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
-
The Boxing Ring With A Mezuzah On The Door
Saturday mornings are busy in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay neighborhood, as residents run errands and grab meals. The Underground Boxing Gym on Avenue X is strangely quiet, though. No one is sparring in the ring, or punching the heavy bags that hang from the ceiling, as they are Sunday through Friday. “We’re not open on Saturday,”…
-
Nikki Fried Rides Anti-Gun Wave To Unlikely Win In Divided Florida
Florida has an improbable new “farmer-in-chief,” a 40-year-old Miami-raised Jewish lawyer. Nicole “Nikki” Fried, who will become the state’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, won her first political race just as improbably: by picking a fight with the National Rifle Association and its iconic state lobbyist — a 79-year-old grandma who carries a gun…
-
Birthright Bans ‘Hijacking Discussion’ After Anti-Occupation Walkouts
After a series of highly publicized walkouts on Taglit-Birthright trips this summer, the organization has included a ban on “hijakck(ing) a discussion” in the contract participants are required to sign to be accepted on its free 10-day trips to Israel. A new clause included in the contract appears aimed at preventing a recurrence of such…
The Latest
-
EXCLUSIVE: 3 Jewish Groups Work With Women’s March On Anti-Semitism
Three progressive Jewish organizations have been advising the Women’s March behind the scenes on its well-publicized issues with anti-Semitism and a sometimes-fraught relationship with the Jewish community, the Forward has learned. The National Council of Jewish Women, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and Bend the Arc: Jewish Action are working with the Women’s March…
-
Conservative Rabbis Can Get Kicked Out For Breaking These Four Rules
Once you’re a rabbi, you’re good for life — unlike a law or medical license, no central professional body can take the title away. And while you can get the title from a Jewish seminary, such as Hebrew Union College (Reform), Yeshiva University (Orthodox) or the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), there are thousands of rabbis…
-
New President At Chicago Federation Is Old President’s Son
One of the most powerful and well-compensated Jewish nonprofit jobs in the United States just got passed from father to son. Steve Nasatir has led the Chicago Jewish community for four decades from his office a few blocks from Millennium Park. The Jewish federation he runs gives out more than $200 million each year, and…
-
With Intermarriage Endorsement, Rabbi Hopes To Start ‘Grass Roots’ Movement
A synagogue in Virginia has issued a statement in favor of Conservative clergy presiding at interfaith weddings even though the movement still officially bans the practice. In a Facebook post, the synagogue’s rabbi said that its board had voted to allow its clergy to marry a Jewish person to a non-Jewish person, but only when…
-
When A Retired Rabbi Is The Elephant In The Synagogue
Some retired rabbis just can’t let go. There’s the rabbi who wants to marry the kid he bat mitzvah-ed, or the rabbi who thinks he could give a better Yom Kippur sermon than the next guy. Some may simply feel that the buck should still stop with them, even when they’re no longer officially in…
-
Local Women’s Marches Worry National Leaders’ Troubles Will Sink Their Events
Multiple times over the past year, as leaders of the national Women’s March organizations became embroiled in controversy over their ties to the anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, many of the dozens of local Women’s Marches around the country have tried to do damage control. Some have done so by condemning the national…
-
REVEALED: Secret ADL Memo Slammed Anti-BDS Laws As ‘Harmful’ To Jews
The Anti-Defamation League has emerged as a supporter of controversial legislation targeting boycotts of Israel. But internal ADL documents obtained by the Forward show that the organization’s own staff believed the laws could actually harm American Jews. In the summer of 2016, ADL staff wrote an internal memo arguing that legislating against the boycott, divestment…
-
The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Jewish Comedian Leah Forster
Leah Forster is the Orthodox world’s favorite lesbian Jewish comedian. Admittedly, there’s not much competition for that title. But for nearly a decade, Forster was one of the most popular entertainers in the community, until she walked away from the business and her strict ultra-observant lifestyle. Now she’s making a comeback in both the religious…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Should Diaspora Jews be buried in Israel? A rabbi responds
-
Fast Forward In first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages
-
Fast Forward Huckabee denies rift between Netanyahu and Trump as US actions in Middle East appear to leave out Israel
-
Fast Forward Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
