Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
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Life What do we eat now? And other questions for our advice columnists
From its start in 1906, A Bintel Brief was a pillar of the Forward, helping generations of Jewish immigrants learn how to be American. Now our columnists are helping people navigate the complexities of being Jewish in 2020. Send questions to [email protected]. Three squares? Sweetie, put down that spatula Dear Abbys, I am cooked out….
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Community Protection in a pandemic: “Nothing bad can happen to you when you are wearing a hamsa”
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times!” Oddly enough it was a man that coined that phrase, but it is the women bearing children that bid it true. After all, what is more of a contradiction than the careful nurturing of a tiny being inside you for 9 months, with…
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News Hasidic leaders are on a chain-cutting campaign to liberate playgrounds
Heshy Tischler is on a mission to open Brooklyn playgrounds closed due to the coronavirus, and the people are on his side. That’s why they keep giving him bolt cutters. He says he’s helped reopen six playgrounds in Brooklyn since last Thursday — the most recent in Crown Heights on Tuesday evening. Three of those…
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Community ‘We are scouts into a world of racism and police abuse’
This week in synagogues throughout the world, Jews will read Parashat Sh’lach L’cha, the story of the scouts sent by Moses into the land of Canaan. The scouts, representing each of the 12 tribes, were sent to gather information and return to advise the people on what to expect. After 40 days, they return to…
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News Jews, Christians sue Cuomo and de Blasio for violating religious freedom during pandemic
Five defendants, including three Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn, are suing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for violating their civil rights by forbidding religious gatherings and requiring “oppressive conditions” that limit gathering sizes during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the complaint filed last Wednesday….
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Fast Forward Ohio’s Jewish health director, who faced anti-Semitic backlash, resigns
(JTA) — Amy Acton, the Jewish Department of Health director in Ohio who came under fire for the stay-at-home orders to stem the coronavirus crisis, including armed protesters carrying signs with anti-Semitic messages, has resigned. Acton, whose resignation was official on Thursday, will become the chief health adviser to Gov. Mike DeWine. Since the start…
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News Israel’s schools reopen, then some close, leaving parents flummoxed
“Put on your masks,” a security guard instructed backpack-wearing adolescents Sunday morning as they streamed into their middle school in in northern Tel Aviv. They lined up to show him the signed declarations by their parents that they are fever-free. When one maskless boy said he forgot his, the guard shouted, “Anyone have a spare…
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Culture The extremely problematic and incredibly harsh impact of Coronavirus on art
Most art is unfinished — quietly, unglamorously, pointlessly. Two and a half chapters of a novel yellowing in a bottom drawer; sets for a play nobody bothers to produce; a pilot never aired; a melody never resolved; a canvas never covered. That’s just the physical evidence — for every half-finished work, there are thousands that…
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News What a Secretary of State Marco Rubio would mean for American Jews and Israel
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Fast Forward Trump AG nominee Matt Gaetz has left a trail of antisemitic comments
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Opinion Trump’s first picks are die-hard Israel supporters, mocking the pro-Palestinian protest vote
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News Your complete guide to Trump’s Jewish advisers and pro-Israel cabinet
In Case You Missed It
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Fast Forward Will Scharf, co-founder of ‘Jews Against Soros,’ is Trump’s new White House staff secretary
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Opinion Trump wants prayer in schools. The Bible tells us how dangerous that is
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Opinion Will Trump’s efforts to fight antisemitism help degrade democracy?
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Culture A Jewish snowman movie would have made a lot more sense than Netflix’s ‘Hot Frosty’
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