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
-
‘Because I Didn’t Count, I Counted Myself Out of Judaism’
On February 8, B’nai Jeshurun will hold a day of learning to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Judith Plaskow’s groundbreaking book, “Standing Again at Sinai.” In the lead up to the event, The Sisterhood is asking participants questions on issues surrounding feminism and Judaism. Long-time activist and founding editor of Ms. magazine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin,…
-
Baking Challah As a Feminist Act
via wikicommons The first thing I did when I finished reading Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner David’s new book, “Chana’s Voice” is to set out to learn how to bake challah. Haviva’s writing is like that; she inspires you to open your heart and approach yourself to new possibilities. For Haviva, baking challah is one of…
-
Looking Beyond Michelle Obama and Angela Merkel
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman greeted President Obama as he arrived with first lady Michelle Obama in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Michelle Obama’s wardrobe is always a popular topic of conservation and speculation. This week, however, it assumed center stage in the international and national news covering the American diplomatic visit to Saudi Arabia’s new ruler,…
The Latest
-
‘Mommy, Can Men Be Rabbis?’
On February 8, B’nai Jeshurun will hold a day of learning to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Judith Plaskow’s groundbreaking book, “Standing Again at Sinai.” In the lead up to the event, The Sisterhood is asking participants questions on issues surrounding feminism and Judaism. Below Rabbi Daniel Brenner, chief of education and program for Moving…
-
Remembering Forward Stalwart Fani Jacobson
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. Before newspapers outsourced their circulation needs to databases and fulfillment agencies, before readers could blog their immediate dissatisfaction — people like Fani Jacobson at the Forverts, ext. 622, handled the incoming telephone…
-
Joy Ladin On Gendered Mitzvot
On February 8, B’nai Jeshurun will hold a day of learning to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Judith Plaskow’s groundbreaking book, “Standing Again at Sinai.” In the lead up to the event, The Sisterhood is asking participants questions on issues surrounding feminism and Judaism. Here, Joy Ladin, author of “Through the Door of Life A…
-
Leah Vincent on Prioritizing Human Dignity
On February 8, B’nai Jeshurun will hold a day of learning to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Judith Plaskow’s groundbreaking book, “Standing Again at Sinai.” In the lead up to the event, The Sisterhood is asking participants questions on issues surrounding feminism and Judaism. Here, Leah Vincent, author of “Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation…
-
One Woman Remembers Auschwitz on Return
Getty Images (Reuters) – “The trains were jam-packed,” recalled Susan Pollack. “Old people, young, mothers, many children. My mother, brother and I. No one spoke.” “It was hot, no air to breathe. Stench, moaning, that was the atmosphere. I think we were about 80 in the cattle wagon. When we arrived – and we didn’t…
-
Seeing the Holocaust Through Eyes of Women
Ravensbrück. Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. From sexual violence to pregnancies to “camp sisters,” women’s testimonies provide a more comprehensive view of the Holocaust. Beginning with her seminal “The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp” Rochelle G. Saidel, founder and executive director of the Remember the Women Institute, has dedicated her life to making sure these…
-
Why Studying Women in the Holocaust Is Important
Jewish women in Budapest, October 1944. Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. In 1998, Commentary editor, Gabriel Schoenfeld, railed against the emergence of scholarship on women in the Holocaust, thereby bringing this still nascent field to the attention of readers, many of whom were academics. Schoenfeld was dismissive of feminist perspectives of the Holocaust, but he was,…
-
Elissa Strauss On Studying the Talmud While Female
On February 8, B’nai Jeshurun will hold a day of learning to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Judith Plaskow’s groundbreaking book, “Standing Again at Sinai.” In the lead up to the event, The Sisterhood is asking participants pressing questions on gender and Judaism. Here Forward columnist Elissa Strauss talks about connecting to the Talmud for…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News ‘It’s the Jews’: San Diego mosque shooters decried ‘the universal enemy’ in hate-filled manifesto
- 2
Sports An op-ed compared an NBA team to Israel as underdog success stories. Then the threats poured in.
- 3
Music For Bob Dylan’s 85th birthday, an 85-minute playlist
- 4
News Mamdani’s first Jewish Heritage event reveals a narrowed circle
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV Woody Allen’s biggest fans were easy marks for a fake monologue about antisemitism
-
Fast Forward U.S. launches attacks on Iran as negotiations over a peace deal drag out
-
Fast Forward A stronger shekel has become a pressing problem for Americans building lives in Israel
-
Culture Garry Trudeau was a prep school kid from New England, but he identified with the Jewish outsider in ‘Doonesbury’