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
-
Will ‘Sex Abuse Ring’ Yield Vigilante Justice?
Having a child fall victim to sexual assault is every parent’s worst nightmare. In the picturesque Jerusalem neighborhood of Nachlaot, a network of alleged pedophiles has been exposed in recent months.The difficulties of relying on children’s testimony, and the initial reluctance of the ultra-Orthodox community to cooperate with officials has made the justice process difficult…
-
Debbie Friedman’s Enduring Gift
Soon after Debbie Friedman died about a year ago — her first yartzheit is later this month — I heard about the version of “Shalom Aleichem” she penned and shared, but never had a chance to record. Now, I love the “original” tune with which many of us are familiar. I used to sing it…
-
On Teaching Talmud and Sex Toys
Dr. Jennie Rosenfeld is equally at home teaching a page of Talmud and showing women how to use a vibrator. Dr. Rosenfeld, 31, who co-authored the book “The Newlywed’s Guide to Physical Intimacy,” which the Sisterhood weighed in on here, is also an Orthodox Jew, and her expertise in sex education is aimed at an…
The Latest
-
Sh— Jews Say to (Non-White) Jews
The “Shit Girls Say” videos, which The Sisterhood’s Elissa Strauss weighed in on here, have been an online phenomenon with spin-offs including “Shit Guys Say” and the most spot-on, “Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls. “ (Nuggets include: “Jews were slaves, too; you don’t hear us complaining about it all the time” and “you…
-
Jay-Z Decreases Stigma of Miscarriage
This was a big week for the Knowles-Carter family. First, as you have likely heard, Beyoncé gave birth to a baby girl named Blue Ivy. Second, for those of us pushing for more open and honest discussion about the reproductive process, new daddy Jay-Z became a hero. Like many musicians before him — check out…
-
How ‘Modesty’ Turns Women Into Sex Objects
William Kolbrener has a compelling new essay in the Forward about the culture of silence between men and women in his Haredi Jerusalem neighborhood. In it, he notes the deep disrespect for women and girls to which it leads, as illustrated by the arrogant way a man clucks his tongue at Kolbrener’s daughter and her…
-
Women-Only Fertility Conference Is No Answer
Pressure against the Pu’ah to abstain from holding a conference for men only on fertility and Jewish law seems to be working. As of this morning, 9 out of 10 Israeli doctors scheduled to speak had withdrawn. In addition, the Ethics Board of the Physicians’ Union announced that from now on doctors will not be…
-
Challenging Fatherhood’s Low Standards
It is worth noting that for the the majority of my childhood and adolescence, I did not have a vagina. I had what my mother referred to as “front of me. ” (as in,”You shouldn’t wear underwear to sleep so you can air out the front of you.”) I spent a lot of time being…
-
In Israel, Remembering Who I Used To Be
Jennifer Bleyer’s recent Sisterhood piece about the unexpected pleasures of her so-called “mama furlough” reminds me how much I have enjoyed my annual week, alone in my house, when my husband takes our kids camping. I recently took the next step toward remembering who I used to be. For the first time in nearly 18…
-
Haredi Women Publicly Denounce Extremists
Two prominent Haredi women are boldly, and publicly, speaking out against ultra-Orthodox extremists, who advocate extreme gender segregation, and who, in recent days, have rioted against police in Beit Shemesh and protested in Jerusalem the “exclusion of Haredim” by donning yellow stars and concentration camp uniforms. Ruth Lichtenstein, publisher of New York’s Haredi daily Hamodia…
-
At Gynecology Confab, No Women Allowed
Imagine a medical conference dedicated to women’s bodies in which no women are allowed to speak or even sit in the audience. No, this is not a Victorian novel or the back room of an old-fashioned gentlemen’s club. This is Israel 2012. For the fourth year in a row, Pu’ah, a publicly funded organization dealing…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
- 4
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
-
Fast Forward ‘New Jersey tough’: Gov. Phil Murphy on released Hamas hostage Edan Alexander, a Tenafly native
-
Yiddish World How Yiddish found a home in Sweden (online lecture in Yiddish)
-
Fast Forward Hamas releases Edan Alexander, last living American hostage, to Red Cross
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
