Welcome to the Forward’s reviews of Jewish books, films and other works.
Review
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Film & TV From Argentina, a surprisingly delightful movie about a rabbi in Taiwan
In ‘Shalom Taiwan,’ a synagogue leader travels far out of his comfort zone to discover the secret to happiness
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Books How a Jewish teacher uprooted and relocated her school to escape the Nazis
In a new book, the heroic story of Anna Essinger finally gets its due
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Culture In ‘1982,’ one day tells an entire war’s story
For his feature film debut, Oualid Mouaness drew on boyhood memories of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon
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Books What happens when a New York kvetcher meets modern-day kitsch?
It is hard to imagine Rabbi Akiva eating lime Jell-O, Maimonides living in a trailer park, or Martin Buber twirling a baton. These are all, according to the famous mid-century comedian Lenny Bruce, quintessentially goyish activities. I.B. Singer is more likely to have slathered his cream cheese on pumpernickel than white bread. Bruce defined Jewishness…
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Culture The International Street Cannibals Ensemble Tackles Schoenberg’s Tortured Quartet
When faced with immense personal grief, we are given to sobbing, to wailing, to screaming – the old categories of expression seem startlingly, absurdly inadequate, and thus we revert to a pre-linguistic stage so that we might give voice to those things that render language so helplessly impotent. But one could just as easily see this…
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Recipes Kosher Cookbooks Have Come a Long Way, Baby
This is an occasional column in which the writer evaluates a new cookbook by making some of its recipes, sharing the dishes with friends and asking her guests what they think of the results. She recently cooked her way through “Our Table: Time-Tested Recipes, Memorable Meals” by Renee Muller (Artscroll). It goes without saying that…
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Food Why PBS’s ‘Hugs and Knishes’ Left Me Cold and Hungry
Public television has a pretty good idea of which side its donations are buttered on. So when it’s fundraising time, the network rolls out Jewish-themed documentaries: “Life in the Jewish Bronx,” “Life in the Shtetl” and “Life in Jewish Brooklyn.” (As a Bronxite, I have to wonder what kind of life that possibly could have…
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Recipes Exploring ‘The Book of Lost Recipes’
It’s telling that the first thing you notice when you open “The Book of Lost Recipes: The Best Signature Dishes From Historic Restaurants Rediscovered,” by Jaya Saxena (Page Street Publishing Co.), is that it’s dedicated not only to the author’s parents, but also to someone named Matt (whom we can only presume is her partner)…
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News Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
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News ‘Do you have the Torahs?’ Synagogue races LA wildfire to rescue its past and future
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Culture In Peter Yarrow’s legacy, an uneasy blend of Jewish values and personal transgressions
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News LA fires won’t stop bar mitzvahs this Shabbat, as joy and pain meet
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News HIAS cuts 22 staff even as it braces for Trump immigration crackdown
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Fast Forward A synagogue that survived the Palisades fire has become a ‘refuge’ for many who lost their homes
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News When fire spread to West Hollywood, a rabbi’s mom chose to grab candlesticks
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