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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Vibrant Documentary ‘Author’: The JT LeRoy Story Questions How We Invent Identities
The truth of fiction is that it is all lies. None of it happened. It was all made up. Of course, we don’t think of fiction in these moralistic terms – after all, we’re complicit in the exchange. People wouldn’t spend billions of dollars annually for their eyeballs to suck in candy-colored CGI fantasy worlds…
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Could Hillary Clinton Fix Our Broken Politics?
On his way to the Republican party nomination, Donald Trump routinely denigrated his opponents. Trump called his fellow frontrunners “Little Marco” and “Lyin’ Ted” and mocked Carly Fiorina’s appearance: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!” Now Trump…
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Why Talmud Is the Way To Be Jewish Without Judaism
After a decade-long break, I am back to studying Talmud. It was my friend Ben who suggested it, about a year ago. “We should learn Gemara sometime,” he said, using the traditional term for Talmud. It was late at night, and we stood chatting near a Brooklyn subway station, both of us tipsy from a…
The Latest
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The Book of Ruth, or Notes on Serendipity
The Book of Ruth, or Notes on Serendipity And she went, and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. —The Book of Ruth, 2:3 As luck would have it, the first…
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‘UnREAL’ Is Back and More Biting Than Ever in Season 2
One minute you’re getting matching “Money. Dick. Power” tattoos with your boss-slash-best frenemy. The next minute, the last part of that mantra comes back to bite you after you both vie for it and lose. Just another day in show business, right? So begins the second season of “UnREAL,” which premieres today. The show smashed…
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How Start-Up Nation Is Crowdsourcing the Answers to All Your Bra Woes
(JTA) — They say the best stories happen when a writer gets pushed out of his or her comfort zone. Since the “they” in this case was my editor, this is how I found myself readying to post a topless photo of myself online — all in the name of good journalism. But this isn’t…
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At Edit-A-Thon, Expanding Wikipedia’s Offerings on Jewish Women
If the names Asnat Barazani, Devorà Ascarelli, and Clarice Baright don’t ring a bell for you, you’re not alone. The Center for Jewish History is setting out to change that. Barazani, a 17th-century scholar in Kurdistan, Ascarelli, a 16th-centrury poet who may have been the first Jewish women to ever have her work published, and…
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Shouting Down From the Women’s Balcony, A Latter-Day Yentl Discovers That Prayer Is Protest
I have always been adamant that my personal prayer was not a protest or a fight for something. Then a recent interaction with a rabbi — me on the women’s balcony, him down below in the men’s section — made me rethink my stance. Like so many Jews, on Passover my husband and I went…
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Get Ready for Summer With Modest Swimwear — It’s Also Super-Sexy
“The only options we were finding were these long, flowery dresses that just weren’t our style or skin-tight surfing-style wetsuits,” Wolf says. The company specializes in casual, sporty mix-and-match tops and bottoms. The tops come in all sleeve lengths — from sleeveless to long sleeves — and the bottoms are pants, skirts, shorts or skorts…
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Reform Women Rabbis Celebrate Getting Exact Same Title as Men — After 44 Years
JTA — Since 1972, when the Reform movement ordained its first female rabbi, more than 700 others have joined her ranks in that denomination alone. But a surprise awaited them, though few seemed to notice: The language on their ordination certificates was markedly different than that of their male colleagues. Men were referred to by…
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How Jewish Celebrity Supporters of Israel Inspired Me to Tweet My Own Truths
It seems that some people would prefer that the stale adage “Children should be seen and not heard” should read “Women should be seen and not heard.” Case in point, a video was released last week in which ordinary men read increasingly abusive social media comments directed at sportswriters Julie DiCaro and Sarah Spain. It…
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Most Popular
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
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Culture Cardinals are Catholic not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
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Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
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Fast Forward Germany formally classifies far-right AfD party as extremist, in blow to Nazi-linked populist movement
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Fast Forward Trump taps shock jock Sid Rosenberg and a Haredi newspaper publisher for Holocaust Memorial Council
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