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
-
The Conversion Bill, the Kotel, and Women as Coalmine Canaries
Forward alumna and current Tablet editor in chief Alana Newhouse has an incisive op-ed in today’s New York Times today, warning that Israel’s Rotem Bill, which would enshrine official approval of conversion to Judaism in the hands of ultra-Orthodox rabbis, will lead to a split between Israel and the Diaspora. She’s right, of course, though…
-
Arendt in Phnom Penh: Visiting Cambodia’s Great Hall of Women
My family is spending this month in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where my husband, Jeremy, started a social enterprise that creates jobs for disadvantaged young people. Because of Jeremy’s work, Cambodia and all of its tragic history and problems is a part of our daily consciousness in New York City, but I had not actually visited…
-
Choosing To Cover My Hair, Then Not To
When I was an 18-year old yeshiva student, my friends and I would ask every teacher we had to give us a talk on our favorite topic. And it wasn’t sex. It was head-covering. Considering that the prevalent issue on our minds was marriage, we were desperate to get some expert advice on how to…
The Latest
-
New York Mag On Rabbi Avi Weiss’ Rabba-Rousing
Abigail Pogrebin’s story, “The Rabbi and the Rabba,” in this week’s New York magazine, takes an insightful look at the man behind the making of the first woman in America to be ordained as Orthodox clergy, Rabbi Avi Weiss. Pogrebin does a good job of capturing many aspects of Weiss’ complicated personality; his ardent political…
-
What Leads to ‘Burqa Rage’
It’s interesting to see that my previous post on Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the thorny issue of condemning women’s oppression in cultures other than our own sparked an insightful response from Sisterhood contributor Elana Sztokman. Elana argues persuasively as to what the right choice should be in the feminism vs. cultural relativism quandary that I…
-
Woman Arrested for Carrying Torah Speaks With The Sisterhood
Following the arrest today of Anat Hoffman — chair of Women of the Wall, and former Jerusalem municipal council member — for being a woman holding a Torah at the Western Wall plaza, Hoffman offered me her first-hand account of this morning’s events. She said: We did nothing wrong. We were fully within the guidelines…
-
Parenting’s Displeasures and Rewards
When I saw the cover line — “All Joy and No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting” — on this week’s New York magazine, I thought “Yes! That sums it up exactly.” The story, a well-crafted synthesis by Jennifer Senior of research old and new, merged with a personal take on the experience of mothering a…
-
Getting More Israeli Girls onto the Soccer Field
It is a waste of time to even try to avoid World Cup fever in Israel. It’ll get you wherever you are. One would have to be completely culturally oblivious to remain unaware that it will be Holland vs. Spain playing in the final game on Sunday. The hum of the South African [vuvuzelas][1] is…
-
The Subtext of the Argument That Obama Is America’s ‘First Female President’
Sometimes an idea is so absurd that I do not want to give it credence by replying. On the other hand if that absurd idea gains force, then I may find myself reluctantly responding to the ridiculous. Like right now. Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker, one of the few powerful women pundits in a field…
-
The Tragic Tale of Two Nedas, Through a Biblical Lens
It’s been more than a year since the beginning of the Green Revolution in Iran, and the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan by an Iranian militia — turning her into a martyr in the fight against the country’s brutal regime and a symbol of the hope for democracy among its people. While reading a recent article…
-
On Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and What Isn’t ‘Culturally Relative’
People are always trying to trip up feminists. Like the time I was helping set up a room at a conference, right after I gave a talk about gender in Orthodoxy, and needed help moving a conference table. I asked the nearest person, who happened to be a man who was in my talk. He…
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
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Russell Brand defends Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler’ music video
-
Opinion Though sworn enemies, Hamas and Donald Trump seem to share a common language
-
Culture The woman who saved stolen Jewish art — and the writer who is finally telling her story
-
Fast Forward Israel’s Eurovision contestant, Yuval Raphael, says she’s focused on the music, not the protests
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
