Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
The Latest
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Fast Forward Covid-busting ‘hand sanitizer for the nose’ goes on sale in Israel
Enovid, a new nasal spray that counteracts SARS-CoV-2, among other viruses, is now on sale in Israel. Although Israel approved Enovid as a medical device with a claim to protect from viruses, Phase II clinical trials in the United Kingdom found statistically significant evidence that the spray can prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and…
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News With vaccines scarce at home, Central and Latin America Jews journey to the US
Samuel Hayon, a Venezuelan living in Miami, was shocked when he went to Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital to try and get the COVID-19 shot in February. “I just ran into the entire Hebraica Israeli!” he said, referring to Caracas’s Jewish community. Hayon had noticed a trend that would only grow in the coming weeks and…
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Opinion Dropping my kids off at Jewish summer camp taught me how to let go
For many, our slow-motion exodus from the pandemic has yielded a harvest of mundane yet miraculous firsts — handshakes, hugs, houseguests, days back in the office, unmasked cappuccinos at our favorite cafes and many more. I have savored these reunions with life as I once knew it, yet none of them prepared me for dropping…
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Fast Forward GOP Washington state lawmaker apologizes for wearing Yellow Star of David
A Washington state lawmaker has apologized for wearing a yellow Star of David, a universal symbol of the Holocaust, during a recent speech decrying the state government’s coronavirus vaccination campaign as well as restrictions that have been in place since the pandemic began. “It’s an echo from history,” Jim Walsh, a Republican member of the…
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Fast Forward Baruj Plavnick, 69, rabbi whose synagogue was used as vaccination center, dies of COVID
(JTA) — BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Bernardo Javier “Baruj” Plavnick, 69, the Argentine rabbi who opened his Buenos Aires synagogue for use as a vaccination center, died of COVID-19 on May 20. Pardes, the community founded by Plavnick in 1992, announced in February that it was establishing a vaccination center inside the synagogue. Some…
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News She followed rookie doctors through the very worst of COVID
(JTA) — (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — For most New Yorkers, the early days of COVID-19 were synonymous with eerily empty streets, the constant wail of sirens, and the clapping and cheering for health care workers. But what was it really like for the doctors and other health care professionals who found themselves…
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Culture Raves in the desert, secret parties in mansions — COVID couldn’t stop Israel’s underground party scene
In Israel, #hotvaxxedsummer is already underway; all restrictions have been lifted, bars are packed and parties are sold out. Hookup culture has come back to life, and people are beyond grateful to be out of their houses, finally seeing their friends and meeting new people. But not everyone actually stopped seeing people in the first…
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Culture What will #hotvaxxedsummer look like? Israel beat us there
The U.S. is finally reopening. Nightclubs will soon be back in full swing, and people are predicting another Roaring ’20s era of debauchery and indulgence — dubbed, at least online, #hotvaxxedsummer. But not everyone is so excited. Some are anxious about how it will feel to be in a crowd after over a year of…
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News Dutch Jews grapple with ‘weaponization’ of their fear following attack on Israelis
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News What a Secretary of State Marco Rubio would mean for American Jews and Israel
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Opinion Almost all voting groups shifted toward Trump, except American Jews. Why?
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Fast Forward Trump AG nominee Matt Gaetz has left a trail of antisemitic comments
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Like our patriarch Abraham, American Jews face 10 post-election tests of our values
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Fast Forward Trump taps RFK Jr., whose anti-vaccine activism has included antisemitic comments, to lead Dept. of Health and Human Services
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Fast Forward A Ben & Jerry’s battle over Israel, long frozen, thaws anew amid Gaza war
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News What a Trump second presidency will mean for school prayer, campus antisemitism and other education issues Jews care — and worry — about
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