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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Why This Orthodox Layering Trend Has To Stop
Perhaps no other garment defines religious Jewish women as much as the shell — the tightly-fitting layering top used to make immodest clothes modest. And no other brand has come to personify the shell as much as the Turkish brand Kiki Riki. Kiki Riki has become so synonymous with the layering shell, that many frum…
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What It Was Like To Be A Jewish Tourist In Iran In 1972
Entering Iran was like returning to civilization. “It reminded me of driving on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills,” my aunt said. Big grassy medians, flawless pavement. “I knew we were out of Turkey the instant our van hit that beautiful Iranian road.” After a few semesters at UC Davis, my Los Angeles-raised aunt made her…
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8 Easy Ways To Make Your Home Aging-Friendly
The biblical principle of “kibud av v’eim”, honoring one’s parents, includes caring for them as they age. And according to AARP, 90% of Americans want to remain at home in their retirement years, and there are some compelling reasons to keep them there. Remaining independent and connected to their communities has emotional, health and financial…
The Latest
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Goy: Origin, Usage, and Empowering White Supremacists
Did you happen to catch the HuffPost headline this past Friday, announcing Bannon’s departure from the White House? “Goy, Bye!” it proclaimed. A headline meant as a play on a lyric by Beyonce from her most recent album, Lemonade. (A reference, I suspect, many did not get.) Even so, the headline made me extremely uncomfortable….
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Is This Miu Miu Dress Mocking the Holocaust?
A photo of a Miu Miu plaid dress with a yellow star appliqué seen in the window of Canadian luxury retailer Holt Renfrew circulated on social media over the weekend, and people are outraged. Comments on a closed Facebook forum ranged from, “They spelled Jew wrong,” to “Shame on them!” Some observed that the star…
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Orthodox Resistance to Trump Grows — In Secret Social Media Groups
Ever since the election, as an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman, I was beginning to feel more and more isolated. In my politically conservative community, too few around me took issue with the saga unfolding in Washington, the racist slogans and shocking vulgarity to emerge from the White House. A few family members (all Hasidim) were my…
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Does The Torah Obligate Us To Judge Trump Favorably?
The great Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev was known for his love of Jews and his refusal to denigrate another. It is told of him that once, on the morning of Yom Kippur, he saw a man smoking outside the synagogue. Yitzhak approached the man and said, “Surely, my friend, you do not know that it…
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Why I’m Reading Holocaust Literature Today, In Trump’s America
My agnostic, Presbyterian-raised husband and I, a reform Jew, never had conflict between our outlooks on life. We had a Jewish wedding; we are raising our child as Jewish, too. But the election of Trump, surprisingly, highlighted one difference between us, one that I had never noticed before. To me, the Holocaust was still very…
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Checking Your Phone At Night Kills Your Sleep – And Might Affect Your Day, Too
It’s tempting to check what the 45th President of the United States may or may not have tweeted at 3:00 am, when you wake up in a sudden sweat remembering the state of the country. But that reflexive move to pick up your phone in the middle of the night may be killing your sleep,…
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How Loyal Customers Saved 83-Year-Old West Side Judaica From Shutting Down
“The rent went up and the sales went down,” explains Yaakov Saltzer matter-of-factly over the phone when discussing his decision to close down the 83-year-old West Side Judaica shop he has owned since the early 1980s. That is, until sales started going up again. Following a July report in West Side Rag announcing the store’s…
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Dating In Trump’s America: It’s Complicated
Not too long ago, there were many reasons for a Jewish single to disqualify a potential match: Too short, too tall, not ready for marriage, too marriage-minded, too religious, not religious enough. But ever since Donald Trump rode down that escalator in his gilded tower, dating has grown exponentially more complicated. Jenna Glatzer, a 41-year-old…
Most Popular
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News Dutch Jews grapple with ‘weaponization’ of their fear following attack on Israelis
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News What a Secretary of State Marco Rubio would mean for American Jews and Israel
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Fast Forward Trump AG nominee Matt Gaetz has left a trail of antisemitic comments
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Opinion Trump’s first picks are die-hard Israel supporters, mocking the pro-Palestinian protest vote
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion Will Trump’s efforts to fight antisemitism help degrade democracy?
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Culture A Jewish snowman movie would have made a lot more sense than Netflix’s ‘Hot Frosty’
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Fast Forward Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish Democrat, launches bid for New Jersey governor
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Fast Forward Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary nominee, has multiple Christian and Crusades-inspired tattoos
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