This is the Forward’s coverage of the nation of France.
France
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Life On Banning the Veil
The veil worn by some Muslim women has emerged as a potent hybrid symbol in Europe. And the question of whether or not it should be worn has sparked debates about everything from feminism to religion, democracy, freedom, immigration and assimilation. Belgium recently passed a law banning full-face veils, France has a similar law in…
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The Schmooze A Passover Nightmare
It’s Passover time, and a heady mix of liberation, freedom and matzah fills the air. While we recount the tale of the Children of Israel’s escape from Egypt, a strange inversion of this story unfolds in France. In this nightmare exodus, the Israelite (a non-Jewish klezmer clarinetist) flees Egypt (Moldova) and makes it to the…
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The Schmooze Rabbi Josy Eisenberg, France’s Jewish Media Star
At 76, Rabbi Josy Eisenberg is a longtime representative of Judaism for the French public. He is the genial host of the half-hour religious program “La Source de Vie,” broadcast in various formats since 1962, and he helped write the 1973 hit comedy film “The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob,” starring comedian Louis de Funès….
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Culture Bernard-Henri Lévy Gets Purim Pranked Early
Purim has come early this year for 61-year-old French “public intellectual” Bernard-Henri Lévy (BHL), who just published two new books in France, “De la guerre en philosophie: Essai” (On Philosophical War: Essay) and “Pièces d’identité: Chroniques” (Identification Papers: Articles). The latter consists of over 1300 pages of Lévy’s journalism, around 300 pages of which are…
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The Schmooze Admiring Blum: A Great French Jewish Statesman Celebrated on Film
For visitors to the New York Jewish Film Festival, a must-see on January 18-20 is a new hour-length documentary, “Leon Blum: For All Mankind” about the French socialist politician. Written by Blum’s grandson Antoine Malamoud and directed by University of Alabama Professor Jean Bodon, the film offers a mere sketch of an eventful life, and…
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Opinion Bibi Gets a Rude Lesson in France’s ‘Jewish Problem’
The endemic antisemitism of the French has been a staple of modern Jewish public discourse and sober analysis for nearly as long as there has been modern Jewish public discourse. It’s commonly viewed as a continuum stretching back at least to the Dreyfus Affair, more than a century ago, and continuing right on up to…
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Life France’s Highest Honor Goes to Annie Cohen-Solal
The Legion of Honor, an award conceived of back in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, was bestowed on writer and historian Annie Cohen-Solal today at France’s consulate in New York. Cohen-Solal, who would become a preeminent authority on intellectual life in France during the 20th century, was born in pre-independence Algeria; she was among the tens…
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Life Why Did Josephine Baker Hire a Torah Tutor for a Non-Jewish Orphan?
The January-February 2008 issue of California magazine, U.C. Berkeley’s alumni publication, has a wacky article about famed entertainer Josephine Baker’s attempt to build a village du monde in southwestern France, where the woman who was dubbed the “Black Venus” would be able to prove that people of different races and religions could all get along….
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