday’s news of her death from pancreatic cancer at age 76 was met by testaments to her greatness from everyone from Barack and Michelle Obama to Barbra Streisand. For the Forward, Benjamin Ivry wrote a meditation on Franklin’s lasting Jewish…
I spent last Saturday at a truly raucous wedding, so my plans for the forthcoming weekend are heavy on sleep and light on, well, everything else. If you, unlike me, are planning to be out and about this weekend, read on for the best weekend events in New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los…
Oy, readers. It has been such a week; the only thing to say is oy, and the only thing to do is make plans for the weekend for the sake of distraction. Read on for the best weekend events in New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as the best weekend…
We at the Forward’s culture desk are not known for being particularly athletic-minded, but nonetheless, even we think it’s a thrilling time for sports. The World Cup! Wimbledon! Donald Trump agilely avoiding the enormous balloon depicting him as a baby that will soon hover above him in London! Remarkable what the human body can do….
For most of us, this was not our first Greater Chicago Jewish Festival. In years past, we have sat at our congregations’ tables or attended with our families. We share fond memories of kosher hot dogs and klezmer music, of sponsor tote bags and stress balls. For most of us, however, this was our first…
Dear reader, if the idea of rest and relaxation sounds, at this depressing moment in 2018, like a charming myth from your youth, you’re not alone. If you can make the time to attend one of this weekend’s marches in support of reuniting families separated at the border, you’ll be doing a mitzvah. Ditto if…
While the week has been full of difficult and strange news, there’s been a bright spot for the Forward amongst it all: We walked away with 12 of this year’s Rockowers, the annual journalism awards of the American Jewish Press Association. If you want to revisit some of our most important recent work, those award-winning…
As a Jew without a synagogue, Chicago Dyke March is my shul. Like many young Jews today, I have had difficulty finding a Jewish spiritual space that matches my Jewish values, commitment to social justice and complex list of identities. I am a genderqueer trans woman, a femme dyke, a vocal lesbian, a proud, practicing…
