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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Remembering My Father, Elie Wiesel, On The Eve of Rosh Hashanah
This time of year was a difficult time for my father. Did each September — or more precisely, each month of Elul in the Hebrew calendar – did each one get progressively more difficult for him as he got older? Or did I just get more attuned to his feelings as I got older? Perhaps…
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Why Women Don’t Always Feel Welcome In Synagogue, And What We Can Do About It
There’s something compelling about the idea that as an Orthodox Jew, no matter where I am in the world, all I have to do to feel at home is find a synagogue. But after nearly four decades of as a female Jew in synagogues in the United States and Israel, I am finally, belatedly, starting…
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What This Anti-Occupation Jew Learned Celebrating Rosh Hashanah With Orthodox Settlers
Hours before sunset on Rosh Hashanah, I sat in a bulletproof bus pondering the little I knew about my destination. The Zionist-Orthodox settlement of Gvaot was an outpost built without permission by the Israeli government that nevertheless receives security and economic support from the state, as all recognized settlements do. Previously a Nahal outpost, the…
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What This Rosh Hashanah Liturgical Poem Means In Trump’s America
Who will live, and who will die? Who by the length of their days, and who before their time? Who by wildfire, and who by hurricane? Who by repeal of their health care, and who by unjust pricing of their lifesaving medicines? The questions that we ask on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are not…
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Part News Anchor, Part Rebbetzin: Meet Israel’s Favorite Newswoman
She’s known for her trademark headband wig, an unlikely uniform on Israeli prime-time news. Sivan Rahav Meir: Tall, rectangular glasses, modestly dressed, Meir is often either conducting exclusive interviews — Sara Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, the late rabbi Ovadia Yosef — or offering her own unwavering commentary on her night show. Born and raised in…
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I Thought I Was Catholic. Then I Discovered My Secret Jewish Past.
When I was about 8 years old, in the early 1960s, on a long car trip to see relatives in New York, we passed through St. Louis, my father’s hometown. We dropped by a home in the suburbs to visit a couple I’d never met. I was told they were my Uncle Dave and Aunt…
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The Rebbetzin’s Guide: What To Bring Your Host For Rosh Hashanah
So you’re invited out for a Rosh Hashanah meal — and you’re stuck as to what to bring? We’ve got you covered. For The Gourmand We’re itching for a copy of celebrity Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s Sweet (his publisher should have timed the release better, with the chief holiday of sweets upon us now), but…
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In Leaving Orthodoxy, Tova Mirvis Voices Questions Many Secretly Harbor
I was not raised in modern Orthodoxy; I married into it. And as I read Tova Mirvis’ memoir, The Book of Separation, it often felt as though I was reading my own misgivings and hesitations. Her book opens with a chronicling of her first Rosh Hashanah, after leaving her marriage and Orthodox Judaism. Mirvis grew…
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Finding High Holiday Inspiration — In An Art Museum
It is almost noon. We are standing in the Whitney Museum in New York for Alexander Calder: Hypermobility. Included in the exhibition are some of Calder’s earliest works — motor-driven and wind-propelled abstractions, alongside some of his more famous kinetic sculptures. In a departure from the usual ‘don’t you dare touch’ museum policy, Hypermobility gives…
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Yes, The Orthodox Are Exclusive – But That Doesn’t Mean You Should Be
A follow-up to an essay published last week, “Do Pluralistic Jewish Organizations Stop At The Orthodox?” A few months ago, I attended a lecture by an acclaimed academic, an Orthodox Jewish female leader. She recounted a story: Highly credentialed with degrees from Ivy League institutions, she was invited to be on a panel discussion at…
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Leading High Holiday Services – And Catching A Break From Motherhood’s Demands
When I was a little girl, my father always led the shacharit (morning service) on the High Holidays. The tunes permeated our house, beginning whenever he decided the season should. Sometimes he started ‘practicing’ as early as Purim. He knew it all nearly by heart, and even as a young child, I sensed that he…
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