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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For Jewish Women, Choosing A Tallit — A Prayer Shawl — Can Get Complicated
Is there such a thing as a “woman’s tallit”? Maybe not. On fashion runways this season, non-gender-conforming styles are all the rage. And to some extent, that’s also true for those blue and white tallitot, which have traditionally been thought of as “a man’s tallit,” but are now widely worn by adults of all genders…
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Children’s Books That Tackle Anti-Semitism And Difference
During challenging times, books can be a safe place to explore complicated issues. As the children in our lives are processing the recent Pittsburgh shooting and as their awareness of anti-Semitism grows, it’s helpful to see examples of these themes in well-loved books. It is impossible, however, to speak about anti-Semitism without first introducing the…
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Among Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox, ‘Civics’ Takes On A Very Different Meaning
“We don’t discuss politics, gossip or slander,” declared the billboard, located on a busy thoroughfare in the ultra-orthodox suburb of Ramat Beit Shemesh. “We should distance ourselves from everything having to do with the elections as if from fire,” one cartoon boy on the billboard was portrayed saying. “My father told me that he also…
The Latest
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Anonymous Hasidic Writer Speaks Out On Failing Schools
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. People close to me know that I’ve always felt a kinship with the Hasidic community. Part of the appeal for me is their success at maintaining Yiddish as the lingua franca of their community. Where else but in Williamsburg or Mea Shearim do you hear Yiddish wherever…
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Not Vaccinating Your Kids Is Very Un-Jewish
In 2018, Jewish children and babies are contracting and dying from the measles. In Jerusalem last week, an 18-month-old baby died of measles. The child had not been vaccinated, nor had its parents, who had already contracted the illness thanks to a massive and international outbreak of the illness, which until the anti-vaccine movement took…
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Where Are The Orthodox, After Pittsburgh? We’re Right Here, Mourning With You.
I have been asked, repeatedly, by non-Orthodox Jews about the “Orthodox response to Pittsburgh.” What a strange question. After all, the American Orthodox Jewish community has undoubtedly been plunged into mourning over the Pittsburgh shooting victims. Still, I sense a frustration here, among progressives seeking emotional responses from the Orthodox — and I want to…
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In Squirrel Hill, Orthodox, Conservative And Reform Blend Seamlessly
“We are all still standing,” said Rabbi James Gibson Tuesday morning. We spoke by phone as he prepared for the first of the funerals for victims of Saturday’s horrific shooting in Pittsburgh. Gibson is the senior rabbi at Temple Sinai, a Reform congregation in Pittsburgh’s Jewish enclave of Squirrel Hill. His shul is less than…
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Finding Solace In Shabbat, After Pittsburgh
On Saturday night, what feels like a lifetime yet was only six days ago — after a rainy and windy day of mostly board games and books, my family gathered, as we do each week, to strike a match, light our colorful braided candle, and make Havdalah to mark the end of Shabbat. As we…
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When You Show Up For Shabbat — Don’t Forget The Russian Jews
Tonight, on Shabbat, in response to the horrific anti-Semitic attack in Pittsburgh, many thousands of Jews across United States and the world at large will be attending their local synagogue, following the #ShowUpForShabbat campaign of the American Jewish Congress. Orthodox, Traditional, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist or Liberal; religious and secular alike, will come to demonstrate solidarity…
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How To Talk To The Sex Abuse Survivor Who’s Probably Sitting At Your Shabbat Table
For several years, while earning my doctorate in clinical psychology, specializing in traumatic stress, I felt like I lived a double life. My weekdays were filled with stories of trauma — I conducted countless evaluations of youth who had survived physical or sexual abuse, completed court-ordered risk assessments of minors who had displayed problematic sexual…
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How To Talk To Your Kids About The Pittsburgh Shooting And Anti-Semitism — Step By Step
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. —Elie Wiesel The recent shooting in Pittsburgh on International Religious Freedom Day sadly reminds us that anti-Semitism, racism, and hatred continue in our country. This event has evoked many emotions including fear, anxiety and worry, confusion,…
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