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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Israelis Are World’s Top Users Of Social Media, According to Pew Survey
(JTA) — When it comes to social media, Israelis rule the world. Some 77 percent of adults in Israel use social media, putting the country 1 percentage point ahead of South Korea, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this week. The United States was sixth at 70 percent. At the same time, Israel…
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As Two Brussels Synagogues Shutter Their Doors, Belgian Jews Look To An Uncertain Future
BRUSSELS (JTA) — Growing up, Joel Rubinfeld was always up for going with his parents to their downtown synagogue here. The sermons were OK, he said, but the real clincher was the full-size ping-pong table at the Sephardic Synagogue on Pavillion Street. “Placing that table was a stroke of genius by the rabbi,” Rubinfeld, 50,…
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Next Time You Visit Israel, Try This ‘Boutique’ Hostel For Only $35
Hospitality company Selina Ltd. will be opening the first of several Tel Aviv locations in the summer of 2019, according to the head of Selina Israel, Yossi Mautner. Established in 2014 in Panama by Israel-born Rafael Museri and Daniel Rudasevski, Selina currently has 44 locations in central America, South America, and Portugal. The company has…
The Latest
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On World Cancer Day – Remembering Jacob Kaplan, A Princeton Student Who Almost Made It To Graduation
As we sat at the intersection of Washington and Faculty road in Princeton, New Jersey, my friend Jacob said, “You know you can make a right turn at a red light.” “I know that,” I said as I then made the turn. In reality, I had forgotten. But I couldn’t give Jacob another reason to…
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This Jewish Feminist Artist Was Poisoned — By Her Own Artwork
Gillian Genser barely survived a toxic relationship of biblical proportions. The man in her life was Adam — as in, the first human in creation. The toxic part came from thousands of mussel shells Genser ground to create a minutely detailed sculpture of him. And the struggle to survive is pitting Genser against heavy-metal poisoning,…
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In Israel, Even Death Is Controlled By The Rabbinate
JERUSALEM – Several years ago, Yael Wittenberg, a religious mother of two from Israel, had a miscarriage. The hospital took the infant and, as per the widespread tradition here, transferred the body to a local burial society, known in Hebrew as a Chevra Kadisha, to bury in secret. Despite Wittenberg’s entreaties, neither would divulge her…
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Did Israeli Scientists Really Just Discover The Cure For Cancer?
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A team of scientists at a biotech company in Israel claimed that they will have a cure for cancer — all cancer — within a year. Sadly, their claims were shot down by fellow scientists. In recent articles in Israel and the United States, Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd., or AEBi, which was…
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It’s Time Orthodox Jews Stop Conflating Modesty With Self-Respect
I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else. Throughout my modern Orthodox high school experience, the rabbis and teachers taught the laws of “tzniut” as guidelines for modesty, often defined as “self-respect” and “dignity.” While on one occasion, a Talmud teacher describing how tzniut should impact every aspect of…
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Yes, There Is A Jewish Africa – And American Jews Are Finally Beginning To Notice
NEW YORK (JTA) — At a conference here on Jewish life in Africa, Magda Haroun spoke of being only one of a handful of Jews left in Egypt, a country that was once home to a Jewish community of 80,000. Abere Endeshaw Kerehu shared the struggles faced by the approximately 8,000 Jews still living in…
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In Boca’s Retirement Communities, Trump Is Dividing Neighbors
A number of years ago I wrote about how we spend part of our brutal Canadian winter in what some call “the other land of our people” and others humorously refer to as “ heaven’s waiting room.” Yes, Boca Raton. At that time I was merely a visitor to Boca, able to watch the goings…
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The Forward Guide To Sitting Shiva
Not to be confused with Shiva, one of main Hindu deities, Shiva in Judaism is the week of mourning following the death of a family member. It is colloquially referred to as “sitting shiva,” in reference to the low stools that mourners are required to sit on in observance of the mourning period. In Judaism,…
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