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
-
Forward 50 2015
Naftuli Moster
It took a product of the ultra-Orthodox school system to get New York City to investigate the quality of secular education at the city’s ultra-Orthodox schools. Following a campaign by Naftuli Moster, 29, founder and executive director of an activist group called YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education), New York City’s Department of Education announced…
-
Forward 50 2015 Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Tambor has called his lugubrious philosophy an integral part of his Jewish identity. Answering a fan’s question about happiness, he once quipped: “I’m Russian Hungarian, I know nothing about happiness. That wasn’t on the menu at our house.” Long known for playing supporting characters (Hank Kingsley on “The Larry Sanders Show” and George Bluth…
-
Is Jersualem Mayor Nir Barkat the Right Man To Run a Divided Holy City?
In February, Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, was on his way to City Hall when he spotted an 18-year-old Palestinian wielding a knife. The teenager had just stabbed an Orthodox Jew and appeared to be ready to strike again. One of Barkat’s security guards drew a gun. The teenager dropped his knife and Barkat and his…
The Latest
-
When Anti-Israel Activist Blasts Renoir, Media Sits Up and Takes Notice
Max Geller flew to Chicago in late October to help organize two rallies: one against Israel and one against a dead French impressionist. On October 25, Geller marched with a group of 250 people outside the Jewish National Fund’s national conference. The march featured a human-sized JNF-style blue tzedakah, or charity box bearing the anti-JNF…
-
Transgender Advocates Kvell Over Reform Vote
Advocates for gender equality at the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial convention hailed the denomination’s unanimous voice vote supporting transgender rights. The “Resolution on the rights of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People,” attracted three pro and no con speakers at the microphone at the gathering of thousands of Reform leaders. The groundbreaking measure covers congregations,…
-
As Reform Jews Gather, Some Good News in the Numbers
(JTA) — While the 2013 Pew survey uncovered some disturbing evidence of lower levels of Jewish engagement among young people, the same survey contains several pieces of good news for Reform Jews — 5,000 of whom are gathering this week in Orlando, Florida, for the movement’s biennial conference organized by the Union for Reform Judaism. Since…
-
Liberals Push Back Against Benjamin Netanyahu’s Fence-Mending Effort
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech at a liberal Washington think tank is provoking outrage from some progressives who say that the appearance gives a bipartisan sheen to his government’s right-wing policies. The Israeli leader’s scheduled November 10 appearance at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic left-leaning institution, is seen as an attempt…
-
Is Evangelical Group a Useful Ally in BDS Fight — or Bigoted Albatross?
Laurie Cardoza-Moore is responsible for one of the signal achievements in the battle against attempts to boycott Israel: a bill passed in the Tennessee state legislature condemning boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel as anti-Semitic, before any other such measure reached the capitals of other states. But search Cardoza-Moore’s name, and one of the first…
-
57% of Us Eat Pork and 9 Other Things About American Jews
(JTA) — Do you experience feelings of peace and well-being at least once a week? Did God write the Torah? Do you eat bacon? If these questions seem a little personal, don’t fret. They’re all part of a new Pew Research Center survey on American religion released Tuesday that shows moderate declines in religious beliefs and…
-
Avi Weiss Defends ‘Open Orthodoxy’ as Agudah Rabbis Declare War
A group of leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis issued a proclamation November 2 asserting that the so-called Open Orthodox movement is not legitimately Orthodox and that rabbis ordained in its seminaries are not rabbis. The proclamation by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, the ultra-Orthodox rabbis who guide the Agudath Israel of America, is the latest salvo…
-
How Rabbi Eric Siroka Made Me Lose My Jewish Identity
This woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, met Rabbi Eric Siroka at the Reform synagogue Or Chadash, in Flemington, New Jersey, in 2000. She was 17 at the time and was looking for someone to mentor her through a Reform youth fellowship program. Siroka became her teacher, leading her in weekly evening study sessions when…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward First Puka Nacua, now Mookie Betts: Why do sports stars keep getting antisemitic around a Jewish streamer?
- 2
Fast Forward After MIT professor’s killing, Jewish influencers spread unverified antisemitism claim
- 3
Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
- 4
News Christians are displaying menorahs in their windows post-Bondi Beach attack. Why some Jews object
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion The Gaza hostage crisis could forever change how American Jews relate to Israel — but it’s not too late to fix that
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקערין וויווי לאַקס באַשרײַבט געשיכטע פֿון לאָנדאָנער ייִדישער פּרעסעVIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press
שבֿע צוקער פֿירט דעם שמועס מיט וויווי לאַקס און ביידע לייענען פֿאָר עטלעכע פֿעליעטאָנען פֿון יענע צײַטן.
-
Yiddish World Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
-
News Who is Bruce Blakeman, the ‘Almost Orthodox’ Jew running for New York governor?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
