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
-
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on cancel culture, restoring morality
(JTA) — Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of Great Britain, has written dozens of books about religion and politics — but he also believes that mixing the two leads to “terrible politics and even worse religion.” It’s a tough line to toe, especially when you’ve just written a book highlighting the decline of fundamental…
-
‘It’s not the same’: Jewish campus life goes virtual
(JTA) — When Abigail Adams decided to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she thought she would spend the Friday nights of her first year there at Shabbat dinners on campus with other Jewish students, building a close-knit group of friends. By the time Adams moved into her dorm earlier this month,…
-
How to get the most out of virtual High Holiday services
If you’re planning to attend High Holiday services virtually, like thousands of American Jews, welcoming the new year might seem easier than ever before. There’s no need to wriggle into pantyhose, find parking, or put up with your in-laws at dinner. In fact, all you need to do is roll out of bed, turn on…
The Latest
-
Is God less visible today?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with clergy tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. I remember when my parents told me that their dear friends, Blu Greenberg, founder of the Jewish…
-
What does God believe about us?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with rabbis tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. Rabbi Rachel Timoner, a leader known especially for her outspokenness on persistent inequalities, tells me that in…
-
It’s the ‘biggest, queerest Jewish wedding’—and you’re invited
Chaya Milchtein’s dream wedding would have hundreds of guests. Her fiancée JodyAnn Morgan’s dream wedding would be just her, her partner and their officiant. In Morgan’s ideal world, she said, “I would just go to Vegas and call it a day.” Now, thanks to the coronavirus, they are both getting their dream wedding. This weekend,…
-
Legacy Bintel: 1922 Montreal sisters quarrel over nothing
The original Bintel Brief column was founded at the Forward in 1906 and ran through the 1980s. Written in Yiddish, letter writers sought advice on heartbreak, poverty, religious quarrels, family disputes, love triangles and more. Legacy Bintel revisits these original Bintel Brief letters. Many appear here in English for the first time. They have been…
-
Does God’s gender matter?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with clergy and scholars tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. I have always thought of God as male. That’s no eureka, considering the language in…
-
18 questions about God
Still Small Voice: 18 Questions About God is a special project published in the Jewish month of Elul, a traditional time of reflection and accountability. To read the first interview in the series, with Rabbi David Wolpe, click here. The coronavirus has often been compared to a biblical plague. Which begs the question of whether…
-
Does God punish us?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with rabbis tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series. It’s hard to watch God’s wrath and not feel alienated. God’s punishments in the Torah seem disproportionate….
-
Does God need us?
Still Small Voice is a collection of 18 interviews with rabbis tackling 18 questions about God, published during the month of Elul, a time of Jewish reflection and accountability. Click here to read the introduction to the series, and here to browse the collection. I both believe it and resist it — the idea that…
Most Popular
- 1
Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
- 2
Culture They were a kosher bakery success story — 80 years later, people are still trying to make a buck off their babka
- 3
Culture ‘A Complete Unknown’ proves that one thing about Bob Dylan will certainly endure
- 4
Film & TV Why ‘The Brutalist’ resonated so deeply with me
In Case You Missed It
-
News 18 notable Jews who died in 2024
-
Fast Forward Department of Ed resolves Title VI antisemitism complaints against 5 U of California campuses, U of Cincinnati
-
Theater While Yiddish lives, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s ghost stories may flourish
-
Yiddish World Frankie’s Menorah (a Yiddish Hanukkah story)
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism