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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Bridal Shower TMI?
Dear Bintel Brief, Nobody knows that I was once in a same-sex relationship. My former lover, now just a friend, has been invited to my bridal shower. I know that the hostesses are going to ask all the guests to introduce themselves and say how they know me. I am mortified. What if the truth…
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A Heckscher for Fertility Clinics?
For many couples, keeping the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” doesn’t come easy. The good news is that, today, those who have trouble becoming pregnant have options that Abraham and Sarah (the Bible’s most famous reproductively challenged couple) never did; the bad news is that halacha or Jewish law — with its set of…
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The Polarizing Effect of the Proposed ‘Nakba Law’
So everyone is talking about the two-state solution. Whether you’re on the Israeli side or the Palestinian side, accepting it appears to be the very benchmark of moderation. Apparently that’s not quite how Fatah member Abbas Zaki, Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, sees it. “With the two-state solution, in my opinion, Israel will collapse,” he says…
The Latest
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Yeshivat Maharat and the Deafening Silence of the Orthodox Establishment
One of Sara Hurwitz’s sons recently said more, related to the recent conferral of her new title of Maharat, than many others publicly have. Four-year-old Zacharya told her “only boys can be rabbis.” Hurwitz laughed it off — explaining that her kids don’t get to see her working in her position of leadership at the…
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Roundup: The Jewish Fallout from Adam Lambert’s ‘Idol’ Loss
Kris Allen’s taking of the “Idol” title from Adam Lambert may seem like old news, but to say that would be to ignore the importance of dissecting the psychology of “American Idol” culture. What is most titillating about the wildly successful show is the predilections and biases of everyday Americans — the millions who vote…
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Who Was Hannah Solomon?
The statue is more than a foot high, a representation of Hannah G. Solomon atop a sturdy base. The very kind members of the National Council of Jewish Women presented this to me earlier this week, in recognition that through great luck and timing, I’m the first woman to edit this newspaper. So who was…
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J. Ezra Merkin, and What Passes for Gallantry
As we progress ever further into the hall of mirrors that is the Madoff case, the sights become ever more confusing, the stories more sordid and more fascinating. Nobody, apparently, is what he seems. First there was Bernie, the genial, friendly and thoroughly decent Jewish uncle-type who turned out to be a thief so cold-blooded…
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Like a Cheeseburger on Yom Kippur?
Imagine my friend’s excitement when he opened up the newspaper today to find that his third favorite adult-oriented director, Steven Soderbergh (thoughtful and thought-provoking) had made a movie with his second favorite adult movie actress, Sasha Grey (porn star). And I mean excited in a good “That’s an interesting career decision for her, hope it…
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Bruce Springsteen’s One-Man Hora
At a Washington, DC concert this week, Bruce Springsteen gave the question “Why is this night different from all other nights?” a resounding new answer. I was primed for a rollicking performance, but I never expected a moment of Jewish bliss, since I knew The Boss had been ordained as a preacher in the Church…
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How a Jewish Woman Clinched an Arab Literary Prize
This story about a Jewish woman who, writing under a pen name, clinched an Arab literary prize, just came across JTA: Tuvit Shlomi, 28, who works at the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel and attends an Orthodox synagogue in The Hague, won the prestigious El Hizjra Prize, a poetry award designed to promote…
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The Jewish Republican Rep. You’ve Never Heard Of
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, right, yesterday unveiled a portrait of Florence Kahn (1866–1948), who in 1925 became the first Jewish woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. The Utah-born, California-reared Kahn, a Republican, was also among the first women to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley. Her education…
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Opinion Trump is forcing liberal Zionists to confront an extraordinarily inconvenient truth
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News ‘Very misguided’: ADL regional board member resigns over organization’s approach to antisemitism and civil rights
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Opinion Will the U.S. get involved in Iran? Mike Huckabee’s evangelical worldview may be the key
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Fast Forward Trump is keeping the world guessing about his Iran intentions. Could his first term offer clues?
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