Lunchtime at the Chelsea Jewish Home for the Aging in a Boston suburb looks nothing like the daily drudgery that has become the default existence for the old and ailing in America. Here, on a recent afternoon, the 10 residents of a ?household? sit at a long table, laughing and gossiping with each other. Light…
One thing is certain about Abraham Foxman and his Anti-Defamation League: They are never out of the headlines for long. Among Foxman?s most recent statements were ones castigating actor/director Rob Reiner?s for comparing Tea Party members to Nazis, and a Greek Melkite archbishop, who, Foxman argued, ?effectively? suggested at a Jerusalem conference that Judaism has…
As predictions of a Republican tidal wave in the coming congressional elections became more certain, some Israelis were experiencing goose bumps of anticipation. Many on the right in Israel believe a shift of one or both houses of Congress to a Republican majority could limit the Obama administration?s ability to pressure Jerusalem ? even more…
The Middle East conflict has inflamed college campuses, bedeviled political campaigns and sparked street demonstrations. But cosmetics stores are the latest, and perhaps least likely, sites so far to bear witness to the sprawling nature of this ever deepening dispute. At Ricky?s NYC in Brooklyn Heights ? part of a self-described ?edgy, ultra-hip? chain of…
Memories of Yitzhak Rabin and the national trauma of his assassination seemed to be fading as Israel approached the 15th anniversary of his death. Ahead of the anniversary of Rabin?s death on the Hebrew calendar, which occurred on Heshvan 12 (October 20 this year) and the Western calendar anniversary of November 4, Labor Party lawmaker…
When American Jewish community leaders travel to New Orleans for their yearly summit in early November, they should be sure to bring some clothes they don?t mind getting dirty. For the first time, the Jewish Federations of North America ? the umbrella group for local Jewish philanthropic federations around the country ? will break from…
This fall, guest editors are helping to shape Forward Forum by commissioning opinion pieces. This week it?s Samuel G. Freedman, who writes the ?On Religion? column for The New York Times, following four years writing ?On Education.? A professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he is the author of books including ?Letters…
Anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States has risen to unprecedented levels. A recent Washington Post poll found that almost half of all Americans have a negative view of Islam, nearly a 10-point jump from a similar poll taken shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Many reasons have been given to explain this surge in anti-Muslim hysteria…
Rabbi Naomi Levy rarely answers the phone on Shabbat. But nine years ago, she made an exception, and on the other end of the line was a doctor with grim news: Levy’s 6-year-old daughter, Noa, had a fatal degenerative disorder called ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). How Levy faced life in the wake of the devastating diagnosis is…
When people in Israel talk about living in two states it has nothing to do with the much-proposed ?two states solution.? There is a much deeper, darker conflict within the Israeli society than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the split between the orthodox and ultra-orthodox on one hand, and everybody else on the other. Each group seems…
What’s the Matter With Florida? Jewish Democrats aren’t doing well in … South Florida? What’s up with that? It’s a sign of the times, the Forward’s Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman suggests. “Trailing in the polls is probably the only thing the two Jewish Floridians have in common.” (MitzVote) Mama Obama Raises the Vote: After a…
