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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A New Program Offers A Space For Non-Binary Mitzvahs
During middle school, Yoni Kollin took part in “Shevet,” a Jewish teen group in Los Angeles for boys post-bar mitzvah. The program, facilitated by Moving Traditions, a Jewish organization that provides progressive educational teen programming, offered a parallel program for girls, too, called “Rosh Hodesh.” Yet for Kollin, neither program was a perfect fit. Kollin,…
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The Answer To A Mid-Life Crisis? Hebrew Class In Tel Aviv.
This is the first installment of a series of essays written by Diana Shaw Clark. There are five of us at the table, taking turns asking one another “Are you busy today?” in a guttural language that puts my tongue in a twist. I sound as if I’m clearing my throat to expectorate. I know…
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The Reform Movement Is Struggling With Gender Equity, Says First Female Leader Of CCAR
I owe a major part of my Jewish identity to the generations of strong, rebellious women in my family. From a young age, I was guided to Jewish feminism by my grandmother Augusta and my great-grandmother Lina, who never accepted the limitations placed on them as women. Lina ran away from an arranged marriage in…
The Latest
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Passover Falls On Marijuana Holiday 4/20 This Year. Rabbis Aren’t Thrilled.
For so long, in Judaism and elsewhere, “getting stoned” meant getting literal stones thrown at you until you died. Now it means getting high on marijuana. And isn’t that freedom? Well…said the seventeen rabbis and spiritual leaders contacted by the Forward for this story. Not — well — uh, not exactly? This year, the second…
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Hundreds Gather For Passover Seder Commemorating Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Editor’s note: The original version of this story appeared with the headline “Warsaw Ghetto To Have A Passover Seder For The First Time Since Its Uprising”. This was far from the first — in fact, since World War II, there have been multiple Seders in the area that was once the Warsaw ghetto and the…
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How The Haggadah Text Changed Over The Centuries
The Four Questions, or ma nishtana, is one of the most familiar parts of the Passover haggadah and seder. After weeks of preparation, or at least anticipation, the youngest child present arises—perhaps even stands on a chair—and recites a well-known formula that’s been part of Jewish tradition for as long as anyone can remember. Although…
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8 Practical Tips On How To Lead A Progressive Seder This Year
We asked eight Jewish community leaders how they will lead a progressive Seder this year — here’s what they said: Rav Ari Hart, spiritual leader of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, an Orthodox synagogue in Skokie Illinois: Make it truly inclusive: The most progressive thing you can do at a seder is take seriously the line…
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I Studied American Jewish Teens. This Ritual Predicts How They Feel About Being Jewish.
Multiple studies have demonstrated the benefit of the family dinner, especially for adolescents. Regular family dinners have been associated with teens developing healthy eating habits, lower rates of high-risk behaviors, and better mental health. But what good can just one annual family meal do for adolescent development? How would that dinner have to be different…
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Cancer At Passover Makes Me Feel Like The Seder’s Simple Child — And That’s Okay
And it will come to pass if your children say to you, “What is this service to you?” You shall say, “It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, and He saved our houses.” Exodus 12:26-27, on…
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The Ancient Tradition Of Counting Down Till The Seder Ends
Iosel first wrote down the time the Seder ended on March 30 or 31, 1911, at 10:35 pm. The numbers, scribbled coyly in the upper left-hand corner of the page, are nearly obscured by the crease of the binding. Defacing a Haggadah on Passover to register relief at reaching the end of the service was…
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We Talk About The Four Sons Of Passover — But What About The Four Fathers?
Annie Noonan was the savviest sixth-grader in my class. She lit incense and smoked cigarettes. Her home was lightly supervised. She was the first of my friends to make my parents uncomfortable, which made her all the more fascinating. And most exciting of all, she was a witch. Apparently, this was something a person could…
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