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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Female Spiritual Leader In Efrat Begins Role
Photograph by Sima Tuchman Freedman Earlier this month, Dr. Jennie Rosenfeld gave the inaugural lecture for her role as “manhiga ruhanit,” a spiritual leader, to an audience of 60 people at the Mishkan Tzipora synagogue in the Zayit neighborhood of Efrat. One of the first cohort of Jewishly learned modern Orthodox women to hold public positions in Israel, Rosenfeld, 34,…
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The History of Jewish Feminism in 3 Minutes
Screenshot via Youtube It’s no secret Jewish history has traditionally been told from a male perspective, but a new animated video depicting the development of Jewish feminist consciousness provides a different take. Directed and narrated by singer-songwriter Michelle Citrin, the video focuses on biblical and historical figures such as Miriam the Prophet, Rabbi Regina Jonas,…
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Pulpit Plus One: Being ‘Present and Pleasant’
llustration by Lior Zaltzman “Pulpit Plus One: The Secret Lives of Rabbis’ Husbands, Partners, and Wives” features the voices and experiences of the partners of pulpit rabbis. In these series of interviews, “Pulpit Plus One” takes an honest and lively look into the nuances of a complex role. Dana works as a consultant to non-profit…
The Latest
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Haredi Parties Embrace Taboos for Campaign Ads
Screenshot via Youtube (JTA) —In an Israeli campaign ad released Monday, a secular Israeli husband and wife stress about housing prices, until a member of Knesset pops onto their iPhone screen, touting his party’s economic policies and accomplishments. It’s a common trope in this campaign — where voters’ top concern, according to polls, is Israel’s…
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Introducing ‘Pulpit Plus One’
llustration by Lior Zaltzman I moved to Nashville in July with my husband Aaron, when he was hired as an assistant rabbi and teacher. “Have you met Julie, the new rabbi’s wife?” is how I’m commonly introduced. It’s interesting to be in a position that’s not a position at all. I wasn’t hired, and I…
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Letting Women In the Kitchen
Avivit Ravia, one of two female kosher supervisors for Hashgacha Pratit, visits Carousela restaurant. Photograph by Naomi Zeveloff. There is a black and white photograph that my grandmother took of my great-grandmother hanging in my mother’s house and in the houses of all of my great-grandmother’s descendants. In it, my great-grandmother is standing at her…
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Tallying Inequality in the Art World
Final Fantasy installation by Micol Hebron, 2007 Recent studies show that only 30% of artists represented by galleries are female. In this series, The Sisterhood aims to shed light on this staggering gender disparity. We will be interviewing different female artists, in order discuss the way they navigate gender, sexuality, religion, family, and politics in…
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How I Learned to Love Queen Esther
llustration by Lior Zaltzman I remember when I first realized I didn’t understand Esther — possibly, didn’t even like her. It was Shabbat afternoon and a group of us were reading over the text of the megillah with a woman from my Orthodox synagogue in St. Louis. I was in junior high, with several years…
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Bibi the ‘Mansplainer’
(JTA) — Is Bibi a mansplainer? Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, all but said so after Netanyahu’s Congress speech Tuesday: “As one who values the U.S. – Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech,” she said. “Saddened by the insult to the…
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Ending An Ancient Jewish ‘Spitting’ Rite In Israel
Halitza shoe in the Bata Shoe Museum/Wikicommons Responding to numerous complaints from women, a religious advocacy group in Israel is urging the Chief Rabbinate to regulate an obscure Jewish “spitting” rite. The rite in question, performed in the Orthodox community, is known as “Halitza” and is required of women who have been widowed with no…
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A Havana Love Story for Purim
Nothing in Brooklyn could rival the formal dances in Havana at the Patronato de la Communidad Hebreo de Cuba. And nothing in the world could rival the exquisite Purim Ball of 1954 at the Patronato. Although my nineteen-year old mother was not selected as the Queen Esther of the ball that night, she was one…
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