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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Why I Hope This Isn’t ‘Year of the Jewish Woman’
First of all, let me make clear that I sincerely hope this isn’t “The Year of the Jewish Woman,” as the headline of the Jewish Daily Forward’s “Forward 50” list proclaims. One year isn’t enough for me; I’m aiming for a world in which Jewish women—and all people—get the opportunities and recognition they deserve every…
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A Shooting Star of Early Israeli Cinema
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. Like a meteor blazing momentarily across the sky, Didi Ramati’s acting career—despite a pioneering role in early Israeli filmmaking—shined brightly but “faded out” just as fast. In 1952 the Forverts published her…
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A Computer Program to Enhance Your Mikveh Experience
Eight years ago, Rivkah Bloom, a computer programmer from south Florida, overheard a conversation which changed her life. Bloom’s friends, Orthodox women who observe the laws of ‘Family Purity,’ were discussing the challenges they face calculating mikveh dates and other the important times in their menstrual cycle. “They wished there was a computer program where…
The Latest
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Jill Soloway Teams Up with Porn Star to Discuss Consent
What exactly is consent? Adult film star Nina Hartley helps one young couple establish and respect each other’s sexual boundaries in this short video co-directed by “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway. Is visiting a sex dungeon really the best way to understand this idea? “The kink community is actually very centered on honesty, consent, and openness,”…
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The Jewish Woman Who’s Fighting ISIS
(Reuters) – A Canadian-born immigrant to Israel has become the first foreign woman to join Kurds battling Islamic State in Syria, a Kurdish source said on Tuesday, as details of the volunteer’s turbulent past surfaced. Gill Rosenberg, 31, is a civil aviation pilot who enlisted in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrested in…
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Broad City’s Back With Bongs, Seth Rogen and a Shiva
Everyone’s favorite comedic duo, Abbi and Ilana are back—this time in “white power” suits. Comedy Central unveiled the trailer for season two of the series that last year the Sisterhood called “a feminist triumph.” The half hour comedy follows the New York City-based misadventures of the shows co-stars and creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer….
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The Bible’s Other Child Sacrifice
Finally, after 3,000 years, the public is invited to the trial of the century: Forefather Abraham will be tried for endangerment of a minor and attempted murder in connection with the near sacrifice of his son Isaac at Temple Emanu-El’s Skirball Center on November 16th. The indomitable Alan Dershowitz is arguing the defense, while the…
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Weekend Roundup: All-of-a-Kind Family Edition
First for Orthodox Rabbinic group. In a sign of changing times, Dr. Michelle Friedman of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), has been invited to join the board of the Beth Din of America, the religious court of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). Friedman, founder and chair of the Department of Pastoral Counseling at YCT, a…
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Throwback Thursday: The Actress Who Could Hold Her Own
Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives. The image of Yiddish theatre diva Sonia Nadolsky depicts a stiff, haughty looking woman who could easily play everyone’s favorite serpent-tongued bubbie —the Dowager Countess of Grantham on television’s Downton Abbey. According…
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How Katha Pollitt Helped Me Break Abortion Silence
A woman shouts claiming for her abortion right during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain // Getty Images My abortion was a secret that I kept for almost 20 years. When I decided to terminate my pregnancy in 1995, I was happily married and the mother of a six month-old baby girl. I was also dealing…
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Don’t Judge Hasidic Seat-Switchers
Thinkstock I know I run the risk of relinquishing some modicum of feminist street cred and incurring the wrath of all those up in arms over the situation, but here goes: I am not offended when the Hasidic gentleman next to me asks to switch his seat so he might not fly an entire flight…
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