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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About That ‘Gossip Girl’ Seder
Just because the CW network hit “Gossip Girl” took a two-week break at the beginning of the month, producers were not willing to pass over the opportunity to invite its gorgeous cast to partake in a scandal-ridden Seder. Even though Cyrus (Wallace Shawn) sported a “Schmutz Happens” apron, Elijah’s seat got taken over by dinner-crashers…
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Ahmadinejad’s Speech Was Supposed To Be Even More Inflammatory
Here’s the portion of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Durban II speech that caused dozens of Western diplomats to walk out of a session yesterday at the U.N. racism conference: The U.N. has since said that Ahmadinejad’s address would have been even more inflammatory; he apparently left out a previously planned reference to Holocaust denial that…
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Offbeat Israel: Why Passover Cakes Are Still Flying Off Shelves
Israel is back to the grindstone this week, with schools open again and many people returning to work after the Passover holidays. But there’s a silver lining — normal “leavened” food is on the shelves again after a week of only “kosher for Passover” products. You see, Passover here takes its toll on the secular…
The Latest
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Help! My Oldest Friend Won’t Give a Toast at My Wedding
Dear Bintel Brief, I have a dilemma concerning my upcoming wedding. During the reception we plan to have five or so guests of honor give toasts. I asked one of my closest childhood friends how he would feel about being one of the toasters and I immediately sensed an unexpected ambivalence on his part. Once…
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Is American Theater Becoming Genteel-y Antisemitic?
Is American theater becoming more like British theater — that is, genteel-y antisemitic? Playwright Jeremy Kareken posted this announcement on a Yahoo! Group for playwrights two weeks ago: God Damns. By David Hare The Royal Court presents a new one man show from the author of Via Dolorosa and Skylight. The time is “End Times”…
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The Debate: ‘Millionaire Matchmaker’ v. Rabbi Shmuley
Later this month, the peripatetic Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is taking the stage at Nessah Synagogue, a Persian Orthodox congregation in Los Angeles, to debate Patti Stanger — the yenta matchmaker of the hit Bravo series “Millionaire Matchmaker.” Stanger, a Jewish, third-generation matchmaker, was profiled by the San Diego Jewish Journal last year. You can read…
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Norm Coleman Looks to Hashem
Having had little success in the courts in his efforts to regain his Minnesota Senate seat, Republican Norm Coleman is seeking relief from a higher power. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Coleman said that he had been praying every morning with tefillin. “I bind myself every morning,” Coleman told The Times….
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Barbara Walters Imagines Interviewing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Queen Bee of American TV interviewers has opened up about her Jewish background and impressions of the Middle East’s most influential leaders. In an interview published today in Yediot Aharonot, Barbara Walters describes the late Israeli foreign minister Moshe Dayan as a “brilliant and extraordinary” man, and says she wishes she could catch up…
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Those Passover Pounds
New posts by two of the bloggers I frequently check in on — a young woman whose nom de blog is Material Maidel and Elana Sztokman – focus on food and Pesach. Material Maidel, who writes that she recently moved to New York area from “out of town,” is, I would guess from her posts,…
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And the ‘Internet Oscar’ Goes to … Forward.com
There will be no winsome Sally Field-style acceptance speech, no wacky Cher-inspired get-up, and definitely no overzealous kiss à la Adrien Brody. While we’re not prone to theatrics, we at www.forward.com are kvelling about our “Internet Oscar” nod. On Tuesday, we got word that our site, for the third consecutive year, has been named an…
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Was the White House Dog Named After a Torah Portion?
First, there’s a Seder in the White House. Then a dog named for a Torah portion? Given all the hubbub about the Obama’s new dog — a closely guarded secret that somehow was leaked over the weekend — it strikes some of us as more than curious to see the connection between the dog’s new…
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News An Alabama millionaire offered Jews $50,000 to move to his town. 16 years later, what’s left?
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Culture Why is Israel’s attack on Iran called ‘Rising Lion’ — and what does the Bible have to do with it?
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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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News As Israel attacks, what is life like for Jews in Iran?
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