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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Chicken Soup For The Jewish Soul
Google the phrase “Jewish chicken soup,” and the search engine will provide a list of related queries, first among which is: “does chicken soup have penicillin?” It’s official: the medicinal, spiritual, almost supernatural powers of bubbe’s soup are now so undisputed that even tech giants recognize them. Eating chicken soup — and vociferously defending the…
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Here’s Something New: We Called Out Ira Glass and He Thanked Us
The adrenaline rush that comes with calling someone out online is immediate. Yes! The writer thinks, rushing to share the link to their latest screed._ I’ve nailed them now!_ But what happens when the person you’re calling out responds kindly, apologizes, and offers to learn more about those he’s unintentionally offended? I recently edited a…
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“We Both Get The Knife Today” — Caption This Photo For Us!
How cute is this photo? When a reader shared us this little slice of challah we were stumped. So we asked you to help us out! You voted on your favorite caption and “We both get the knife today” came out on top. (Born and bread came in second place in case you were wondering.)…
The Latest
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Luxury Mikvehs Are Great, But We’re Missing The Point
I recently attended a consultation with a renowned mikveh architect as we begin discussions about building a new mikveh in Charleston, South Carolina. As we have about 10-15 mikveh users a month and anticipate growth, I figured our new mikveh would include an additional changing room and nicer tiles and lighting. I was shocked when…
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After Israeli Bans Congresswomen, Palestinian NGO Launches Virtual Tour App Of West Bank
“Jerusalem has always the center and a focal point in Islam,” Palestinian anthropologist Ali Qleibo declared, striding across the Temple Mount. “It’s one of the three holy cities…Jerusalem is about the connection between man and God. The base of Islam, the mystery of Islam is Jerusalem,” he continued, describing his family’s long history in the…
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In Hasidic Boys’ Yeshivas, Physical Abuse Is Rampant
When I watched the video clip that surfaced this week of a Hasidic teenager lying on the floor and crying in pain from the blows of his rebbe, I was shaken, but not surprised. Sadly, this kind of sadism-disguised-as-discipline is all too common in Hasidic Yeshivas. When I was in school in Williamsburg, our rebbe…
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Big Hummus Is Watching. It Wants You To Eat More Hummus.
The tiny downtown pop-up restaurant was warm and softly lit, the tables groaning with food, the swirling wall projections stopping just short of disco-esque. In fact, the room had reached such a cozy-trendy fever-pitch, that the news guests received felt especially shocking. Customers in silk jumpsuits and tortoiseshell glasses raised glasses of white wine to…
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After Pittsburgh, Reclaiming Sacred Space
My older daughter asked me if we were going to be bombed. We were walking into a Brooklyn synagogue. It was a Saturday morning one week after eleven Jews were killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue last October by an alleged white nationalist. I promised her we would not. Then I eyed a large black duffle…
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After The Shooting In Our Synagogue – Torah Study Helped Me Heal
The night after my husband narrowly avoided being shot in the Pittsburgh synagogue where he is a rabbi I couldn’t sleep. I needed something to read, to keep my mind occupied — to keep it away from the panicked thought about how closely he missed death, and what if my daughter and I had gone…
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How The Pittsburgh Shooting Inspired Me To Put On A Kippah
On the infamous Saturday morning of October 27, 2018, I was knocking on doors for a local pro-choice candidate, like I often do on Saturdays in the lead up to elections. I saw the alert come over my phone that there was a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. I put the phone away, finished…
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How Jewish Rituals Helped Me Mourn My Miscarriage
I had a miscarriage this summer — and it broke me in more ways than I could have imagined. At my nine-week appointment, I discovered, to my complete surprise, that I was experiencing a “missed abortion” – a pregnancy loss in which I’d had no miscarriage symptoms whatsoever. Not only did I have to make…
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News Dutch Jews grapple with ‘weaponization’ of their fear following attack on Israelis
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Opinion Trump’s first picks are die-hard Israel supporters, mocking the pro-Palestinian protest vote
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Fast Forward Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish Democrat, launches bid for New Jersey governor
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Fast Forward Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary nominee, has multiple Christian and Crusades-inspired tattoos
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