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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Rest in Peace, Patrick Swayze — and the Noses of Jewish Actresses
Rest in peace, Patrick Swayze. It’s a measure of the speed of our information age that when I Googled him, 20 minutes after he died of pancreatic cancer on September 14th, his Wikipedia page had already been updated. Swayze was not Jewish, but his co-star in the movie that made him famous, Jennifer Grey in…
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A College Grad: Dependent on Dad, Consumed by Guilt
Dear Bintel Brief: As a recent college graduate, I feel very lucky — particularly in this economic environment — to have landed a job in a creative and very competitive field. I find my work fulfilling in all respects but one: It simply doesn’t pay enough for me to live even a no-frills existence in…
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Israel Mourns Asaf Ramon
Israelis are united today in grief following the tragic death of Asaf Ramon, son of the late fighter pilot and astronaut Ilan Ramon. The younger Ramon had followed in his father’s footsteps into the Israeli Air Force, and was killed Sunday afternoon when his Israel Air Force F-16 crashed in the South Hebron Hills. News…
The Latest
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Wolf, Chesler Weigh In on the Hijab — and Each Other
Naomi Wolf — the feminist Jewish author of the bestselling landmark book, “The Beauty Myth,” which brazenly exposes how the multi-billion dollar beauty industry manipulates women’s entire sense of self — is gorgeous. For two decades now, the brilliant and outspoken Wolf has decried cosmetics, plastic-surgery and hair removal businesses while appearing, let’s just say,…
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Open to Samurai
What’s the likelihood of “cool” Jews being cool for a whole year? You might think about the same as the likelihood of a bunch of New Yorkers swinging around fake medieval Japanese swords for fun and fitness. Both, strangely, continue to be proved possible and on Sunday are being employed to encourage people to go…
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Women: Sit at Home or Risk Being Spat Upon
Years back, when the Lubavitcher rebbe was alive and I was covering various events connected with that movement, I was always pleasantly surprised when my job seemed to cancel out my gender. For instance, at a gathering of thousands of Chabad emissaries, then held at a hall on Eastern Parkway across from the movement’s headquarters,…
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Does Bibi Going AWOL Mean War Is on the Way?
On a normal day, Israelis couldn’t care less about their politicians’ whereabouts. Today, however, it’s all that people are talking about. Where did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu get to for 12 hours on Monday during which he apparently vanished? He reportedly left his office on Monday morning without saying where he was going, all appointments…
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In the Age of Swine Flu, Please Refrain From Kissing the Torah
Here’s a High Holy Day dilemma for the H1N1 era: You think you might have the swine flu, but you don’t want to miss your Rosh Hashanah aliyah. What to do? Forget about kissing the Torah or the ark covers, according to Israel’s health ministry. In an attempt to stem the spread of the sometimes…
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When Your Daughter Is Being Stalked Via Text
Today I discovered the National Council for Jewish Women of Columbus, Ohio’s “Love Shouldn’t Hurt” community service project, which educates high school students about dating abuse and healthy relationships. The NCJW’s Love Shouldn’t Hurt committee, chaired by Nancy Eisenman, has reached over 1,800 students with their teen dating abuse lecture. The NCJW of Columbus, Ohio…
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Modesty and the Sexy Sheitel
Walk down Cedar Lane in the heavily Orthodox enclave of Teaneck, N.J. and she beckons you to come hither — with her long, luxurious locks and feathery bangs coquettishly hiding her eyes. This is seduction on the street or, rather, in the shop window. The mannequins in the wig shop have some of the sexiest…
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Books Double Trouble: Two Newish Novels Sport Eerily Similar Covers
Here’s a situation that harkens back to flipping through children’s magazines in my pediatrician’s office waiting room: What’s the difference between these two pictures? Lucinda Rosenfeld’s “I’m So Happy For You” (Back Bay Books, July 2009) and Laurie Graff’s “The Shiksa Syndrome” (Broadway Books, October, 2008) may have hit shelves more than a year apart,…
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