Benjamin Ivry is a frequent Forward contributor.
Benjamin Ivry
By Benjamin Ivry
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Music Why Harry Belafonte once joked that he was ‘the most popular Jew in America’
There was more to the singer and activist's engagement with Jewish culture than a hit version of 'Hava Nagila'
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Books Why an iconoclastic Jewish scholar thought Islam held a key to improving Judaism
Pioneering author Ignaz Goldziher was a lifelong champion of Talmud but rejected hidebound observance
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Art How one artist’s work mattered even more than the subjects he photographed
Julius Shulman's photography did a better job of selling buildings than the buildings themselves
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Books So, what did Jorge Luis Borges really think of the Jews?
Though he was often called a philosemite, the truth is a lot messier
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Culture He was one of our greatest writers — so, why don’t people talk about him anymore?
A new book tries to reclaim the legacy of I.L. Peretz
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Music Why Prokofiev once called himself ‘the only Jewish composer’
The Russian composer produced one of the most significant works about Jewish cultural identity
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Culture How the consummate Jewish intellectual remained ‘one of the most cheerful Jewish men in the word’
Revered editor and publisher Victor Navasky has died at the age of 90
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Books In Kafka’s diaries, harsh criticism and sympathetic fascination for his fellow Jews
Newly translated diaries shed light on the author's views on Jewish culture and customs
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Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
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Film & TV Why ‘The Brutalist’ resonated so deeply with me
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News RFK Jr. wants fluoride out of drinking water. Israel has a decade of lessons to offer.
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