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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Are Rape Fantasies Kosher?
Podcasts hosts Dov Linzer and Bat Sheva Marcus. Does Jewish law allow practicing the Kama Sutra? Is it a mitzvah to use a vibrator? What does the Talmud say about sexual fantasies? It turns out, quite a bit. The recently launched podcast, “The Joy of Text,” covers topics not usually discussed by your local Orthodox rabbi. Hosted…
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Nancy Kaufman On (Not) Reading from the Torah
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, Nancy Kaufman, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women,…
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Retracing Ancient Jewish Threads
Gail Rothschild The Three Fates famously spin, measure, and cut cosmic threads, which makes one of literature’s greatest scenes even more poignant in its reversal of that natural order. Penelope ingeniously outwits suitors hoping to usurp her husband Odysseus’s role when he doesn’t return from the Trojan War. Suspecting that her husband still lives, Penelope…
The Latest
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Observant Women Break Taboos On Facebook
A screenshot of the popular “I’m a ‘religious’ feminist and I too have no sense of humor” Facebook page When Efrat, 36, a Modern Orthodox lawyer from Tel Aviv, recently got promoted, several male colleagues made the same comment: “Why don’t you smile anymore? Since you got promoted, you always look so serious.” Annoyed at…
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Selma and the Dangers of Jewish Entitlement
illustration by Lior Zaltzman In Leida Snow’s recent piece for the Forward, “’Selma’ Distorts History by Airbrushing Out Jewish Contributions to Civil Rights,” she asserts that the filmmakers and writers deliberately omitted the role of Jews in the Civil Rights Movement. (Snow doesn’t seem to have ideas as to why.) I’m going to draw an…
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One Jewish Mother’s International Custody Fight
(JTA) — In an apartment in the Austrian capital, Beth Alexander is deleting hundreds of photos of her 5-year-old twin boys from Facebook. In one picture, Benjamin and Samuel are laughing as they hold a toy. In another they are waiting to be served lunch in their native Vienna. The ordinary snapshots are the kind…
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Sleater-Kinney’s New Album Is No Victory Lap
Photograph by Brigitte Sire As is the cases with any band reunion of this caliber, the question of Sleater-Kinney’s permanence is in the air: are you back, or are you back? Lead singer Corin Tucker, guitarist Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss let the medium be the message. If No Cities to Love is any…
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A Political Tipping Point for Ultra-Orthodox Women?
A poster for the group promoting haredi women political candidates, ‘Lo nivcharot; lo bocharot,’ which means, if we can’t be elected, we will not vote for you. There is a new feminist revolution happening in Israel, and it is emerging from one of the most surprising places: Ultra-Orthodoxy. Over the past two years, ultra-Orthodox or…
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Israel Gets Its First Ultra-Orthodox Women’s Party
Ruth Colian, head of the new party. // Tomer Appelbaum/Haaretz The first-ever Israeli political party dedicated to ultra-Orthodox women, was unveiled Monday. Heading the party, called “B’Zhutan: Haredi Women Making Change” is Ruth Colian, 33, a veteran social activist and feminist who declared that this was a “historic” step in a mission to “guarantee representation…
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Anti-Rape Activist Emma Sulkowicz Gets SOTU Invite
Getty Images 22-year-old Emma Sulkowicz made headlines this year when she protested Columbia University’s decision not to expel her alleged rapist by carrying her dorm mattress around with her. All over campus. All the time. Now, Sulkowicz (sans mattress, sadly) will be attending the State of the Union address along with New York Democrat Kirsten…
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Angela Merkel Got Erased — Don’t We Have Better Things To Worry About?
My friends and family find it alternatively bizarre and comical that I so eagerly consume an array of ultra-Orthodox publications whenever I visit my hometown of Flatbush, Brooklyn. But I think it’s edifying to learn what other people — especially Jews — who who hold opinions and convictions different than my own are saying. In…
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