For 125 years, the Forward has delivered accurate, timely and nuanced news to American Jews. From breaking news to in-depth investigations, our reporting team covers the people, institutions and issues that define the many ways to be Jewish in the…
News
-
One year later, Chabad of Poway shooting’s legacy of pain and hope
In a moving virtual ceremony last Sunday, Dr. Howard Kaye spoke of his late wife of 34 years, Lori Gilbert-Kaye. It has been one year since a gunman shot and killed Gilbert-Kaye inside Chabad of Poway, and the memorial service to mark the event was a virtual one. “Lori took every mitzvah and every kindness…
-
A Showdown in Ann Arbor: Behind the New Lawsuit Challenging Longtime Synagogue Protesters
It’s a brutally cold Saturday morning in February, and Dearborn resident Chris Mark is one of only two people from a group called Witness for Peace standing outside Ann Arbor’s Beth Israel Congregation. The group used to be bigger, but Mark said many members have passed away over the years, and it’s hard to bring…
-
Letter from Las Vegas: Why reopening the Vegas Strip is a bad gamble
According to Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, the lockdown of her city due to coronavirus is “insanity.” To Her Honor, then, sanity is defined as completely reopening a city that depends on strangers from random cities gambling, dining and watching entertainment in close proximity, while in the throes of the deadliest and most contagious worldwide…
The Latest
-
Devout Jewish town rejects rabbis’ plan to use wedding hall amid pandemic
Lakewood, N.J., is a famously devout and rapidly growing town centered around the biggest yeshiva outside Israel — Beth Medrash Govoha. Its citizens devote their lives to fulfilling the Torah’s dictates, including the one many consider to be the first: be fruitful and multiply. When the onset of New Jersey’s strict social-distancing rules meant to…
-
Despite social distancing rules, crowd shows up for Brooklyn rabbi’s funeral
At least 100 people gathered Friday outside of the the Chabad Lubavitch’s headquarters in Brooklyn to pay their respects to a rabbi who passed away earlier in the day. Rabbi Aharon Yaacov Schwei, 86, was a prominent figure in the Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jewish community and held many top roles within the Chabad organization. Despite…
-
Reopen Georgia? Atlanta’s Jewish community isn’t so sure
Georgia’s governor is in a hurry to reopen his state. Atlanta’s Jewish community, not so much. “No one is calling us frantic to reopen,” said Robert Wittenstein, president of Temple Emanu-el of Greater Atlanta. Earlier this week, Georgia’s Republican Brian Kemp announced he wanted Georgia to reopen—to the surprise of business leaders and mayors across…
-
Avraham Yeshayahu Heber, 55, Helped Hundreds Of Israelis Find Kidney Donors
(JTA) — Avraham Yeshayahu Heber, an Israeli rabbi whose charity facilitated hundreds of kidney transplants, died of the coronavirus. Heber died April 23 in Jerusalem. He was 55. Heber was the founder of Matnat Chaim (Hebrew for “gift of life”), an organization started in 2009 that matches kidney donors with transplant patients. The organization is…
-
Soup kitchen and Hasidic philanthropist provide free groceries to Boro Park families affected by COVID-19
Masbia Soup Kitchen has partnered with Mordy Getz, the owner of Eichler’s Judaica Bookstore, to offer free groceries to any Boro Park family which has lost a breadwinner to coronavirus. The novel coronavirus has devastated tight-knit Hasidic communities in New York. And for families, grief over a parent’s death is compounded by anxiety about fulfilling…
-
80% of JCCs got SBA loans — but what happens when the money runs out?
Jewish Community Center leaders predict most JCCs will end up cutting more than 90% of employees by the end of the pandemic. But the sector has seen one bright spot over the past few weeks: More than 80% of the JCCs that applied for loans from the Small Business Administration were approved, according to data…
-
For the first time, there are literally no synagogues legally open in America
Updated April 28 When the coronavirus starts to recede, Jewish life across the United States will look a lot like it already does in Fargo. Only 150 Jews live in the biggest city in North Dakota, but it’s one of the few places in the country where the governor hasn’t ordered people to stay home,…
-
How Laemmle Theatres is weathering the coronavirus storm
What do you do if you own Los Angeles’ premier independent cinema chain and the coronavirus pandemic shuts down all your theatres? You show movies, of course. That’s what Greg Laemmle, chief executive officer of his family-owned Laemmle Theatres, has taken to doing at the theatre’s web site. “My family has been in this business…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians
- 2
Culture I ranked the NYC mayoral candidates exclusively based on their bagel orders
- 3
News How Jewish can you be in a Boca country club? Wrapping tefillin got a family suspended, lawsuit says
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee’s stunning, terrifying new gift to the Israeli right
In Case You Missed It
-
News The 3 ways American Jews are responding to Israel’s attacks on Iran
-
Culture What was Albert Einstein thinking as he gazed down on Trump’s military parade?
-
Culture Fifth graders write — Why is Abraham Cahan, founder of the Forward, worth celebrating?
-
News This Alabama millionaire offered Jews $50,000 to move to his town. 16 years later, what’s left?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
