Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.
Ari Feldman
By Ari Feldman
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News A conversation with Rabbi Rick Jacobs about the future of the Reform movement
The umbrella organization that serves the 850 synagogues of the Reform movement, the nation’s largest Jewish denomination is laying off about 20% of its staff, in addition to furloughs. The Union for Reform Judaism made the announcement after it decided amid the coronavirus pandemic to close all of its summer camps, forfeiting its single largest…
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Fast Forward WHO pauses hydroxychloroquine studies over safety concerns
The World Health Organization announced Monday that it was pausing studies in multiple countries of hydroxychloroquine after an analysis of thousands of Covid-19 patients treated with the drug found that it was associated with a higher risk of death. The drug — an antimalarial that is also used routinely to treat rheumatoid arthritis — has…
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Fast Forward Trump says he’ll open houses of worship as ‘essential’ — but he can’t do that
In a surprise announcement Friday afternoon President Donald Trump said he was deeming houses of worship “essential,” and said he would “override” governors if they push back on the designation — echoing a prior claim about his “total authority” over states that he abandoned. Trump can try to use political persuasion to sway the states,…
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News Why Dr. Vladimir Zelenko staked his reputation on hydroxychloroquine
Dr. Vladimir Zelenko went for an urgent blood-clot removal surgery two years ago and wound up losing his entire right lung. The surgeons found it riddled with a rare and aggressive cancer — pulmonary artery sarcoma. Without highly toxic chemotherapy to prevent its return, his doctor told him, the disease would likely kill him. Zelenko…
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Fast Forward Doctor who urged Trump to take untested drug leaving his Orthodox patients amid feud
Dr. Vladimir “Zev” Zelenko, the Hasidic doctor who came to national prominence for treating presumptive Covid-19 patients with an unproven drug regimen, announced that he is leaving the area where he treated mostly Hasidic clients, in a clinic in Monroe, N.Y., near the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel. “It’s with a broken heart that I…
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News Trump taking controversial drug after Hasidic doctor recommended it
President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, the controversial antimalarial drug whose use to combat COVID-19 has been touted heavily by a Hasidic doctor in upstate New York. The doctor, Vladimir Zelenko, who has expressed support for Trump on social media, sent a letter to the White House in March about his…
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Fast Forward More than 60 teens studying in Brooklyn yeshiva dispersed by New York police
Police acting on a tip found dozens of high school-aged boys studying in a Brooklyn yeshiva on Monday, in violation of state rules that public and private schools must remain closed through the end of the academic year. Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I…
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Fast Forward Orthodox mom-and-pop shop owners join movement to let them reopen in New York
Orthodox Jewish business owners have joined in calls for New York to allow small businesses to operate, pushing back against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has repeatedly said he will not risks lives in order to reopen the economy. Orthodox business owners are sharing their personal stories through videos on social media, using the…
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