Stories about how we look at Jewish artists and how Jewish artists look at the world.
Forward With the Arts
The Latest
-
Culture At the Cloisters, an oddly-shaped window reveals hints of Jewish life in medieval Spain
Sometime in the 900s, a Spanish monk named Maius painted his version of Jerusalem. Rendered on vellum in precise detail and luminous color, the painting tells a very Christian story, imagining the harmonious city that might emerge after the Day of Judgment. But with its horseshoe arches, distinctive crenellations and tall flying buttresses, this ideal…
-
Culture The AIDS crisis strained his relationship with Judaism. Now, it’s integral to his art — and activism.
In 1993, artist and activist Gregg Bordowitz premiered his film “Fast Trip, Long Drop,” a not-quite documentary that made for a biting critique of media coverage of the AIDS crisis. The film, in which Bordowitz plays a defiant talk show guest named Alter Allesman — Yiddish for “old everyman” — was shown widely at LGBTQ…
-
Culture How 770 Eastern Parkway became the world’s most-recognizable Jewish building
Three dozen replicas of the building are located around the world
-
Slideshows See a slideshow of 770 Eastern Parkway — and its replicas throughout the world
-
Culture The small storefront window disrupting the Jewish art world
Even during the height of lockdowns, one art gallery was open. No, it wasn’t flouting Toronto’s strict regulations, which have kept museums closed for most of the year; FENTSTER, a gallery located in a storefront window in Toronto, was simply doing what it has always done, putting art right onto the street — it was…
-
Culture If it’s Sukkot, it’s rollercoaster time all over America — a pulse-pounding thrill ride of a photo essay
Sukkot is one of Judaism’s three pilgrimage festivals, when our ancestors trekked to the temples in Jerusalem to make sacrifices. Now, many Orthodox Jews in the New York area make a different sort of holiday pilgrimage — to amusement parks. During the week-long holiday’s intermediate days, known as chol hamoed, restrictions on work, driving and…
-
Culture How these intimate family photos helped to bridge a Trump-era divide
When Donald Trump was inaugurated, Gillian Laub was with her parents in Washington D.C. “Well, not with them,” Laub says. Her parents were Trump fans there to make America great again. Laub was there to photograph the Women’s March that took place the day after inauguration. But while she was in D.C., Laub also took…
-
Culture At a Jewish chicken farm, Sukkot is a time for homemade pesto, random dancing, and making friends with strangers
If you arrived at Linke Fligl around 3 p.m. last Sunday and ambled into the tall grassy meadow at the heart of the farm, you would have seen something curious: A bunch of Jews squatting in patches of goldenrod, counting their blessings. They — or rather we, since I was among them — were saying…
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point
- 2
News They texted about Torah and mitzvahs. Feds say they were insider trading
- 3
Opinion I run The Jewish Theological Seminary. Here’s the real story about President Isaac Herzog speaking at our commencement
- 4
Fast Forward Talarico won’t campaign with Democratic House candidate who wants to open ‘a prison for American Zionists’
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Feds charge man with organizing synagogue attacks in Europe and NYC on behalf of Iran
-
Yiddish אַ שוועבנדיקע הילצערנע שיל אויפֿן ווענעציער ביענאַליי פֿון 2026 A floating wooden synagogue at the 2026 Venice Biennale
אין פֿאַרגלײַך מיט די פֿיזישע פּאַוויליאָנען געשאַפֿן פֿון אָפֿיציעלע לענדער איז דער ייִדישלאַנד־פּאַוויליאָן געבויט אויף אידעען
-
News Mamdani Nakba Day video prompts pushback from Jewish leaders amid rising tensions
-
Yiddish World Molly Crabapple’s book is well researched but ideologically biased