Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the robust lives of American Jews. Here there’s a little of everything about the multifaceted world of Jewish life. There are light-hearted Jewish celebrity stories and shocking Jewish celebrity news. Food is also plentiful,…
Life
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No challah? Garlic bread. Shabbat dinner must go on.
I logged on to Twitter Friday morning and searched “Tribeca Whole Foods” as a kind of Shabbat-host reconnaissance mission. The results looked like a compilation of Depression-era newsreels and post-apocalyptic music videos, photos of long lines at the door and shelf after empty shelf. So I texted my guests-to-be, high-school friends that come over many…
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Some of our favorite Jewish coronavirus memes
The spread of COVID-19 is impacting lives around the world, forcing universities, schools, and offices across the country to close, or switch to remote. The Jewish community has been heavily affected. With lackluster Purim celebrations and travel plans for the upcoming Passover season being canceled, it can feel like everything good is now forbidden. Luckily,…
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With the corona virus afoot, don’t be foolishly pious.
Judaism has never been a tradition that privileges meticulous religious devotion over self-care and personal health. In a famous Mishna, Rabbi Joshua states that a “foolish man of piety”, or hasid shoteh, causes the world to be destroyed. While the Talmud gives the specific definition of a man who refuses to save a drowning woman…
The Latest
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Should we shut down the shuls? It’s time for our rabbis to speak up.
Who is wise? One who sees what is yet to unfold. (Tamid 32a) Pandemics have an exponential growth rate, which means that early indications don’t seem too bad, and then everything spirals out of control, all at once. Given this reality, you need insightful, forward-thinking people to infer what the future might look like, drawing…
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Unsung Women | Dona Gracia Nasi Mendes
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Dona Gracia Nasi Mendes Where and when: 16th century, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire What we know: Meet…
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Unsung Women | Bruriah, the sharp-tongued scholar
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Bruriah Where and when: 1st-century CE Roman-occupied Judea What we know: Though the Talmud numbers thousands of pages, it names…
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Some of our favorite 2020 Purim costumes
For centuries, Purim has been a time of Jewish togetherness. Hand-shaking, hamentaschen-sharing, dance-floor-germ-exchanging togetherness. But with new cases of coronavirus cropping up every day, Purim parades are a risky endeavor. Costume parties have given way to self-quarantine, and communities are conducting Megillah readings via Zoom. With fear and uncertainty (and viral particles) in the air,…
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Unsung Women | Gluckl of Hameln, the original Yiddish tell-all writer
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Gluckel of Hameln Where and when: Germany, circa 1646 — 1724 What we know: Gluckel was a woman determined to…
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Praying in the face of coronavirus— via conference call
On the Fast of Esther, thousands of Orthodox Jews joined in communal prayer — in arranged simultaneous times to pray, or by conference calls. At 9:30am EST, several Haredi organizations called for a worldwide Psalm recitation, in response to Agudath Israel’s call to prayer; at 12:30pm EST, the Orthodox Union organized a conference call for…
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Unsung Women | Felice Schragenheim, bravely partisan, openly queer
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Felice Schragenheim Where and when: Germany, 1922-1944 What we know: Born to a leftist Jewish family in Berlin, Felice Schragenheim…
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Unsung Women | Asenath Barezani, a 16th-century female sage
Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, the Forward presents “Unsung Women,” a special project showcasing Jewish women — from biblical times to our modern moment — whose stories have rarely been told. Who she was: Asenath Barzani Where and when: 16th-century Kurdistan What we know: Asenath Barzani was the daughter, wife, and mother of rabbinic…
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