Virginia Jeffries
By Virginia Jeffries
-
News Meet the rabbi, military chaplain and Jewish educator who wants to thank you for your service
In less than a week, Larry Freedman was called to fight the coronavirus epidemic on two different fronts. As a religious school director in Pittsburgh, Rabbi Freedman was tasked with moving an entire curriculum online after most public spaces were shuttered due to the virus in late March. Just a few days later, he was…
-
News Jewish content abounds online in the age of corona. These 6 offerings rock.
After almost 2 solid weeks stuck at home, relying only on Netflix for online sustenance, I was in desperate need of some variety — and I’m not talking about binge-watching. My next chapter still had to be online, but it had to be equal parts active, intellectual and contemplative. And it had to be Jewish,…
-
Opinion Q&A | Meet Becca Heller, the warrior taking on Trump’s Muslim ban
Earlier this month, the Trump administration settled a lawsuit with over 300 refugees whose applications were held up by a series of executive orders, including the “Muslim ban” of 2017. Back in January, a federal judge temporarily blocked another executive order that would have allowed states counties to refuse to receive refugees. In both of…
-
News ADL launches new online tools for analyzing anti-Semitism
The Anti-Defamation League unveiled a pair of online tools Thursday allowing users to search its database of anti-Semitic incidents in real time. The ADL has been collecting and analyzing reports of violence and vandalism against Jews since the 1960s. While users were able to search through its data before, only a selection was publicly available…
-
Opinion Q&A With Asma Shuweikh, The Muslim Hero Who Defended A Jewish Family
On Friday, Asma Shuweikh, a Muslim woman, was filmed defending a Jewish father and his young children from the anti-Semitic abuse they were receiving from another passenger on a London train. The video quickly went viral all over the world. Across social media, Shuweikh was heralded as a hero. We caught up with Shuweikh over…
-
News Special Coverage: Pittsburgh, One Year Later
After a day of community service, Torah study and community gathering, Pittsburgh residents say they are closing a chapter in their healing after last year’s deadly synagogue shooting. Sunday was the one-year mark, a date loaded with significance. There was a long roster of activities and ceremonies that, amid tears and unanswered questions, enabled the…
-
Opinion I Was Sexually Harassed On Bernie Sanders’ Campaign. And No One Cared.
The morning of the 2016 New York Democratic primary, a local voter named Ray came by Bernie Sanders’ South Bronx campaign headquarters where I was volunteering. He asked for a few T-shirts from the campaign. A few minutes later, in a back corner of the office where I had gone to fetch him the T-shirts,…
-
Life In Squirrel Hill, Orthodox, Conservative And Reform Blend Seamlessly
“We are all still standing,” said Rabbi James Gibson Tuesday morning. We spoke by phone as he prepared for the first of the funerals for victims of Saturday’s horrific shooting in Pittsburgh. Gibson is the senior rabbi at Temple Sinai, a Reform congregation in Pittsburgh’s Jewish enclave of Squirrel Hill. His shul is less than…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward ‘Rabbi rebellion’: 33 Orthodox rabbis endorse Harris
- 2
Opinion Here’s why Orthodox Jews are loyal to Trump — even if they don’t love him
- 3
Opinion I was a Bernie supporter. This year, I’m voting Trump. Here’s why liberal Jews like me made the switch
- 4
FIRST PERSON As a rabbi, he helped others mourn. So why wouldn’t his daughter say kaddish for him?
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion This election, I finally understand the undecided Jewish voter
-
Fast Forward Haaretz faces blowback after liberal Israeli paper’s publisher praises ‘Palestinian freedom fighters’
-
Fast Forward American Airlines won’t fly to Israel again until at least September 2025
-
Fast Forward Trump and Harris both tell Michigan voters they’re aiming to end the war in Gaza
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
