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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Talking Honestly About Jews and Racism
A few week ago I had two very different experiences having to do with my necklace. At a party a friend of a friend asked about the Chai around my neck and then asserted that there weren’t any black Jews. On the ride home another person, a stranger, noticed the Chai and then pulled out…
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Who Are Our Jewish Fathers?
In a blog post last week Gabrielle Orcha asked, “What about the Jewish father? … Who is he really?” With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, we wanted to start a dialogue about the Jewish fathers, or fathers (who may or may not be Jewish) of Jewish daughters. We put out a call for Jewish…
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Kosher Shades of Grey
As The New York Times magazine recently noted in a mini-article titled “50 Shades of Oy Vey,” the popular romance novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” has been, shall we say, a hit in the Orthodox Jewish world, with its tale of erotic submission. Gavriel, owner of the website Kosher Sex Toys, has gotten requests for…
The Latest
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Morning After Pill: Birth Control, Not Abortion
“Morning After Pill Works As Birth Control, Not Abortion.” That most likely should have been the headline for an important New York Times piece discussing the paper’s own thorough review of the existing science on emergency contraception. Instead, the Times went with a mix of less straightforward headlines, one of which was the awfully fuzzy…
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Regina Spektor Charms Colbert
Stephen Colbert was left blushing after a visit from Regina Spektor, the Russian-born beauty who was promoting her new album, “What We Saw From The Cheap Seats.” The two spoke about immigration, Soviet spies and Spektor’s upcoming visit to Russia for the first time in 23 years. The singer even had some kind words to…
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Finding Myself in Others
When it comes to connecting with one’s heritage, it may be hard to target an idea or belief that drives a person to do so. For those Russian Jews who yearn for that connection, who need something to look to beyond rabbis and Shabbat dinners with all flavors of kugel, there is a way. I…
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Video: The Book of Sarah
Sarah Lightman’s on-going autographical project, “The Book of Sarah,” started in 1995 when the artist was an undergraduate at The Slade School of Art in London. “The Book of Sarah” is a response to the Biblical silence of her namesake, the matriarch Sarah. The project began as drawings and texts and has now developed into…
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Why Judaism Needs Feminism
This is the fifteenth entry in an ongoing series exploring Jewish feminism. I’m a Jewish feminist for a lot of reasons. On the one hand, given that feminism is about removing external hindrances to the project of everyone living out their highest, holiest, Divinely-given potential —why wouldn’t I be? There’s still plenty of homophobia, transphobia…
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Better After 50?
Felice Shapiro wants women to know that life gets better with age. Six months ago she founded a Web site called Betterafter50.com, in which she extols the power of the confidence and wisdom women experience as they grow older – or, in Felice’s parlance, become BA50s. The site features an honest and conversational take on…
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Why Our Daughters Should Learn to Use Tefillin
Shortly before Boychik’s bar mitzvah, which was a few years back, his zeyde bought him tefillin. I have sweet photos of my (Haredi) father-in-law showing him how to put them on for the first time. At the time, we were well aware that the scene would not be repeated with Girlchik as she prepared for…
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Q&A: Shira Hadasha’s Rahel Berkovits
Rahel Berkovits is an Israeli feminist, a teacher of Jewish texts, and a founder of Shira Hadasha, which bills itself as an “Orthodox Feminist Congregation in Jerusalem.” Her recent book, “A Daughter’s Recitation of Mourner’s Kaddish,” delves into classical sources, and argues that under Jewish law women are permitted to recite Mourner’s Kaddish. She spoke…
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