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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For Observant Jews, Halloween Is A Night To Fear — Especially After Pittsburgh
As a student in an Orthodox yeshiva high school, we were dismissed early on Halloween in the daylight hours, because my rabbis were afraid of anti-Semitic violence against us. Instead of the usual 7 pm dismissal, we got out at 4:30. A letter on the wall categorized it, in Hebrew, as a “day of throwing…
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A Pittsburgh Rabbi’s 1908 Sermon Rings Eerily True Today
Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz served as the Chief (Orthodox) Rabbi of Pittsburgh from the last decade of the 19th century until his death in 1936. Born in Lithuania and trained in its yeshivot, he was renowned both for his Talmudic erudition and for his clever and occasionally abrasive homilies. He was a “rabbi’s rabbi”, publishing…
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Israel Chief Rabbi Didn’t Dismiss Progressive Synagogues. Stop Twisting Words To Sow Division.
Several news organizations (including this one) jumped on an interview with Israel’s Chief Ashkenazi rabbi, Rabbi David Lau, in response to the Pittsburgh shooting. Lau, according to the report, refused to acknowledge that the massacre in Pittsburgh was carried out in a synagogue. The story sparked outrage all over social media, some calling to abolish…
The Latest
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Don’t Avoid Talking To Your Kids About The Pittsburgh Shooting
‘For these things I weep, my eyes flow with tears,” reads the Book of Lamentations, and my mind plays on continual loop all the tragic details we now know about the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, likely the deadliest attack on Jews in the history of America. Yet the lament continues with the…
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White Women Aren’t The First To Defend Patriarchy Against Their Own Interests
Alexis Grenell’s New York Times October 6 op-ed bemoaned the fact that white women in the Senate put patriarchy and the maintenance of male circles of power ahead of their connection to other women. She decried how white women help maintain white male power, and thus power for whites, themselves included. This is nothing new….
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Social Diary: Friends Of The IDF Gala Raised $32 Million In Night Of Gun-Filled Fun
The annual Friends of the Israeli Defense Force gala in New York City opened with a drum beat and the lockstep marching of soldiers. The 1,200 guests in the Hilton midtown ballroom turned as one, in a flash of sequins and cufflinks, to see young people in uniforms trooping down the aisles, waving giant flags….
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Should You Get Election Day Off? This Jewish Organization Says Yes
In 2014, in the last midterm elections, just over 36% of eligible American citizens cast a ballot. In addition to being the lowest voter turnout in 70 years, this meant that fewer than four out of every 10 Americans determined the country’s legislative future for the subsequent two years. Minorities ruling majorities is not how…
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The Start-Up Nation Is Dominated By Secular Male Ashkenazi Jews — But Not For Long
JERUSALEM – According to President Reuven Rivlin, Jerusalem “is a microcosm of what is going on all over the region.” While that may or may not be true, the city’s varied and diverse population — comprised of Muslims and Jews, religious and secular — certainly isn’t representative of the industries that have made the start-up…
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The Injustice Of Asking Jewish Educators To Do Unpaid Work
Once upon a time, I was young and idealistic. I was driven to a career in Jewish education by a deep passion for Torah study — despite the high likelihood of financial challenges. I yearned for the energy that comes from watching an idea click in a student’s mind, that comes from guiding a roomful…
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Why I Got A Tattoo — Despite My Orthodox Community’s Rules
For long as I can remember, I have been captivated by tattoos. I love the variety, the creativity, and the idea that your body can be a canvas for art. As a serious lover of heavy metal, this tatted-up aesthetic makes me swoon. I have lusted after tattoos for my entire life — even in…
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Mikveh And The American Jewish Woman: It’s Complicated
The ultimate training for a rebbetzin is not, in fact, hosting a Shabbat dinner, or remembering the name of a congregant during Kiddush. It happens, actually, in your dining room on a late weeknight. When you’re basically still a novice bride yourself, your wig sitting awkwardly on your head, not yet molded to your crown,…
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