Benjamin Ivry is a frequent Forward contributor.
Benjamin Ivry
By Benjamin Ivry
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Culture 125 years later, is Dracula antisemitic — or is he just another vampire?
Some critics have seen evidence of blood libel in Bram Stoker's classic story, but these accusations don't always hold up to scrutiny
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Culture Why Ed Koch’s response to AIDS was very political and not very Jewish
Recent revelations about the former NYC mayor raise questions about his judgment and decency
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Culture Composer Fanny Hensel: The less famous, equally talented Mendelssohn?
Hensel, sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn, expressed herself in intriguingly individualistic effusions
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Culture How an observant Jew became the mother of Jesus — and Christianity itself
The author of 'Mary, Founder of Christianity,' discusses Mary's identification as a Jewish woman and mother
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Culture At 90, Elaine May remains a deceptively and defiantly Jewish artist
The Jewish quotient in the creative works of director, screenwriter and actress Elaine May, whose 90th birthday will be feted April 21, remains oddly misunderstood. Yet May, as recent recipient of a Tony award, honorary Oscar, and National Medal for the Arts, is widely esteemed in the showbiz community. The Academy Award is a trifle…
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Culture She typed up Schindler’s list — and, in so doing, showed how a secretary could become a hero
Mimi Reinhardt, who died April 8 at age 107, proved that administrative assistants can be powerful forces for good or evil, depending on their own personal qualities. As Austrian Jewish secretary to the German industrialist Oskar Schindler, she typed clean copies of the celebrated list of around 1200 Jews who were claimed as essential workers…
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Culture Playing Yentl’s father, Billy Wilder’s gangster and Papa Mousekewitz, he was a Jewish actor of unparalleled resourcefulness
When Barbra Streisand sang the Oscar-nominated song “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” in her film “Yentl,” she was singing it to Nehemiah Persoff’s character, Rebbe Mendel. Persoff, who died April 5 at age 102, also starred as Papa Mousekewitz in the “American Tail” movie series. Yet Persoff’s varied work on stage, film, and TV proved…
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Culture Mother to George Costanza, wife of Mr. Potato Head, Estelle Harris had a comic style all her own
Estelle Harris (born Nussbaum) who died April 2 at age 93, proved that sources of laughter in American Jewish television sitcoms are incisive self-awareness and time-honored tribulations. Harris was paired with two of the loudest, most obstreperous Jewish comedians of the modern era, Jerry Stiller in TV’s “Seinfeld” and Don Rickles in Disney’s “Toy Story”…
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Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Rep. Ritchie Torres, outspoken pro-Israel advocate, is dropping hints that he could run for NY governor
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Fast Forward Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96
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Fast Forward A Jewish museum in Tulsa held a funeral for remains of Holocaust victims it kept for years
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Sports Texas A&M’s Sam Salz cherishes his first taste of DI college football — and the opportunity to inspire fellow Orthodox Jews
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