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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Life Everyday Heroes: She takes song requests — from the back of the ambulance
The Forward asked readers to tell us about the “everyday heroes” in their lives, people extraordinary things in this extraordinary time. If you know someone acting heroically right now, let us know — we’ll be adding to the collection in the coming days. Name: Goldy Landau What she’s doing: In late March, Goldy Landau drove…
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News Rabbis gave this mental health hotline special dispensation. Hundreds have called it.
A single mother, laid off because of coronavirus, asks how to manage her anxiety. A domestic violence victim wonders how to protect herself in quarantine. A father working at home seeks anger management tips. These are just a sample of calls to a recently-created hotline for Jews struggling with mental health issues during the coronavirus…
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Life Everyday heroes: three doctors on the front lines of coronavirus
Isolating from family in a chilly trailer. Risking infection to treat incarcerated people. Leaving no stone unturned in the desperate search for personal protective gear. When the Forward asked readers to share stories of people doing extraordinary things in this extraordinary time, those are just some of the stories we heard. Below are three profiles…
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Fast Forward Jewish charity delivers Passover food to more than 200,000 homebound New Yorkers
Ahead of Passover, the Met Council for Jewish Poverty, a New York-based charity, delivered hundreds of thousands of packages of kosher-for-Passover food to senior citizens and others stuck at home because of coronavirus. With many afraid or unable to leave the house because of coronavirus, or facing financial instability because of coronavirus-related economic slowdown, the…
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News How to sit shiva while social distancing
For centuries, sitting shiva has provided Jewish mourners a meaningful ritual to gain closure after the death of a loved one. When you’ve just suffered a loss, it’s supremely comforting to have other people around — people to keep you fed, people to play with your kids, people with whom to share treasured family stories….
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Life Five virtual seders for an unprecedented Passover
So you didn’t organize a virtual seder to bring together friends and family across the country. You were too busy adapting to your new role as full-time home-schooler to brainstorm thoughtful discussion questions about the relationship between our current predicament and the Passover story. You didn’t cobble together a quirky haggadah because the only thing…
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Life There are heroes all around us — meet three of them
We see them on social media and in family group chats. We hear about them when we call our friends or talk with a neighbor across the street. They’re churning out homemade masks on their sewing machines or babysitting the children of emergency responders. They’re delivering groceries to neighbors or risking infection to keep soup…
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Culture Q & A: How can you make a small Seder special?
Lifestyle blogger Rebekah Lowin believes in hiddur mitzvah, the Talmudic idea that while doing a mitzvah is well and good, doing it beautifully is even better. From hamentaschen cocktail toppers to DIY latke bars, the creations Lowin shares can help you live your most aesthetically pleasing Jewish life — or make you seriously insecure about…
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