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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Legacy Bintel: Should I bring my wife over from Russia if I’m in love with another woman?
The original Bintel Brief column was founded at the Forward in 1906 and ran through the 1980s. Written in Yiddish, letter writers sought advice on heartbreak, poverty, religious quarrels, family disputes, love triangles and more. Legacy Bintel revisits these original Bintel Brief letters. Many appear here in English for the first time. They have been…
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7 Jewish lifestyle luminaries advise: How to set up your space for praying, hosting
High Holidays at home — it’s not an easy prospect. Small suppers are replacing extended family gatherings. The blasts of the shofar are sounding at a distance. For many Conservative and Reform Jews, the most important services of the year will take place in the living room. Whether you open your house to the hordes…
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Why so few Jews in romance novels? This author and bookseller is leading a charge to change that
“Mad & Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency” is one book you can judge by its cover, which depicts aristocratic men, faces covered by pink splotches, and aristocratic women … holding cans of spray paint. The non-fiction book, released earlier this month, is about the female artists and scientists, women of color, queer women and…
The Latest
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What do we miss without God in our lives?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with clergy tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. Radical amazement. Are we amazed by our very lives and the things we can’t explain? And when…
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Shabbat-observant youth soccer club forms in honor of Miami teen’s death
Sholem Benchimol was a talented soccer player with aspirations of one day becoming a professional. But although he trained diligently with a soccer club after school, when game day arrived he usually couldn’t play — because most youth soccer games take place on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest. Sholem, born into an Orthodox Jewish…
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Is God good?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with clergy tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. Is God good? The question alone can feel like heresy. I’ve learned enough about Jewish theology to…
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Consider the seder: a pandemic-proof, traditional way to celebrate Rosh Hashanah
Looking for a pandemic-proof way to celebrate the New Year? Consider the seder — It’s not just for Passover. Of course, many Askhenazi Jews associate seders primarily with the exodus from Egypt. But Rosh Hashanah has its own long tradition of ritual meals. First mentioned in the Talmud, the Rosh Hashanah seder evolved over centuries…
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Is the word ‘God’ the hurdle?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with clergy and scholars tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. It feels like a radioactive proposition — that the word “God” might be the obstacle…
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6 months into pandemic, Jews prepare for a High Holiday season of rupture and resilience
(JTA) — For many Jews, a high point of services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the Unetaneh Tokef prayer, which wonders who will live and who will die in the year ahead. This year, that question will take on added resonance, as the High Holidays fall six months into a global pandemic that has…
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Should I drop out of school to help with my siblings?
The original Bintel Brief column was founded at the Forward in 1906 and ran through the 1980s. Written in Yiddish, letter writers sought advice on heartbreak, poverty, religious quarrels, family disputes, love triangles and more. Legacy Bintel revisits these original Bintel Brief letters. Many appear here in English for the first time. They have been…
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Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on cancel culture, restoring morality
(JTA) — Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of Great Britain, has written dozens of books about religion and politics — but he also believes that mixing the two leads to “terrible politics and even worse religion.” It’s a tough line to toe, especially when you’ve just written a book highlighting the decline of fundamental…
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