122 stories from forward.com
The rare collision of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah has resulted in a pop-cultural flavor. For your holiday listening pleasure, our critic’s playlist offers the best of both worlds (and ho…
The name of the Sholem Alechem oilfield in Oklahoma is puzzling to locals and Yiddishists alike. Doni Bloomfield ferrets out the truth about a mystery in the Bible Belt.
Click here for the r…
Hanukkah didn’t always seem to try to compete with Christmas. The holiday’s fascinating history finally gets told in Dianne Ashton’s ‘Hanukkah in America.’
Clic…
Regardless of what you’ve been told, this is not the first Thanksgivukkah in American history. Eric Schulmiller explains.
Click here for the rest of the article...
Andarta is a Hebrew word for the war memorials found all over Israel today. Ironically the term was once derided by rabbis when used by ancient Greeks.
Click here for the rest of the article…
Is ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ a celebration of Sholem Aleichem, or a contamination of his legacy? Two new books examine the question from two very different perspectives.
Click here f…
An Israeli writer stumbled onto the famous story of Dona Gracia Nasi, a 16th-century Portuguese widow. Turns out, she was likely the wealthiest woman of her era anywhere.
Click here for the …
This month marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. He was a furiously individual thinker " and an observant Jew in a secular land.
Click here for …
Ten years ago, Abigail Pogrebin wrote a book about Jewish identity. Little did she know that some of her favorite songwriters would help bring ‘Stars of David’ to the stage.
Clic…
Venturing into global conflict zones, some of which are Muslim, can be challenging to Jewish theater artists. Two women share the perils they have faced in Iraq and elsewhere.
Click here for…
Not too long ago, comics were a disreputable art form. With the arrival of Art Spiegelman, they became the stuff of serious literature and high art.
Click here for the rest of the article...
Israel’s famed Masada tells more than a grand tale of destruction and suicide pacts. It also opens a window on daily life, like ordinary people combing nits out of their hair.
Click he…
Leonard Bernstein was a phenomenal composer, a stunning conversationalist, and he remembered every slight he ever received. One night, Benjamin Ivry got up close and personal.
Click here for…
‘Free Spirit,’ Joshua Safran’s memoir of his nomadic childhood, starts out as a dark version of a Mark Twain story. It winds up as an inspiring tale of Jewish salvation.
Cl…
Doris Lessing has passed away at the age of 94. Benjamin Ivry traces the significant impact Jewish issues had on the Nobel laureate’s life and work.
Click here for the rest of the arti…
‘My Promised Land,’ an ambitious and unsparing book by Ari Shavit, seeks to bring American Jews closer to the real Israel and Israelis closer to their own lost narrative.
Click h…
A Israeli researcher stumbled onto a striking photo of a woman posing at famed poet Rachel Bluwstein’s grave. It opened a window onto an enduring mystery of history.
Click here for the…
A Jerusalem-based researcher believes that Hebrew is the origin of all languages. It’s a strange opinion, but a few centuries ago, he would have found support for his theories.
Click h…
Janet Cardiff’s “The Forty Part Motet” at the Cloisters until December 8 is a transcendent work of art and may just force you to revisit your thoughts about religion and th…
Roger Cohen falls in love with his future wife, Brenda. He starts a business and ropes in the sons. Sounds like a very Jewish story, right? Only in this case, the business is a strip club.
C…
Michel Petroni, the screenwriter who adapted ‘The Book Thief’ for film, is not Jewish. But he found something both personal and universal in Markus Zusak’s bestselling nove…
A whopping 600-page Nora Ephron collection brings back the voice of the beloved author. A producer of ‘Parenthood’ reminds us that she paved the way for Lena Dunham and ‘Gi…
‘South Park’ riffed on the Biblical tale of the red heifer and its putative signal of impending doom. It’s rooted in Judaism, but the Armageddon tale is probably a misunder…
Aerosmith, America’s most successful hard rock band, is now 43 years old. But few people know the Jewish history that helped make enduring success possible for Steve Tyler and the guys…
Lately, the modern art section of the Metropolitan Museum hasn't been as quiet as usual. William Kentridge’s installation there questions our very notion of time.
Click here for the re…
