Three days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, two weeks after an armed gunman held a rabbi and three congregants hostage at a Texas synagogue and less than a day after swastika-waving Neo-Nazis chanted “The Jew is the devil” outside an Orlando shopping plaza to deafening silence by the Florida governor, I saw Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer…
It finally feels like spring in New York, which is a mercy. Everyone looks beautiful, the city is enchanting, the parks beckon and one can almost forget that the news is very, very strange. Let forgetfulness linger this weekend, and indulge in one of our top picks for new books, movies and cultural events in…
During the summer of 1973, the renowned civil rights attorney Joseph Rauh, Jr. delivered the featured speech at the annual fund-raising dinner of the Milwaukee Jewish Council. The audience, Rauh noted, surely expected him to address the burgeoning Watergate scandal, the attempt by Republican operatives tied to President Richard Nixon to break into Democratic National…
“You just have to meet your bashert,” says grandma, sagely. Jordan, her late-20s grandson, is despairing that his friends are all getting married and he’s still alone. “And you will,” grandma continues, “because you’re the most wonderful grandson in the world.” Jordan is sad, but he’s also smart and a smartass. “I don’t think that’s…
Joshua Harmon’s play “Bad Jews” has been packing the house at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago. The play premiered in October 2013 at the Roundabout in New York, and opened in London in January 2015. In Chicago, the play’s run has been extended seven times. Lean, well-written and punchy, the play has an intriguing…
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most marriageable of all? According to a recent New York Times article, “How To Make Online Dating Work,” 70% of gay and lesbian couples meet online. Unfortunately, no one sent a link of that article to Jordan Berman (Gideon Glick), the gay man at the heart of Joshua…
Jews of all stripes surfaced on stage this past season, starting with appearances in four notable bio-dramas: “Soul Doctor,” the musical about the rock star Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach; Joe Gilford’s “Finks,” loosely based on the experience of his blacklisted parents, Jack and Madeline Lee Gilford; and two solo shows, “I’ll Eat You Last, a Chat…
Joshua Harmon applied for admission to the Juilliard School’s prestigious playwriting program three times. Three times he was told sorry, try again. On his fourth attempt, “Bad Jews” got him in. No, that’s not a reference to crooked admissions officers. “Bad Jews” is Harmon’s play about relatives battling over a special chai pendant that belonged…
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NPR Legal Correspondent Nina Totenberg in conversation with Editor-in-Chief Jodi Rudoren. To benefit the Forward.
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