Irene Katz Connelly is a staff writer at the Forward. You can contact her at connelly@forward.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katz_conn.
Irene Katz Connelly
By Irene Katz Connelly
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Culture Sukkahs for humans? That’s so 5780. This year, Jewish pets observe the chag
For Jews, Sukkot is just the latest holiday to fall victim to the pandemic. Singing and dancing are off the (outdoor) table. Lulavs and etrogs can’t be shared. Even the sukkah, which might seem like the perfect pandemic-era structure, is suspect: New York authorities mandated social distancing inside, and most synagogues are treating them like…
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The Schmooze Five ways to run a presidential debate like a Shabbat dinner table
Susan Page, a “Midwest nice” native of Wichita, Kan. asked some good questions during Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate. But when it came to holding her ground against overtalking from Vice President Mike Pence, she failed miserably. While the ground rules stipulated equal speaking time for each candidate, Pence, who delivered each answer in the…
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News At vice presidential debate, Pence invokes ‘Jewish grandchildren’ in defense of Trump
During Wednesday night’s Vice Presidential debate between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence, one moment in particular caught the attention of Jewish viewers. Asked about President Trump’s history of obfuscation when asked to decry white nationalists and white supremacists, Pence invoked the president’s Jewish grandchildren in his defense. “Your concern that he doesn’t…
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The Schmooze Jewish celebs get naked to talk “naked ballots” in new voting PSA
Tiffany Haddish just made a voting PSA wearing a Magen David necklace…and nothing else. The Jewish comedian was part of a gaggle of celebrities who got naked for a get-out-the-vote video about the “naked ballots” rule in Pennsylvania, a new voting restriction that could potentially disenfranchise thousands of voters. Celebs including @SarahKSilverman, @TiffanyHaddish, and @chrisrock…
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Culture This 102-year-old activist was born into the last pandemic. Now she has one message: Vote!
The snapshot showed an elderly woman doing what thousands of Americans are doing this week: mailing her ballot for the presidential election. Yet it also captured the surreal nature of being a citizen at this precise moment in American history. The voter in question — 102-year-old Beatrice Lumpkin — was born in 1918, a year…
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Culture Could Black Jewish author Jamaica Kincaid be the next Nobel laureate?
With the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature just two days away, observers are busy speculating on potential winners. Among the favorites for the prize is Black Jewish author Jamaica Kincaid. Bjorn Wiman, culture editor of the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, predicted to the Guardian that either Kincaid or the poet Anne Carson would…
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Culture Melania Trump dunked on Christmas decor — like my dad has been doing for years
My family is an interfaith one, so we have a lot of holiday rituals between us. But no tradition is more hallowed than my father’s complaints about other people’s over-the-top Christmas decorations. As long as bloated Santas and sleighs profane his neighborhood, my father can go nowhere without remarking on the collapse of separation between…
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The Schmooze Lenny Kravitz still looks great shirtless, in case you were wondering
Did you ever pause while sanitizing your groceries or purchasing masks in bulk to wonder how Lenny Kravitz’s abs are faring during this global pandemic? If so, you’ll be happy to know the answer is here, and the answer is: just fine. Those corners of the internet that haven’t been broken by President Trump’s coronavirus…
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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.
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News Trump promised peace in the Middle East. Will his 2020 plan be the blueprint?
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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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